As we await for this year's highly anticipated NBA Finals to begin, there are many comments around the league regarding the matchup between the Cavaliers and the Warriors. There's history between these two teams as we all well know, since this will be their third straight meeting in the NBA Finals. It is the first time in NBA history that same two teams will play for the championship for the third year in a row.
From the Las Vegas sportsbooks to almost every sports analyst on major TV networks and casual NBA fans, it seems that everybody has the Cleveland Cavaliers as the heavy underdogs in this year's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
The Cavs are the defending champions and it's hard to think of them as underdogs in any series, but the way the Warriors have dominated in this year's playoffs, it's hard to disagree with the bookies and the rest of the basketball world.
'I don't feel like we're underdogs'
Not everybody thinks the Warriors are the prohibitive favorites in this year's finals. If you ask Kevin Love, he feels confident about his team's chances. When asked to comment on Las Vegas sportsbooks giving Cleveland slim chances in the finals, this is what Love had to say, "The whole underdog thing is funny to me, because, yeah, at the end of the day we are defending our title."
The Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in NBA finals last year, winning the title in Game 7 against the Warriors.
Love also added that the Cavaliers will use the underdog status as a fuel and motivation and said, "I don't feel like we're underdogs. We match up well with them, and I think they'd say the same about us."
Love has something to prove
The Cavaliers are on a roll this postseason as they enter the finals with a 12-1 record. Their lone loss of the playoffs came in Game 3 against the Boston Celtics and that's pretty much been the only stain on their postseason performance so far.
Kevin Love's been a big part of Cavaliers' success this year as he's averaging 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from behind the arc in the playoffs.
If he can put those numbers in the finals, the Cavaliers will have a real chance of defending their title. Love was pretty much a non-factor in last year's finals when he averaged just 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game against the Warriors.
He shot 36 percent from the field and played just 26 minutes per game in that seven-game series.
He is finally healthy and in shape, and we expect to see the best of him on the biggest stage of his career.
