NBA Finals Predictions

Cavaliers/Warriors III

Two years ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers took the Golden State Warriors to 6 games despite losing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injuries.  Cleveland fans swear that the Cavaliers could have won the series if healthy.

Last year, Golden State won a record 73 games during the regular season, and were up 3-1 on Cleveland before Cleveland won the last three games.  But Stephen Curry was banged up, and Draymond Green got suspended for game 5, and Golden State fans swear that the Warriors could have won the series if it hadn't been for those events.

Now after each team has won one series, they meet for a third time in a row in the NBA Finals.  A couple of interesting factors:

* The Warriors signed Kevin Durant as a free agent.  They took a chance- losing their bench to improve their starters.  It's a gamble that has paid off so far- the Warriors have been so dominant that they haven't tired off their starters

* The one Warrior who can't be on the floor is head coach Steve Kerr.  He's being replaced for this series by... Mike Brown, former coach of the Cavaliers.  I like Brown, but he's in a no-win situation: if the Warriors win, he gets no credit.  If they lose he'll get all of the blame.

* The Cavaliers are a great team- but the Warriors are phenomenal.  Curry and Durant are two of the five best players in the NBA.  Green and Thompson are two of the top twelve.  Put it this way- a team with LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving should almost never be considered an underdog- but Vegas clearly favors the Warriors. 

* Curry is one of the most popular players in the NBA, and so is Durant.  But the Warriors are so dominant- and Green has a reputation of a dirty player- that most NBA fans are rooting against the Warriors.

* I'm a Cleveland fan.  On paper, the Warriors should win- they have home field advantage.  And last year, Cleveland beat Golden States and outscored them by a total of FOUR points- and Golden State has added Kevin Durant to the team.  On paper, Golden State should win in 5 games.  And the only player who absolutely NEEDS to win this series is Durant- all of the other major players already have a title.

* But I believe in LeBron James.  Cleveland in 7.