NBA Finals 2015: Knee-Jerk Predictions for Warriors vs. Cavaliers
With the Golden State Warriors clinching the Western Conference title in a 104-90 victory over the Houston Rockets, the NBA Finals matchup that every basketball fan dreamed of is officially set.
The Warriors will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in a battle for basketball's greatest prize.
Even though the first game won't tip off for another week, it's never too early to look ahead at what should be an excellent championship clash.
Here are a few early predictions for the upcoming series.
LeBron James Will Continue to Be LeBron James
In his fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, James' ability to keep the Cavs afloat through injuries to key players has been astounding.
Any questions of James relinquishing his title as basketball's premier player have been silenced. The Warriors will likely throw a combination of Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes at him on defense, but there doesn't seem to be any way to slow James down at this point.
ESPN's Skip Bayless also recognized how difficult it will be for the Warriors to contain James:
James will continue to put up monster stat lines in the Finals. However, unlike the teams in the East, the Warriors can't be brought down by James alone.
The Warriors Bench Will Play a Key Role
Perhaps the greatest advantage for Golden State over Cleveland is their depth.
The Warriors bench was phenomenal in the Western Conference Finals, outscoring the Rockets' second unit by nearly 18 points per game. In Game 5 against Houston, the Warriors bench helped the team come alive after a poor shooting effort from the starters in the first quarter.
Led by Leandro Barbosa and Shaun Livingston, the Warriors bench will continue to provide a spark for Golden State and should have success against a much thinner Cleveland second line.
Key runs at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters will play a big role in close games.
Kyrie Irving Will Be a Defensive Liability
Although he'll have over a week to heal up before the start of the series, it's unlikely that Kyrie Irving's knee will get back to full strength this postseason. That could be a major problem when defending the Warriors.
While Cleveland will likely have Iman Shumpert chase Stephen Curry around the perimeter, that still leaves Irving to either check Klay Thompson or give up a large height disadvantage to Harrison Barnes.
CBS Sports' Zach Harper broke down the difficulties for Irving defensively:
"You can't put Irving on Klay Thompson and you definitely don't want to put him on an athletic Harrison Barnes if hes struggling at all with the knee. It's not the worst idea to make Barnes beat you, but Kyrie shouldn't have to go through that kind of pounding.
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Golden State is already an offensive powerhouse, and having a defensive liability like Irving playing major minutes could really make it tough on the Cavaliers defense.
J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert Will Step Up For Cleveland
This season, the Warriors have only lost three games to an opponent who has scored under 100 points. It's pretty simple: If you're going have any chance of beating Golden State four times, you better be able to score.
The role players' shooting for the Cavaliers will be essential to the team's effort to keep pace with the Warriors. Smith and Shumpert have both stepped up in the absence of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the postseason.
Look for their outside shooting to continue to help keep the Cavaliers offense from becoming The LeBron Show.
Golden State's Hot Outside Shooting Will Continue
When the Warriors were down 2-1 to the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round, there were questions of whether or not any jump-shooting team could hit consistently enough to make a deep playoff run.
Golden State has since silenced that talk, burning straight through the Western Conference playoffs and losing just three games in the process.
The hot shooting of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the Warriors' supporting cast isn't going anywhere in this series. Golden State has shot 38 percent from long range in the playoffs, a number they'll sustain in the Finals.
As usual, the bulk of that outside shooting will come from Curry, who will continue to perform at an MVP level.
Series Prediction: Warriors in six games, Stephen Curry wins MVP
All statistics via HoopsStats.com.
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