NBA Finals Schedule 2015: Dates and ABC Tipoff Times for Cavaliers vs. Warriors
It's hard to imagine a more compelling NBA Finals after the 2014-15 season than a matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
The former was the league's best and most exciting team all season long. The latter has been the most interesting one due to the additions of LeBron James, Kevin Love and coach David Blatt in the offseason.
Now they meet with a title on the line. Let's take a look at the full schedule:
| 1 | Thursday, June 4 | 9 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | ABC | ESPN3 |
| 2 | Sunday, June 7 | 8 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | ABC | ESPN3 |
| 3 | Tuesday, June 9 | 9 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | ABC | ESPN3 |
| 4 | Thursday, June 11 | 9 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | ABC | ESPN3 |
| 5* | Sunday, June 14 | 8 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | ABC | ESPN3 |
| 6* | Tuesday, June 16 | 9 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | ABC | ESPN3 |
| 7* | Friday, June 19 | 9 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | ABC | ESPN3 |
The Warriors are fun to watch. They led the NBA during the regular season in points per game (110.0), field-goal percentage (47.8 percent) and three-point percentage (39.8 percent). Stephen Curry won the MVP, Klay Thompson was one of the best sidekicks in the game and Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and Marreese Speights, among others, helped round out the league's deepest and most well-balanced rotation.
Golden State doesn't have the look of a traditional champion, but its unorthodox style of outscoring opponents, freely shooting from deep and not relying on a dominant big man offensively often distracts people from crediting its excellent defense.
Indeed, the Warriors are allowing just 96.3 points per game to their opponents this postseason, which is good for fourth in the NBA.
Of course, the best defensive team in the postseason this year has been the Cavaliers, who are giving up just 92.6 points per game. The fact that LeBron James is averaging nearly a triple-double this postseason (27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 8.3 assists), the emergence of Tristan Thompson and the contributions from role players like J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova get the headlines.
But it's Cleveland's defense that has carried the team, and it will have to be better than it has been to this point if it's going to slow down the explosive Warriors.
Truthfully, the Warriors can likely live with James shouldering the Cavs' offensive load. Iguodala is a fantastic defensive stopper, but even he isn't going to just shut down James. The bigger concerns will be containing Cleveland's role players and not allowing the Cavs to control the series by playing lockdown defense and employing a slower game pace.
James can carry the Cavs past most teams, but he can't do it alone against the Warriors. If the Cavs can dictate the pace and players like Thompson, Smith and especially Kyrie Irving continue to step up, Cleveland can win this series.
But if the Warriors can play their run-and-gun style and force James into trying to win this series by himself, they'll lift a banner of their own.
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