2. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 1. Golden State Warriors
Easily the two best players in the NBA, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, will be dominating the headlines of this years Finals matchup. They have both been phenomenal in the playoffs. The questions will always come down to the supporting cast for each teams superstar. Cleveland has a banged up Kyrie Irving who can still provide needed scoring in support of LeBron. J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert have been excellent pieces in the scoring and defensive departments respectively. Matthew Dellavedova has been a nuisance for previous opponents, but has been a big part of this teams playoff success with Irving banged up. Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson have done a great job provided a post presence mostly in the rebounding department. Mozgov is the more polished offensively threat, but his opportunities come from second and third chances.
The Warriors have been the surprise team in the Western Conference. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have been a great complement to Curry’s MVP season. Green is a solid defender, but has become a great all-around player on both ends. Thompson is a deadly sharp shooter who has improved is defensive prowess this season. Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala are important complements who provide excellent defense and can be scoring threats when needed. The most important part of the Warriors scheme in this series will be containing LeBron James. They’ll be hard pressed to stop him, but they must keep him out of the paint. If the Warriors want to complete this incredible season they will need to make LeBron a jump shooter.
Players to Watch: G Kyrie Irving and F Draymond Green
Who Wins: Cavaliers in 7 games