Van Gundy predicts decade of dominance for Warriors

Jeff Van Gundy, perhaps getting ahead of himself, said the Warriors are capable of reaching 10 straight NBA Finals — and the rest of the Western Conference may want to close shop.

Van Gundy, who will broadcast his 11th NBA Finals for ABC, agrees with the Las Vegas oddsmakers the Warriors should be “prohibitive favorites’’ to beat the Cavaliers in their trilogy showdown that starts Thursday. The Warriors are 5-13 favorites at Vegas’ Westgate Sports Book.

“I think they’re the prohibitive favorite,’’ Van Gundy said. “I think when you’re the prohibitive favorite against LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, that means you’re a heck of a team, and they sure are. Just the combination of offense and defense, the talent that they’ve been able to amass, it puts them in position where this is a dynasty to me. They have their youth, their health. I see nothing preventing them from going to eight to 10 straight Finals. It will be a massive upset if they’re not there each and every year.”

But eight to 10 straight? That’s at least five more after this season with a core of Stephen Curry, 29; Kevin Durant, 28; Klay Thompson, 27; and Draymond Green, 27.

The Warriors added Durant, the former MVP, to a club that choked on a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers last June, though since then they have lost small forward Harrison Barnes, center Andrew Bogut and seemingly have less depth. However, the Warriors stormed through the Western Conference playoffs on a 12-0 tear — winning in the playoffs by an average of 16.3 points, on track to be the best mark ever.

“Golden State has more margin of error, so they can have guys maybe not shooting the ball particularly well,’’ Van Gundy said. “But Curry and Durant are on such a roll that it may not matter. I think Cleveland in this series, they’re going to have to have all their guys shooting the ball well, playing efficiently.”

It’s not as if the Cavaliers aren’t better than last year’s 2017 finalists either, having made in-season additions, sharp shooter Kyle Korver and former All-Star point guard Deron Williams. Moreover, Kevin Love is playing at a very high level after a tepid Finals last year.