LeBron James and the Cavaliers rested up and waited through a tumultuous Western Conference finals before finding themselves right back where they were past year, going against the Warriors for the National Basketball Association title. “You don’t come in saying, ‘Oh, they’ve had more rest than us, we’re doomed.’ No, we’ll be just fine”. He ended the game with 36 points, along with five rebounds and eight assists, shooting 13-24 from the field, through 40 minutes of playing time.
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At Wednesday’s exit interviews, Durant was asked about it, and just like he did after the Thunder’s Game 7 loss, declined to go into detail about his plans.
This year it’s a matchup between No. 1 and No. 2 highest selling jerseys: Steph Curry (1) James (2).
“We beat them everywhere else, they beat us from the three-point line, and that was the series”, Durant said matter-of-factly.
Both teams have had two different head coaches throughout the season and made it to the championship.
In addition to posting three consecutive straight-up wins to knock off the Thunder, the Warriors have also halted a worrisome 2-5 run against the spread, rewarding bettors by covering in the final three games of the Western Finals. The Thunder had three games – three rare opportunities – to close this thing out and advance to their first NBA Finals since 2012. A road win in game one or two by the Cavs could put Golden State in another tight fix.
James, on a stated mission to bring to Cleveland the city’s first major professional sports team title in 52 years, and the Cavs hit the road to open the best-of-seven against sharpshooter Stephen Curry and Golden State at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on Thursday. The SuperSonics had an adjusted scoring margin of 1.5 points per game, meaning we would expect Seattle to be slight favorites on a neutral court.
Whether LeBron wants to believe it or not, the Cavaliers are the underdogs in this series, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t, or won’t, win it all. “We wanted to get a chance to play for a championship in the finals, so that hurts”.
“Dre’s a great defender, I think one of the greatest we have in this league”, Green said. “Know what the challenge is going to be”.
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To make their stint more compelling and noteworthy, the Warriors also overcame the odds by becoming the tenth team to emerge victorious after being down from a 3-1 deficit in a playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
