Cavs, Warriors speeding toward Finals rematch
The NBA postseason is like the New York City subway system: Standing on the playoff platform, you see broken characters mumbling spiteful mutterings.
Like the Toronto Raptors, for example. Tis a pitiful sight, these down-andout millionaires talking to themselves; something about, “LeBron done us wrong.”
One gets the sense these souls feel they have been unfairly put upon. And
maybe they have, if it is unjust what 32-year-old LeBron James has accomplished in these playoffs.
The King did it again Sunday, scoring 35 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers swept the Raptors out of the Eastern Conference semifinals like a dust storm blowing through an Old West town.
On the other side of the country, the Golden State Warriors lead the Jazz 3-0 entering what should be the final game of their Western Conference semifinal tonight. Utah has a chance — winkwink — but my money is on Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant dispatching the Salt Lakers.
It is a good thing that Utah is almost gone. And that Toronto already is. The real show is ahead.
Back on the platform, waiting for your subway ride, you mostly ignored these sad NBA sojourners anyway, your eyes instead glued down the tunnel, looking for the headlights of a train that will take you where you want to go. To the NBA Finals, where the Cavs and Warriors will be the hottest ticket since Hamilton. Yes, Cleveland still needs to win the Eastern Conference and the Warriors the West, but that is a formality.
This train is an express; there is no stopping until reaching the desired destination.
These are heady times for NBA fans. There can be no debate that for national interest, the best NBA Finals always includes the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. More on that in a moment, but Cavs vs. Warriors is pretty strong stuff in its own right. We are talking top- notch entertainment, just as it was last season when Cleveland clawed back from a 3- 1 deficit to give the city its first major sports championship since 1964. And like it was in 2015, when Golden State popped champagne corks at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs-Warriors theater set is staged with extreme dislike, which always adds spice to the Finals production. What fun is it if the two combatants get along? No, this is much better. LeBron is careful not to make too much of the antipathy his James Gang holds for the Warriors, but it is there, like when that tailgating driver finally pulls past. You may or may not glare him down as he goes by, but, oh, the sin stirring in your heart.
Golden State, meanwhile, is the cocky, cool kid. Draymond Green’s mouth alone is worth popping some corn and settling in for the duration. As a salty sideshow to the angry outbursts involving players, there also are the devilish demographic differences between the two cities. Or should I say perceived differences. Cleveland is of the rust belt, San Francisco of the Bay Area. Never mind that the Warriors actually play their home games closer to industrial Oakland. They are silicon West Coasters all the same.
Young’uns, pay attention. Ask your elders what LakersCeltics finals were like. Wilt vs. Russell. Magic vs. Bird. Kobe vs. all of New England.
Great actors in a drama that pitted flash against fists. Boston won eight of the donnybrooks, Los Angeles three.
Is not Cleveland vs. Golden State at least somewhat similar? Certainly, it is better than San Antonio vs. Pretty Much Anyone.
So keep staring down the tracks, anticipating a Finals matchup most of us want.
The train is coming. Please, don’t let anything derail it.