The NBA Finals are set with the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Golden State Warriors. The series is set to begin on Thursday night, June 4th at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Below I will preview the series, plus have the Odds, Prediction and schedule for it.
The Warriors are listed at -215 to win the series, with the buy back on the Cavs being +180.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be making just their second ever appearance in the NBA Finals, with the first one being in the 2006-07 season, which they swept in 4 games by the San Antonio Spurs. Now the Cavs are back in the NBA Finals after sweeping the Celtics, winning in 6 games over the Bulls and then sweeping the Hawks. The Cavs were at one point 19-20 on the year and many were questioning whether this team had what it takes to win the title this year. They proved many wrong, but they are beat up and taking on Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs is a lot different than facing the Warriors. For the year the Cavaliers finished 8th in the league in scoring (103.1 ppg), 8th in shooting overall (45.8%), 5th in 3 point shooting (36.7%) and 18th in free throw shooting (75.1%). Defensively the Cavs have been rather average, ranking 13th in points allowed (98.7), 20th in shooting % defense (45.6) and 9th in 3 point defense (34.3%).
Golden State will be making their first trip t the NBA Finals, since the 1974-75 season when they won the Title in 4 straight games over Washington. Overall this franchise has been to the NBA finals 6 times, while winning three of those, but this is just the 2nd time ever since the team moved to Golden State. The Warriors got here by sweeping the Pelicans, winning in 6 games vs Memphis and taking out the Rockets in 5 games. The Warriors had a couple of scary injuries to Thompson and Curry in their battle with Houston, but both will be ready for this series. The Warriors have been the best offensive team in the league this years, ranking 1st in scoring (110.0 ppg), 1st in shooting (47.8%), 1st in 3 point shooting (39.8) and 9th in FT shooting (76.8%). On defense they have been very solid, ranking 15th in points allowed (99.9), 1st in FG% defense (42.8%) and 5th in 3 point defense (33.7%).
In looking at this series it is clear who the better team is and that is the Warriors. They certainly have the better offense, nearly unbeatable at home and have more depth. The Cavaliers do have a solid team and they did waltz through the Eastern Conference playoffs, but still for much of the year they did not play a strong schedule. The Warriors did. They took on many Western Conference that were not in the playoffs, but would have been if they played in the East. Statistically speaking it has been made known that the Warriors are the 4th best team in NBA History. Cleveland has Lebron and he will bring experience to the team for the finals, but still this is the first year that this team is together, while the Warriors have been built from the ground up and have a bit more continuity. The Cavaliers will not go easy, but in the end the Warriors have more offensive weapons, their defense is amazing when they want to lock it down and they have more depth, plus we note that they have lost just 3 games on their home floor all year long and the Cavs are still a bit beat up. I say Warriors in 6 games.
The NBA Finals Schedule: Thursday (June 4) At Golden State... Sunday (June 7) At Golden State... Tuesday (June 9) At Cleveland (June 11)... Sunday (June 14) At Golden State (If Necessary)... Tuesday (June 16) At Cleveland (If Necessary)... Friday (June 19) At Golden State (If Necessary).
Who Wins the NBA Finals: Cavs vs. Warriors
The NBA finals are here and Vegas pros Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik are here to break down who is taking home the trophy. Teddy points out in the past season the teams squared off twice, splitting the results, though the Golden State victory came with a squad with no Lebron James. For Fezzik, the past is the past and he thinks Golden State sweeps Cleveland where LBJ lacks the supporting cast to be a true contender for the title. While Teddy doesn't think the Cavs can win, he doesn't like the price and thinks they are overhyped by organizations like 538 and Nate Silver.