With both conference finals wrapped up, the NBA is set to witness yet another finals clash between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For the fourth straight season, these two teams will meet to decide the NBA champion. The Warriors so far lead 2-1 as they won the title both in 2015 and 2017, whereas the Cavs won in 2016.
Both teams needed seven games to reach the NBA Finals this year. Even More amazing is that both finalists not only needed a Game 7 to take care of their opponents but that they did it as a lower seed and playing the final game of the series on the road.
The Cavs entered the postseason as the 4th seed and on their way to the finals they dispatched the Indiana Pacers (5th seed) in the first round in seven games. Then they bullied and swept the top-seeded Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals before needing seven games to eliminate the Celtics (2nd seed).
In the Western Conference the Warriors reached the postseason as the 2nd seed, but they did it dealing with a lot of injuries to key players and were at times considered the underdog as they were badly hobbled and missing superstar Stephen Curry.
The Warriors, however, found a way to prevail in the first round because they faced the older and struggling San Antonio Spurs, who were missing the injured Kawhi Leonard, and never stood a chance against Golden State despite the injuries to players such as Curry and at times Kevin Durant.
In the conference semifinals, the Warriors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 4-1 and started getting their groove back as their players started to recover from their injuries.
By the time the Warriors faced the No. 1-seed Houston Rockets in the conference finals, they were hitting all cylinders and with all their stars ready to roll. Despite their newfound health Golden State needed to resort to seven games to win the series.
The Warriors benefitted from an injury to Chris Paul in the fourth quarter of Game 5 that forced him to miss Game 6 and 7 and resulted in Houston losses even though they led by as many as 15 points in both.
Although a lot of people didn’t want to see these two teams clashing in the finals for the fourth year in a row it’s undeniable that they both deserve to be here and will once again provide an entertaining series.
Prediction: Warriors in five
Series Price:
Warriors -1100
Cavaliers: +700
Game 1 Odds:
Warriors: -12
Total: 214
