After dismantling their opponents in their respective conferences, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors are going to play in this year's NBA finals. After a long and exciting NBA season, it has all come down to these two teams as they are set to play for the NBA title for the third straight time. There are no unknowns between these two basketball teams and we expect it to be nothing short of spectacular.
After Golden State took the title in 2015 by winning Game 6 on the road, Cleveland bounced back in 2016 NBA finals, winning it in seven games. Part three of this epic matchup is set to start on Thursday night, June 1, as Game 1 will be played at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Golden State are on a mission
No team in NBA history has done what Golden State Warriors did this postseason. After finishing the regular part of the season with the best record in the NBA (67-15), the Warriors have continued their dominance in the playoffs as well. They swept their way into the Finals with a perfect 12-0 record. No team had ever done that before, and the Golden State Warriors are looking virtually unbeatable this season.
It seems like they are on a mission to redeem themselves after they blew a 3-1 lead in the finals last year against the Cavaliers. Adding Kevin Durant to their roster last summer surely helped, as they now have two former MVPs, Curry and Durant, in their starting lineup. It will be hard for anybody to defeat them, but if there's somebody who knows how to do it, it's LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron isn't worried
After Sunday practice, LeBron spoke to the media about the upcoming matchup against the Golden State Warriors. When asked about this year's Warriors being the biggest challenge of his career, James said, "It's probably up there, I mean, it's up there. It's going to be very challenging.
Those guys are going to challenge me. They're going to challenge our ballclub. This is a high-powered team."
James is having one of the best seasons of his career, and the way he's been performing in this year's playoffs, it's hard to consider him and his team as underdogs in any series. But, coming into this year's NBA finals, the Warriors are considered heavy favorites to win the title. For the sixth time in his career, James enters the Finals as an underdog, but he doesn't feel that way. "I feel good about our chances, very good," James said.
This will be the seventh straight appearance in the NBA Finals for LeBron James as he becomes the first player since Bill Russell to accomplish such feat. The Cavaliers are being given little chance to defend their title but one thing is for sure - when you have LeBron James on your roster, anything is possible.