The NBA belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. The rest of the teams in the league are all just small obstacles for both these teams to overcome. On Monday the Warriors brought out the brooms to sweep the Utah Jazz on their way to a 121-95 win joining the Cavaliers as the only two teams in NBA history to go 8-0 in the first two rounds. These two heavyweight contenders are now only a combined eight wins away from an NBA Finals rematch fro the third straight year.
Both the Warriors and Cavaliers achieved something that hasn't been done in NBA history
It is of note to point out that both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors are not the first duo of teams to sweep both their first round and second round opponents. In 1989 (back when the first round series was a best of five instead of best of seven), the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons both swept their first and second round opponents, before they clashed in the NBA Finals where coincidentally the series ended in a sweep as Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons swept the Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers of this season are both hoping to reach the finals for a third straight year while continuing to dominate their opponents along the way.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won by double digits three of their four times in their sweep of the Toronto Raptors, while the Golden State Warriors in their first two rounds against the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers have only won one game in the playoffs by less than double digits.
Credit is due to the Indiana Pacers as despite being swept they managed to keep their games against the Cleveland Cavaliers close.
This series result serves as a contraction to Draymond Green's comment regarding the opponents the Cavaliers have faced so far in the playoffs. According to ESPN.com's Chris Haynes, Draymond Green reportedly told him that he thought the teams that Cavaliers faced would put up more of a fight. The deciding factor, however, will be how the Cavaliers and Warriors play each other if they meet in the NBA finals for a third straight time.
This possible NBA Finals matchup is hugely anticipated
The Golden State Warriors won the 2015 NBA title after winning in six games against Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers. The following year, however, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers historically coming back and winning the NBA title after being down 3-1 against the Warriors who went a record-breaking 73-9 in the regular season.
Whoever wins the NBA title will gain bragging rights in what will be an exciting finals series, but for now, while both of these teams wait for their conference finals opponents, they can both look back and be impressed with their piece of history they made in the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs.
