No surprises in store
Cavs, Warriors already know each other very well
OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant smiled sheepishly when asked if it’s good for the NBA to have the same two teams returning to the NBA Finals year after year.
“Yeah, it’s great,” he said before pausing. “You want me to elaborate? I mean, it may not be as suspenseful as a lot of people want it to be or as drama-filled, but that’s what you’ve got movies and music for.”
The Celtics and Lakers met seven times in the 1950s and ’60s and three times during a four-year span in the 1980s. Theirs is the greatest NBA Finals rivalry the league has seen. The Warriors and Cavaliers aren’t there yet, but they are starting to create history of their own.
When the finals began Thursday, it marked the fourth straight year the Warriors and Cavaliers have played for the title. It’s the first time in the history of the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball or NHL that the same teams have met for a championship four seasons in a row.
It is also LeBron James’ eighth consecutive finals appearance, making him the sixth player in NBA history — and the first in more than 50 years — to accomplish that feat. The other five played for the Celtics during the 1950s and ’60s.
Some of the faces have changed. The storylines have shifted. But no one has been able to stop the Cavaliers or Warriors from reaching each season’s inevitable conclusion.
“Teams have had their opportunities to beat the Cavs over the last four years, and teams have had the opportunities to beat the Warriors over the last four years,” James said. “If you want to see somebody else in the (finals), then you got to beat them.”
Both teams entered the opener with some uncertainty. For at least Game 1, the Warriors didn’t have Andre Iguodala, who missed the last four games of the Western Conference finals with a bruised leg. That left some doubt as to how successfully the Warriors would be able to guard James.
“LeBron’s a very cerebral player, so he does a very good job of always being a threat whether he’s on or off the ball,” Iguodala said. “He does a very good job of making teammates threats. (You’ve) got to stay locked in.”
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, got one of their stars back. Kevin Love, who suffered a concussion in Game 6 of the East finals against the Celtics, cleared the league’s concussion protocol early Thursday and was expected to start.
And while Kyrie Irving had been an integral part of any past success the Cavaliers had against the Warriors, he was traded last summer to the Celtics.
The Warriors are mostly unchanged. They brought back all their principals from last season’s championship team — Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Iguodala.
The Cavaliers traded Irving for Isaiah Thomas in the summer, then turned over nearly half their roster at the trade deadline in an effort to turn themselves into a championship contender.
The Cavaliers are indeed back in the finals but as significant underdogs. Few expect them to challenge the Warriors, who have won two of the previous three finals. In fact, during media day Wednesday, Curry was asked if the Warriors fear any player on the Cavaliers roster other than James.
“That we fear?” Curry asked.
A clarification followed from the reporter, who removed the offending word. But the point remained.
“It’s a weird kind of dynamic thinking this is the fourth time in a row we’ve played Cleveland in the finals,” Curry said. “There’s guys all around (who) can do things and make plays and are threats. But obviously everything starts with LeBron and trying to put up as much resistance as you can.”