Photo: Slam Online
When the NBA season began in October 2017, NBA fans hoped and prayed that they wouldn't have to watch the Cavaliers and Warriors go at it in the Finals for the 4th straight time.
Thankfully the NBA Playoffs had given some fans hope of distinct competition; a young Boston Celtics managed to reach the conference finals without Kyrie Irving, the Utah Jazz climbed up to the semi-finals beating the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Houston Rockets stood up to the Golden State Warriors the best way possible.
Nevertheless, here we are again as the Warriors and Cavaliers clawed their way through intense Game 7's to reach the Finals for the 4th straight year. While Lebron James is arguably playing the best basketball he has ever had, leading what may be the worst team he has played with in history to the Finals, the Warriors still have the best starting lineup in the NBA.
Can Lebron James galvanize his troops to potentially bring another championship to The Land, or will the Warriors rise up to possibly sweep the Cavs?
No.2 Golden State Warriors vs. No.4 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals Schedule
* -- if necessary
Game 1 from Oakland: May 31, 9 p.m. ET, ABC Game 2 from Oakland: June 3, 8 p.m. ET, ABC Game 3 from Cleveland: June 6, 9 p.m. ET, ABC Game 4 from Cleveland: June 8, 9 p.m. ET, ABC Game 5* from Oakland: June 11, 9 p.m. ET, ABC Game 6* from Cleveland: June 14, 9 p.m. ET, ABC Game 7* from Oakland: June 17, 8 p.m. ET, ABC
Regular Season Series: Warriors won 2-0
Three Keys To Win Series:
Cavaliers:
1. New Additions Playing High-Efficiency Minutes
Photo: Bleacher Report
During tough situations in the post-season, coach Tyrone Lue has gone back to players he knows and trusts, even if their ceiling is lower than some of its younger, less experienced players. This is why J.R. Smith remains Cleveland's shooting guard despite only averaging 8.5 points, shooting 35.6 percent and Tristan Thompson has been plugged back into the starting 5.
Even though acquisitions like Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr. court time has been decreased, it's for a legitimate reason: they have played awful in their limited minutes. Still, Lue can't heavily rely on Thompson, Smith or Jeff Green to take down the Warriors, no matter how well James and Love play. Lue has to find a way to get new additions court-time, as their strengths can be crucial to winning games.
2. Cavs Need To Slow Down
Cavs need to slow down the tempo of the game for many reasons, primarily that they need to preserve James. James has played 100 games since October and leads all postseason players with 743 total minutes. That's nearly the same total as he played during last year's playoff run (744), NBA Finals included.
Cavaliers should take the Warriors out of their transition game and make them work in the half-court offense. The Cavs should make the Finals as low-scoring as possible, as they don't have the horsepower to run like Golden State.
3. Put George Hill on Steph Curry
32-year-old George Hill is not the perfect option to stop Stephen Curry; however, he has proven to be an option to slow down Curry. While playing for the Utah Jazz guarding Curry, Curry shot 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) and was a minus-3. When Curry was on and Hill was off, Curry shot 21-of-42 (50.0 percent) and was plus-49 overall.
Hill has to put pressure on Curry by being aggressive, getting into the paint and running him off high screens and pin-downs. The will help to open the offense for James and over players.
Warriors:
1. Limit Turnovers
The Warriors have proved to be the "3rd-Quarter Warriors" outscoring opponents by 127 points in the third quarter of 17 playoff games. Despite the great comebacks, the Warriors commit about 13.5 turnovers per game. This has had a negative impact on lots of games, especially against the Houston Rockets where they were blown out in quarters and halves due to the high amount of turnovers. The Warriors need to start slow early in the game and rev up the game when ready.
2. Get Klay Thompson Hot
Klay Thompson is the X-Factor of the Golden State Warriors. If there's anyone who can make a great impact in the game, it would be Thompson. When hot, Klay Thompson can explode for 40, 50, even 60 points. This eliminates pressure from Curry and Durant to score big and help them focus more. Klay's range and high contesting shots make him the player to watch in the NBA Finals.
3. Kevin Durant Dominating Isolation
Photo: The New 93 Q
Kevin Durant is no stranger to isolation basketball— 15.5% of his regular-season plays were categorized as isolation plays; in the playoffs, it has increased to 26%. Isolation is a type of offensive play used against man-to-man defense. The idea is to give the ball handler room to play one-on-one against an inferior defender by preventing the remaining defenders from joining the play.
This has worked out well against the Houston Rockets in Game 1, as he scored 37 points, shooting 51%. Kevin Durant dominating isolation plays will be the key to winning over the Cavs.
Series Outlook
Warriors Win Series 4-1
Photo: NBA
Lebron James will definitely not allow the Warriors to steal a game at home and will most likely explode offensively to win a home and throughout the series. However, the Cavs are not mentally tough to beat the Warriors or force a 6-7 game series. They have struggled overall in the playoffs, the 1st round and Conference Finals ending in 7 games. Lebron James can only do so much for his until he eventually crashes and burns. As for the Warriors, the only way they can possibly lose this series is by playing sloppy basketball and losing their identity. Even though all odds are easily predicted in this 4th final match-up, it will be interesting to see if Lebron James can lead the Cavaliers to victory.