Cavs in 7

The NBA Finals are finally upon us and the storylines are endless. The wait is over and we will hopefully get the Finals we have been looking forward to. Many believe the Warriors are just too good for the Cavaliers and will end the series in 5 games, some are saying it could end in a 4 game sweep. The main storylines are the usual; can LeBron James win another title? Can he do it against these Warriors? Can Steph Curry get back to the top of the best in the league status? Can Kevin Durant finally get his ring after joining the Warriors in the offseason? There are plenty of other storylines to dive into so let’s do that.

(Photo: Sporting News)

We’ll start at the top with LeBron James. LeBron has now reached the NBA Finals for a staggering seventh straight season (4 with Miami and 3 with Cleveland), and is looking for his fourth ring. You have to go back to the Boston Celtics of the 1960’s to find the last time a player, in this case players, went to the Finals in seven straight seasons. (I’d like to acknowledge James’ teammate James Jones who has also made it seven straight Finals.) The pressure from the outside is on LeBron to win and it always is, but is there really pressure on him? The discussion is and will continue to be where is LeBron on the all-time list for the NBA. It’s never that LeBron is a top 5 or top 10 player, but it’s where is LeBron compared to Michael Jordan? Winning last season and bringing the city of Cleveland it’s first pro sports title in over 50 years added to LeBron’s legacy but beating this Warriors team would launch LeBron into the discussion of the greatest of all time without a doubt. I don’t think LeBron has anymore pressure on him and pressure on his legacy because the pressure was on him once he came back to Cleveland and to win a title for his city. He did that. Now, as you can tell by the way he’s been playing, that he’s just playing ball for the love of the game. The titles will come, but now he’s just playing to play. For the Cavaliers to win another title and go back to back LeBron has to be the reason.

What about Kevin Durant? If we’re ranking the best players in the NBA, you don’t have to go more than one spot behind James to find Durant’s name. Much like James, Durant is a phenomenal talent and one of the more skilled players we’ve ever seen at his size. During his time in Oklahoma City he made the Finals once and lost in five games to LeBron and the Heat. He’s the best player without a title right now and needs that ring. Just like LeBron. In case your memory is foggy, Durant and the Thunder were up 3-1 on the Warriors last season in the Western Conference Finals and ended up losing three games in a row and their season was over. Fast forward to July 4^th when KD announces he’s leaving Oklahoma City and heading to the Warriors. The pressure isn’t on LeBron to win but Durant and to perform at an MVP level. What if the Warriors lose and Durant has a terrible series? How will that look on his legacy? He’s on this ‘super team’ that nearly everyone is picking as prohibitive favorites so they should win, right? If the Warriors want to win and cap off this season and playoff run, then Durant will have to be the guy. Plain and simple.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Step Curry. The 2-time league MVP and the only unanimous MVP in league history. Oh, he also has a title to go along with those MVP’s. So why has everyone seemingly forgotten about Steph? Maybe it’s because he didn’t play well in some games in last year’s Finals. Maybe it’s because his new teammate is Kevin Durant. He doesn’t talk much like his other teammate Draymond Green. But for some unknown reason we forget that right behind Durant and LeBron on the league’s best list is Curry. He’ll have to step up and play like the MVP he is for the Warriors to win but like the two previous guys I’ve mentioned, there is pressure on Curry. The pressure is to make everyone forget last season and make them remember that he’s that guy.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love need to score. A lot. LeBron will score his points and will probably score plenty of them but the help of Kyrie and Love will be something to watch. We know that both guys can go cold and have hit or miss games, but during these playoffs both guys are playing at a high level. Kyrie is averaging 24 points per game while Love is averaging a double double with 17 and 10. Both have played well as the playoffs go on but now is when the real season starts. We saw what Irving can do in big game situations as he dropped 41 in game 5 which was the culmination of three straight games with 30 or more points. Love on the other hand struggled last year in the Finals scoring no more than 17 points in a game. And that was game one. It’s almost safe to say that Kyrie will show up in the Finals and help out LeBron but will Kevin Love? He’ll not only have to score points and grab rebounds, but he’ll have to play above average defense on whoever he’s guarding.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are both x-factors for the Warriors but that goes without saying. Thompson has been struggling during these playoffs only averaging 14 points and shooting 36% from beyond the arc. Green on the other hand, while his numbers won’t jump off the page, it’s his attitude and how he plays that is the reason why he earned the reputation (or respect) he's gotten. Or maybe the lack of respect depending on if he’s kicked you in the nuts. Both guys are All-Stars and will need to play at that level, especially Thompson. The Warriors got by the Blazers, Jazz, and Spurs without Klay hitting more than 4 threes in a game. Last year Draymond was suspended for game 5 of the NBA Finals which many believe is why they lost the Finals but he was available for games 6 and 7. If the Warriors want to win another title they’re going to need Klay to heat up, which if he can do that then this series could be over sooner rather than later. They'll also need Draymond to keep his cool.

The Cavs players who might be the biggest x-factors outside of the big three, JR Smith and Tristan Thompson. Thompson is a pivotal member for the Cavaliers if they want to repeat. Thompson won’t have to score 15 points a game but he might have to grab 15 rebounds a game. He’s a great offensive rebounder who will have to keep guys like Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia, and JaVale McGee off the boards. In a series like this it’s obvious that every player that enters the game has to play better than they’ve ever played and for Thompson, that could not be more true. On the flip side, for JR Smith, it’s all about shooting. And shooting some more. LeBron has said that Smith has the ultimate, florescent green-light, when it comes to shooting. It’s always been said about Smith that he can shoot you into a game just as easily as he can shoot you right out of it. So for Cleveland, they aren’t going to rely on Thompson and Smith to get major amounts of scoring but each game they’re going to have to produce on both ends of the floor. 

The bench players for each team will play a significant role as they usually do. The Cavs might have the better bench depending on what the lineup is. Deron Williams has given them a spark running the second unit and they’re going to need him to keep doing that. Kyle Korver is known as a three-point specialist and not for being a defensive specialist. You can’t hide Korver on defense but if the Cavs are willing to trade the 8-12 points he might give up for the 14-18 points he could potentially score in any given game then it might be worth the risk to have him on the floor longer than expected. Iman Shumpert is another player who the Cavs aren’t going to call on to score 25 but they’ll ask him to provide a spark on defense which he is known for. For the Warriors, Andre Iguodola and Shaun Livingston are two veteran players that they can always count on to make plays. Iguodola will be the guy who comes off the bench and takes the challenge to guard LeBron, which we’ve seen him do that before. Livingston is just someone who can get you a bucket. JaVale McGee is a wildcard for many reasons. McGee is someone that can come in and get you 10 points and 10 rebounds along with 4 blocks OR he can can come in and take awful shots, get a technical foul, and allow the Cavs to go on a run. It's hit or miss with McGee but the other names I’ve mentioned are players who can make a real impact and will be called upon in certain situations to get a bucket or a defensive stop.

Needless to say both teams, more so Cleveland, need to play a perfect game to capture the title. Golden State is more likely to be that team but when you have LeBron James who has been there and done that, you have to like your chances.

With all of that being said, Cavs in 7.