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NBA Finals Preview: Watch For The Shooting Stars

By Ernest Shepard
Published on: 16:46 PST, May 30, 2016

What an NBA Finals we have on our hands.

Will the Golden State Warriors repeat as NBA champions?

Is it finally the time for LeBron James to bring the city of Cleveland a championship?

If the NBA Playoffs continue to go in the direction they have so far, it is a strong possibility that Cleveland’s title drought is history. Looking to ruin the momentum are the Golden State Warriors. And that is why they play the games.

It is the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Golden State Warriors once again.

The NBA Finals are set, and it is superstar-laden. Small media markets will be well-represented once again this year as the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Golden State Warriors in a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals.

According to Cleveland.com, social media is buzzing about the NBA Finals rematch. People are talking, taking the side of one team or the other, but the series will decide exactly which team is better. Last season, it was the Warriors who defeated the injury-depleted Cavaliers in six games. Cleveland is healthy this time. And things could be vastly different.

So much star-power in the NBA Finals this year. What is often dismissed is the fact that Cleveland and Oakland are two of the smaller television markets in the NBA. It is similar to the Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and Warriors. The star power will carry the NBA Finals. It is bigger than LeBron James versus the upstart Warriors. This is the next chapter in a legitimate NBA rivalry.

Unlike last year when they met, LeBron James was without forward Kevin Love for the Finals and he did not have guard Kyrie Irvimg after Game 1.

On the Warriors’ end, Stephen Curry was still coming into his own as a superstar. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were not the players they are now, either. To add some extra drama to the Warriors, they eclipsed the record for wins in a regular season with 73 victories.

The road to get to the NBA Finals were vastly different for both the Cavaliers and Warriors.

Cleveland had arguably the easiest path to the NBA Finals in recent memory. Most observers saw a comfortable road for the Cavaliers when the NBA Playoffs began. All the teams that could have given the Cavs trouble were avoided.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat failed to advance to the second and third rounds, while the Chicago Bulls did not make the playoffs at all. Either team could have made things difficult for Cleveland. Not having to face a Bulls’ team that knows them well surely helped out. The two Cavaliers’ losses were against the eventually outmatched Toronto Raptors. It is safe to say that LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have gone untested in the postseason.

As for the Golden State Warriors, injuries made their road a lot tougher than they wanted it to be. Winning the first two series in five games looks easy on paper, but the Warriors were winning without Stephen Curry for close to three weeks. The Western Conference Finals were expected to go to the limit. And the Warriors delivered despite being down in the series to the Thunder 3-1. The battle-tested Warriors faced adversity during this playoff run after having a Cavaliers-like postseason last year.

Keep an eye on the three-point shooting by both teams in this year’s NBA Finals. The team that has the better shooting percentage in the series will likely win the NBA title.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors came back with a barrage of threes, after being down by 13 in Game 7, to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-88. It almost seemed as if every shot they took from the midway point of the second quarter, and beyond went in the basket. Stephen Curry made seven three-pointers and Klay Thompson connected on six threes.

What is most curious is that the Cleveland Cavaliers have attempted and made more three-pointers than any team in the playoffs. Their 43.6 shooting percentage from behind the arc is also a postseason best. Can the Cavaliers make three-pointers against a Warriors’ team that loves to close out on shooters?

If they can, they will win the series, fulfilling LeBron James’ promise to win an NBA Championship for the city of Cleveland.

Take a pause before crowning the Cavs as champs. As recent history has shown us, the Golden State cannot be counted out. This will be a most interesting NBA Finals.

[Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images]

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cleveland cavaliers LeBron James Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry Klay Thompson
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