NBA Finals 2016: Cavaliers vs. Warriors TV Schedule and Game 1 Live Stream

An NBA Finals rematch is nigh. Thanks to the reigning champion Golden State Warriors' rally from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals, they will once again battle the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Golden State became only the 10th team in NBA history to come back from such a deep hole in the postseason against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavs have lost only twice during the playoffs, more or less cruising through the Eastern Conference with little resistance.

On the strength of a record-setting 73-win regular season, though, the Warriors have home-court advantage in what should be one of the most highly anticipated NBA Finals in recent memory.

Thursday's Game 1 is slated for 9 p.m. ET on ABC, with live-stream coverage also available through WatchESPN. Read on for a preview of what to expect in the Finals opener.

2016 NBA Finals Game 1 Preview

The massive difference between this year's NBA Finals and what occurred in 2015 is the fact that Kevin Love is healthy for Cleveland. Love is coming in playing quite well, scoring 45 points over the course of the Cavs' prior two contests.

Kyrie Irving was also banged up entering last year's grand finale and was out for the remainder of the series after he got hurt in the first game.

If the fresher Cavs, who closed out the Toronto Raptors last Friday, can have Love and Irving fully fit to complement LeBron James, perhaps Cleveland can improve upon its loss in six games in the first go-round.

On the other hand, Golden State raised its level of play during the 2015-16 campaign to historic proportions. Stephen Curry even lifted himself to another threshold in capturing back-to-back league MVPs.

Golden State All-Star Draymond Green, who had the worst plus-minus games of his NBA career in losses to the Thunder in Games 3 and 4, spoke about how well his squad fought to stay alive in the playoffs, per NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper:

"

I think everybody will look at 73 wins (in the regular season) and say, 'Wow, this team never hit any adversity,' but there is adversity in every season. It all comes in different forms. But when you're talking down 3-1, and everything's on the line, that makes it 10 times worse. So it's definitely the biggest thing that this team has had to overcome and it took a great, tremendous effort and fight to overcome it.

"

The Warriors got the ultimate wake-up call and staved off elimination three times in the Western Conference Finals. They certainly won't be lacking any sense of urgency, and it also bodes well that the Dubs beat Cleveland twice in the regular season by an average of 20 points.

Although this series figures to be far more competitive, the aforementioned presence of Love is actually something of a red flag for the Cavs.

Love shot only 28.6 percent and averaged 6.5 points in the two prior games against Golden State. The combination of the massive adjustments he'll have to make and the hostile environment of Oracle Arena doesn't exactly work in the visitors' favor for Game 1 in particular.

Green is a phenomenal defender who can guard anyone from Love to James effectively; the same is true of 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, whose addition to the starting five was something the Cavs never recovered from.

Fran Fraschilla of ESPN hinted how those two could give James' supporting stars difficulties on the defensive end, along with Warriors 2-guard Klay Thompson, who poured in a single-game playoff record 11 three-pointers in Game 6 versus OKC:

The new addition who could provide Cleveland with a lift is Channing Frye, a stretch 4 who can create matchup problems, as evident in his 57.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc this postseason.

But until the Cavs have one full game under their belts to adjust to an adversary that dominated them in 2015-16, they likely won't be able to gain any traction.

That's a sturdy inference to make since Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue is discouragingly staunch in his planned tactics considering the Warriors' raging success.

"We're not going to slow the ball down and be at ease," Lue said, per Cleveland.com's Chris Haynes. "We're going to push the pace, try to get easy baskets early in transition but make sure we're taking good shots."

While it's good to have an aggressive mindset and a desire to not alter strategy for a particular opponent at the cost of going against what's worked, the Cavs' lackluster prior results are tough to ignore.

James will be ready to roll for Game 1, but Love's poor track record versus the Warriors, Golden State's previous run to a championship and the fact that Thursday's opening clash takes place in Oakland make it tough to bet against a team that lost only twice at home all regular season.

Game 1 Score Prediction: Warriors 110, Cavaliers 102