If the Cavs’ 12-1 postseason record seems dominant, then put it up against the Warriors, who became the first team in National Basketball Association history to win 12 without a loss, sweeping through Portland, Utah and San Antonio. We will have to wait until Thursday, June 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET for Game 1 in Oakland, but here are five questions we’re all thinking about in anticipation of the 2017 NBA Finals.
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Cleveland’s 75 first half points were the most in an National Basketball Association playoff game half since 2003 and gave them an 18-point cushion.
James referred to the Warriors as only “that juggernaut” and “a beast” following Thursday’s Game 5 in at Boston, a night in which he passed Michael Jordan as the career postseason scoring leader.
Brown says that he doesn’t have any extra knowledge of how James plays the game and that everyone knows what the three-time champion is all about by now.
“When you’re growing up and you’re seeing Michael Jordan, it’s nearly like a god, so I didn’t ever believe I could be Mike”, James said.
“We need the best possible player that’s gonna help us win, and I’m with that”, Thomas said, via ESPN. The Celtics never led in any of the games in Boston, trailing by as many as 50 in Game 2 and 39 on Thursday night before both teams emptied their benches.
The Celtics made some noise near the end of the first half, but Irving scored Cleveland’s first 11 points in the opening 3:18 of the second half.
Deron Williams, who had been quiet for most of the series, also got in on the act with a series-best 14 points for Cleveland.
The Boston Celtics showed this postseason that they have players who could fill in for Isaiah Thomas when the star point guard was injured.
On Friday, Green discussed looking forward to facing the Cavaliers again and highlighted that it should be another competitive series, like last year’s Finals that came down to Game 7. For him and the Cavs, it’s merely motivation to fuel them as they enter the NBA Finals. “We feel like we should be here, and we feel like we should be a championship-contending team”. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 5,762 4. The 109 points through three quarters marked the most the Celtics have allowed in the shot-clock era. King James or Air Jordan?
It could certainly be argued that LeBron is a better playoff scorer than Jordan, and not just because of his 5,995 total to Jordan’s 5,987. “It should be the same for us”, James said.
As Cleveland faltered in the regular season, the Celtics had seized the top seed in the East.
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“Want the Warriors?” he said. “I mean he’s one of the most competitive players in the league, and he kind of spoke this into existence”. At one point in the third quarter, the Cavaliers got 14 straight points from Irving and turned a deficit into a seven-point advantage heading into the fourth.
