WARRIORS ARE GREAT, BUT IT’S HARD TO BET AGAINST LEBRON
Look around your various media outlets for NBA coverage and chances are the vast majority of predictions side with the Golden State Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers in this year’s NBA Finals.
But keep reading and even those predicting a four-game sweep by the Warriors do so with a large “but” attached to it.
That “but” is the best player in the game today, who just happens to play for the team most pundits are picking against.
There’s even a widespread theory around the league that you pick against LeBron James and his side at your peril.
He proved it a year ago when he led his Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to an unthinkable win to claim his third NBA championship ring.
James isn’t just playing great basketball this post-season, he’s playing perhaps the greatest basketball of his entire playoff career.
His 56.6 per cent shooting percentage is the highest success rate in 12 playoff seasons in his 14 years in the league. The same goes for his three-point shooting, where he is hitting at a 42.1 per cent success rate.
His scoring average of 32.5 points per playoff game this year is second in his career, trailing just that 2008-09 season when he averaged 35.3 a night in 14 games before losing in six games to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference final.
That all of this is happening at the age of 32, when most mere mortal professionals are into their declining years, speaks volumes about how committed James remains. Yet the majority of prognosticators and pundits are picking against him.
Never mind that he is surrounded by a pair of all-stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Never mind that his team is stacked with three-point shooting threats by the names of Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Channing Frye and even Deron Williams.
No, James goes into these Finals as the prohibitive underdog not because of what he or his teammates are capable of doing, but because of what his opponent can do.
It’s simple math, really. Four is greater than three and while the Cavs are blessed with three allstars, the Golden State Warriors have four in Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
On top of that, they are playing at all-star levels at both ends of the floor, while the Cavs are only really excelling offensively.
On paper this series is easy to break down. The Cavs are really, really good. The Warriors, though, are great.
But as Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey is wont to say: “nothing is ever won on paper.”
The games still have to be played and with James operating at or beyond his peak, anything is possible.
“Obviously, when you lose to a team, you want to see that team again,” super agitator Green said of the dream matchup of Cavs and Warriors in the NBA Finals for a third consecutive year. “I think that’s just the nature of any competitor. In saying that, we wouldn’t be disappointed to be playing anyone else in the Finals, and they wouldn’t be disappointed as well. At the end of the day, the goal is to win a championship, and whoever’s in front of you, you have to beat that squad.
“Now that this matchup has come to fruition, we’re definitely excited about it, the opportunity to be playing a team three years straight in the NBA Finals,” Green said. “I don’t know how many times that’s happened. I don’t think it’s happened any. But it’s a special thing and it’s one that we’re definitely excited about. But most importantly, like I said, the goal is to win the championship, regardless of who you’re facing.”
James is clearly the biggest thing standing in the way of that goal for the Warriors and he’s got plenty of motivation this time around beyond just defending last year’s championship.
James is chasing two things at once. He is after that fourth NBA title and he’s chasing the potentially unreachable legend of Michael Jordan.
Jordan and his six NBA titles would appear to be out of reach as long as the Warriors remain healthy and together.
But James and his own legendary determination cannot be overlooked.
He’s already in that “greatest of all time” conversation with Jordan and a win in this series as a prohibitive underdog might be enough in some minds to push him past the Chicago Bulls legend.
Go through the variables and this one doesn’t appear like a series that should last long. The advantages line up primarily on the Warriors’ side. The fact that James is on the other, though, makes a Warriors call a tough one. If nothing else, it keeps the interest in this NBA Finals extremely high.