FRONTCOURT
Warriors: Iguodala missed the last four games of the Western Conference finals against Houston because of bone bruise suffered when he banged knees with James Harden in Game 3. He has been ruled out for Game 1 and will be re-evaluated before Game 2 on Sunday. Until Iguodala comes back, Kevon Looney and Bell become candidates to start up front alongside Durant and Green. With the Warriors’ defensive tendency to switch on all screens, a mobile big man might be needed to pick up James. Durant is averaging 29.0 points per game in the playoffs and Green has been an all-around dynamo: 11.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.94 steals per game. Durant is averaging 29.0 points per game in the playoffs and Green has been an all-around dynamo: 11.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.94 steals per game.
Cavaliers: For this Cavaliers team, everything starts and ends with James. There’s no Kyrie Irving to help carry the load anymore. Kevin Love, missed most of Game 6 and all of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals because of a concussion, has been inconsistent offensively. Tristan Thompson won’t be an undersized center in this series, and could be a factor on the offensive boards (a Warriors weakness). And as if James doesn’t have enough to do on offense, he probably is the best candidate to try to guard Durant.
EDGE: WARRIORS