2017 NBA Finals: Cleveland vs. Golden State Part Tres

[kskate2]

vs.

A few things to note:

- Both rosters are fully healthy this year
- Both teams are well rested coming into this series
- Things get underway: Thursday, June 1 @ 9pm EST at GSW

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

There is so much firepower in both teams. Which team has the better chance to step up their D when it matters in the crunch time? I think it may be the Cavs...

 

[the AntiPusher]

It really depends on how the refs call the game.. if they let Lebron run around like a bull in a china shop then it could be a long series ..it the Dubs can set the tempo like they did last year in the first 5 games, it should be over in five games.

DUBS IN 5

 

[kskate2]

I took the Dubs in 6

 

[DarthFed]

I have GSW in 6 as well. I think people are really underestimating the Cavs in this series, LeBron is arguably playing as well as ever and Irving and Love come into this series very hot. GSW plays tremendous team defense but they are going to have problems stopping Cleveland like everyone else. Of course GSW will also have little problems scoring vs Cleveland. If it goes 7 I think it ends similar to last year but I think Golden State finds a way to win game 6

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Sloppy start but they will get there ...

 

[DarthFed]

If Cleveland doesn't win the rebound battle they have no chance in this series. Golden State is killing them on the glass, that's the only surprise so far.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

If Cleveland doesn't win the rebound battle they have no chance in this series. Golden State is killing them on the glass, that's the only surprise so far.

I just saw Curry grab an offensive rebound between LeBron and Tristan...so yeah...

 

[DarthFed]

It will be interesting to see how Cleveland adjusts. KD is about the only wing player that LeBron can't limit defensively at all. No one can really limit him, he's just too great of a scorer. If I'm Cleveland I may try to put LeBron on Curry as crazy as it sounds.

 

[DarthFed]

On offense for Cleveland it is about not being sloppy and also crashing the boards more. They got outworked and GS is doing a great job of cutting off the passing lanes.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I have GSW in 6 as well. I think people are really underestimating the Cavs in this series, LeBron is arguably playing as well as ever and Irving and Love come into this series very hot. GSW plays tremendous team defense but they are going to have problems stopping Cleveland like everyone else. Of course GSW will also have little problems scoring vs Cleveland. If it goes 7 I think it ends similar to last year but I think Golden State finds a way to win game 6

Darth..remember what happen last year..Draymond incident, Bogut got hurt , Iggy got hurt.. Step got kicked out and the warriors shot 1-10 in the final 5 minutes ..all of this happened after game 4.. it should have been 5 or 6 games for the Dubs last year but the league decided to level the series for the Cavs first win ever.. you know the truth

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

It will be interesting to see how Cleveland adjusts. KD is about the only wing player that LeBron can't limit defensively at all. No one can really limit him, he's just too great of a scorer. If I'm Cleveland I may try to put LeBron on Curry as crazy as it sounds.

It is not crazy...Remember years back between the Bulls and the Jazz, Phil Jackson put Pippen on Stockton for a game or two? They just killed the Jazz in those games ! The problem is Pippen was never the number one option on offense, so him getting tired on defense was no big deal. It is a big deal for Bron to waste that much energy on defense though. They need him more on the other end.

 

[DarthFed]

Darth..remember what happen last year..Draymond incident, Bogut got hurt , Iggy got hurt.. Step got kicked out and the warriors shot 1-10 in the final 5 minutes ..all of this happened after game 4.. it should have been 5 or 6 games for the Dubs last year but the league decided to level the series for the Cavs first win ever.. you know the truth

Nah, Green deserved to be suspended. LeBron baited him but he fell for it and hurt his team. GS stole game 4, it was 3-1 but somewhat tight. I do agree that the injury to Bogut helped Cleveland turn it around. I'm not sure GS wins game 5 with Green even if the league decided to not suspend him for kicking everyone in the groin last year. Game 6 was a blowout, Steph getting tossed late in the game had no effect.

Also remember that LeBron took them to 6 the year before with a bunch of bums when Kyrie and Love were injured. This is a different Warriors team with KD though. Dude is just unguardable.

 

[DarthFed]

It is not crazy...Remember years back between the Bulls and the Jazz, Phil Jackson put Pippen on Stockton for a game or two? They just killed the Jazz in those games ! The problem is Pippen was never the number one option on offense, so him getting tired on defense was no big deal. It is a big deal for Bron to waste that much energy on defense though. They need him more on the other end.

Yeah and also Stockton was a far cry from Curry as a scoring threat. With his quickness and all the picks they set for him there's no guarantee LeBron would have much or any success but he clearly can't defend Durant and it might just be the best option

 

[the AntiPusher]

Nah, Green deserved to be suspended. LeBron baited him but he fell for it and hurt his team. GS stole game 4, it was 3-1 but somewhat tight. I do agree that the injury to Bogut helped Cleveland turn it around. I'm not sure GS wins game 5 with Green even if the league decided to not suspend him for kicking everyone in the groin last year. Game 6 was a blowout, Steph getting tossed late in the game had no effect.

Also remember that LeBron took them to 6 the year before with a bunch of bums when Kyrie and Love were injured. This is a different Warriors team with KD though. Dude is just unguardable.

Darth..he didnt get a technical foul during the game..Draymond was suspended by the league.. well atleast we agree that Lebron baited him which was clever on his part. If you were Draymond and LBJ put his junk on top of your head on national tv what would you do. Again going back to street ball..that is the unwritten rule, you cant do..Draymond deserved to get suspended for the Steven Adams stuff but not that.

 

[DarthFed]

Yes they completely missed Green hitting him in the nuts but given what had happened I don't know if an ejection for the last few minutes would've been enough of a penalty. He could've been suspended twice in that OKC series. LeBron walked over the top of him, didn't exactly have his balls in his face but as you said that is one thing you never do in bball.

 

[kskate2]

The first game was a dull blowout. But I seem to remember this happening last year in the early games and then Cavs caught their stride and never looked back. Let's hope it doesn't take them going down 3-1 to get dialed in again. We need this thing to be competitive after the dismal playoffs.

 

[DarthFed]

They aren't rallying from 0-2 and 1-3 down this time. I think game 2 is a must win for the Cavs. Hoping it's at least competitive, they are going to have to do something different with LeBron on defense. He and Thompson may be the only plus defenders on the team but he can't slow KD down and even if he was successful that'd take a lot out of him on offense.

 

[tennisville]

I hope GSW win in 4. That choke of last year can only go away then.

 

[DarthFed]

Good first half. Game 1 turned into a rout the first 5 minutes of the second half when GS turned up the pressure on defense so Cleveland will have to watch out for that.