LeBron James encouraged vandals to spray racial slurs on his home again.
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It’s not just that the Dubs own home-court advantage for the best-of-seven series. Golden State hadn’t won in 40 years.
Kevin Love has emerged as the player LeBron James yearned to see and the power forward could be a pivotal contributor for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their quest to repeat as National Basketball Association champions. Cleveland Cavaliers’ Deron Williams smiles during an NBA basketball practice, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in Oakland, Calif.
The first thing I should tell you is I successfully picked the victor, in the exact number of games, in each of the last two NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant is willing to take less than the maximum contract extension he is eligible for this summer as a 10-year veteran if it helps the Warriors keep the core of their team intact, league sources told ESPN.
The Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in Oakland.
Not that anyone expected any different.
Defending champion Cleveland meets Golden State for an unprecedented third consecutive NBA Finals game starting Thursday, June 1 (Friday Manila time) with James seeking his fourth crown in his seventh consecutive finals appearance and eighth overall, and Durant still yearning for his first crown. Green wanted the matchup with the Cavaliers after Golden State fell short past year despite his brilliant Game 7, and now here it comes.
This matchup has seemed ordained since James walked off the court in Oakland last June, having delivered his native northeast OH its first major team championship since 1964.
“We know some of their tendencies and just have a better familiarity with how we’re going to be successful against them”. You know, think back, you guys know the history. “I have great memories of and awful memories of previous year, but they’re both lessons that you can learn going into the series, knowing what it takes to win, how important every possession is, focusing on the details”.
“Any time someone beats you, you’d love to play them”, Green said.
As significant as the Lakers’ streak was, members of the 2001 team all repeated that the most important thing was hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the end of the series with the Sixers, rather than what their postseason record was. They have lapses and you will not get away with that against the Warriors. There have been only eight sweeps in the 70-year history of the NBA Finals.
The 28-year-old, who averaged 25.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game this season, spent his first nine years of his National Basketball Association career with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is averaging 28.6 points through the 12 games the Warriors have played while shooting just over 50% from the field.
This year has seen the triple-double take prominence with Russell Westbrook and James Harden leading the MVP discussion but Curry has silently been posting up his best Playoff numbers to date. The Finals Odds for the game have the Warriors favored to pick up the win by a handful of buckets.
“It’s a little ironic that things happen in life this way, especially in the NBA”, Brown said. “So this is kind of killing me inside right now”. The simulation is far off what the professional bettors in Las Vegas are saying. As good as the Warriors are on defense, all three of those Cavs are stronger than their Golden State counterparts, which could become a huge problem if the Dubs aren’t splashing treys. Barnes was a key reserve on the “We Believe” team in 2007 that made it to the second round of the playoffs and said his heart never left the East Bay.
And though Curry won’t draw the defensive assignment of slowing down Irving – that will go to Curry’s fellow splash brother Klay Thompson – Irving will guard the Bay Area’s proclaimed “Golden Boy”.
“I’m about great finals”, he said when cornered by muckraking monsters TMZ. Obviously shots are falling. Horford is averaging 16.1 points on 64 percent shooting, while Olynyk scored a playoff career-high 26 in the Game 7 clincher Monday.
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Add the fact that Mike Brown, twice fired by the Cavs, will be the Warriors’ bench leader if Steve Kerr’s ailing back prevents him from being on the sideline and ABC will have an abundance of storylines when the best-of-seven series opens tonight at 9 at Oracle Arena.
