Both the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers have not been in this position in a long time. The Warriors have not seen an NBA Finals since the 70's while LeBron James carried Cleveland to their last NBA Finals while the city itself has been deprived of any type of championship for years. Now stage is set for James to once again bring the Cavaliers on his back to have the chance at sport's glory while several fresh faces are ready to change history for the Warriors.
James is the savvy vet in this series. He has the most championship experience of anyone set to play for either team. When the star first signed on to the Cavaliers in his return home, he clarified to the fans that a championship was still very much in the distance. At the time he was taking over an extremely young team with a promising point guard in Kyrie Irving. He was right to doubt the roster. However, Cleveland then went out and got Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov, JR Smith and Iman Shumpert who have made all the difference for the Cavaliers. Now a championship is not so hard to consider.
The biggest question mark for Cleveland is Irving who has been dealing with knee tendonitis and foot issues throughout the postseason. He was hampered for much of the series against the Atlanta Hawks. That was not an issue as James once again took control of things. However, facing Golden State with an injured Kyrie could pose problems for Cleveland. The team will have to hope that Smith can re-find that 3-point shot that was so prominent during the Eastern Conference Finals if they intend to keep up with the scoring of Golden State.
For the Warriors, the issue is Klay Thompson who suffered a concussion in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets. The shooting guard suffered headaches and vomiting for days afterwards. He was medically cleared for the NBA Finals and is expected to play. There has been no word on what he looked like in practice, but Golden State needs Thompson at his best.
This series will come down to a battle of the MVPs. Will Stephen Curry's 3-point shots be enough to overcome the pure dominance James as shown throughout the playoffs? Those two players will put their teams on their back as the trophy is at stake.
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