NBA Playoffs 2015: Dates, Predictions for Cavaliers vs. Warriors Finals
The NBA Finals begin on June 4, and while the matchup may not feature teams from major markets, there's no questioning the appeal of Cleveland Cavaliers versus Golden State Warriors.
The Cavs' LeBron James and the Warriors' Stephen Curry will lead their teams into what should be an entertaining series. James and Curry were the top-two All-Star vote-getters, so the commercial attraction should be there.
Both the Cavs and Warriors smashed their way through their respective conferences in the playoffs. Cleveland lost just two games en route to the NBA Finals—both to the Chicago Bulls. The Warriors only fell three times, with the Memphis Grizzlies beating them twice and the Houston Rockets once.
Because of what we saw in the last month of the regular season and in the playoffs thus far, it's clear the two best teams in the NBA are going to play for the championship. That's the way it should be.
Schedule and TV Details
Game 1: Thursday, June 4, Cleveland at Golden State, 9 p.m., ABC
Game 2: Sunday, June 7, Cleveland at Golden State, 8 p.m., ABC
Game 3: Tuesday, June 9, Golden State at Cleveland, 9 p.m., ABC
Game 4: Thursday, June 11, Golden State at Cleveland, 9 p.m., ABC
Game 5*: Sunday, June 14, Cleveland at Golden State, 8 p.m., ABC
Game 6*: Tuesday, June 16, Golden State at Cleveland, 9 p.m., ABC
Game 7*: Friday, June 19, Cleveland at Golden State, 9 p.m., ABC
Keys to Winning the Series
Getting Healthy
Both teams can use the long layoff between the end of the conference finals and the beginning of the NBA Finals to get healthy. The Cavs have a ton of players with bumps and bruises, including James and Iman Shumpert. Both players injured themselves at some point during the grueling series with the Bulls. However, no player on either side could use the recuperating time more than Kyrie Irving.
Cleveland's point guard missed time in the last two series with a variety of lower-body injuries. The Cavs need him as close to 100 percent as possible to give Curry a difficult defensive assignment.
Curry took a nasty spill in Game 4 against the Rockets. He seemed to be fine in the series-clinching win on Wednesday night, but you know head coach Steve Kerr still loves the thought of getting the league MVP some rest.
Curry's Splash Brother teammate, Klay Thompson, will almost certainly need the extra time in order to bounce back from the inadvertent flying knee he received from the Rockets' Trevor Ariza on Wednesday night.
The shot required stitches, per the ESPN broadcast, and it left Thompson dizzy as late as the post-game interview with Doris Burke.
With J.R. Smith playing so well—he's averaging 13.5 points per game and 39 percent three-point shooting in postseason—the Warriors must have a healthy Thompson to beat the Cavs.
3-Point Shooting
The three ball is such a major part of what both the Cavs and Warriors do. The team that shoots it the best may be the one that walks away with the NBA title. During the postseason, the Cavs have made 36 percent of their threes while the Warriors have connected on 38 percent of their long-distance attempts.
The Warriors don't have the inside game to score effectively, thus they need the three ball to be effective.
If Cleveland's Irving, Shumpert and Smith aren't making long-range shots, the Warriors will be able to collapse on James to make things tough on him all series.
Offensive Rebounding
Look at Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Festus Ezeli, Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson to determine the victor in this category. All five players will be charged with creating second-chance opportunities for their teams. Timely offensive rebounding was a big reason for the Cavs' win over the Bulls in the conference semifinals, and the same factor was huge for the Warriors against the Rockets.
The Warriors smashed Houston on the glass to the tune of a 59-39 advantage in Game 5, but the 19-10 edge in offensive rebounding was demoralizing. This category will be just as big as three-point shooting in the NBA Finals.
Slowing Down LeBron
Curry won the MVP, but James is still the game's best and most dominant player. With his spending so much time in the post in the last two series, he creates all kinds of matchup problems for the Warriors.
James is able to score, rebound and find teammates with regularity, which spaces the floor for the Cavs. His energy and leadership has been exemplary, and he is having one of the best postseasons in NBA history. He's averaging 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.29 blocks. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone with such amazing postseason stats over a 14-game period.
Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling is spot on with his projection for the Warriors' focus as the NBA Finals approaches:
Expect Green to get the bulk of the time trying to slow LeBron with some help from Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes. Golden State will need all the help it can get.
Prediction
It seems as though the Warriors should win this series when you look at the rosters man for man. However, it's hard to account for the overall impact James makes on a game and a series. You simply can't just say: "LeBron wins the small forward matchup." It's bigger than that.
He wins his matchup and puts his teammates in position to win some of theirs as well.
The Cavs are playing like a well-oiled machine with all parts graciously accepting their roles with complete buy-in that James is the leader. With as transcendent a star as James, that is a scary mix.
The Warriors have had an excellent season, but they won't beat LeBron. Cleveland wins it in six games.
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