[2017 NBA Finals] Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Say Lebron averages 32/11/9 this series.

KD can easily average 29/9/6 this series.

That basically negates lebrons production or at least is in striking distance.

After that the warriors are simply better from 2-8. Curry, Klay, draymond, iggy > Kyrie & Love.

 

I'd argue LeBron has to outplay the combo of Durant and Curry on offense, and Thompson and Green on defense, for the Cavs to have a chance.

 

Like I said. Warriors will 16-0 the postseason.

 

First time ever the playoffs are a formality.

 

"Oh. That's why we play the games! Oh the Cavs came from 3-1 last season!"

Yeah. Delusion. The moment the Warriors signed KD I knew the league was done for the next 5-6 seasons.

Durant made the smart choice. People will **** on him for getting relatively easy rings, but who cares? At the end of it all he'll have at minimum 4 rings and nobody can knock him for that. This team is much much better than any super team that has ever existed in the history of the NBA.

 

yaaaaaaawn...that lasts 5 years in the the west

 

All the possessions LeBron and Durant defended each other in Game 1.

 

People were saying that thunder would be back to finals multiple times. So its hard to say they will win the next 4.

 

If gsw sweeps the postseason the league needs to step in and break them up. Give them some kind of special acknowledgement that they'll ruin the league if not disbanded. This is stupid.

 

You mean like when the Celtics won the NBA championships in 1969, 1968, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1957?

 

Anybody got a torrent or a direct download link for the full game? Is anyone uploading each finals game?

 

#BasketballReasons

 

Well they did trade James Harden before the next season, so I'd say if the warriors keeping the core together have a pretty good shot of winning at least the next 3-4 years

 

That's not a good comparison at all. The lakers were not always underdogs facing the C's for a bunch of their finals, Wilt and 76ers beat them. The warriors will heavily be favoured against any team currently in the league.

 

Even without harden they should have made the finals if durant and westbrook don't get hurt. Hell they should have made it last year when they were up 3-1.

 

Sure, but that kind of alludes to a bigger point. Due to injuries of a star player in their playoff runs it pretty much cost their team a trip to the finals. Last year was the first time they were healthy in the postseason since 2012.

If a star player goes down for the warriors like KD or Steph, the warriors would still probably make the finals (with a shot at winning).

The warriors are far and away one of the most talented rosters ever assembled.

 

He did play super defense in game 1, so he was not useless.

 

Based on how Game 1 went, I expect to see the following adjustments from Cavs.

1. Forget about trying to stop transition open threes and go all out to defend the rim on transition. If the 3-shooter makes them at less than 66%, Cavs will come out ahead.
2. Whoever is guarding Klay Thompson should look to help out and double team. Basically give Thompson the treatment they gave Harrison Barnes last year and hope he continues his cold shooting even if left wide open at times.
3. Focus more on paint protection and less on 3-ptr/perimeter protection. In Game 1, it was tons of Warrior's points in the paint that killed the Cavs not tons of three-ptrs.

 

Your 3 steps are the perfect recipe for Klay busting out of his slump into another 30-point quarter. If the Cavs pack the paint and leave open 3s, Warriors will hit 20 3s and score 80 points in the 1st half. On the other hand, specifically when KD has the ball, they clearly must prevent uncontested slams.

The Cavs problem on defense is intensity more than anything else. They have to force TOs. Warriors tied an NBA Finals record with only 4 in game 1. Cavs have to get physical, knock the Warriors off stride and get them out of comfort zones. This is their only hope to neutralize the huge talent gap between the two squads.

The problem is even if the Cavs defend better going forward, the Warriors probably will also. I won't say LeBron opened up a can of quit during the 2nd half, but body language showed he clearly got tired of KD's long arms. Whenever Draymond or Iggy was the defender, he went into attack mode. If it was KD, he passed the ball and watched or resorted to PnR. LeBron couldn't iso and dominate KD to generate points when the other Cavs' players were stale. That has to change for them to have a chance.

Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love must come out and make an impact on the offensive glass. Cavs can't beat the Warriors without a chunk of 2nd chance points.