J-Speaks: 2018 NBA Finals Preview: Warriors versus Cavaliers Again

In the history of the four major North American sports league, no two teams have matched up for the chance to be champions for four consecutive seasons in either Major League Baseball (MLB); the National Hockey League (NHL); the National Football League (NFL) or the National Basketball Association (NBA). When the 2018 NBA Finals, presented by YouTube TV tip-off on Thursday night at 9 p.m. on ABC, history will be made as for the fourth year in succession the defending NBA champions from the “Bay Area” will square off against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions from “The Land.” 

For the fourth year in a row the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Eastern Conference will face the Golden State Warriors in The Finals for the right to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. 

The Warriors are looking to achieve back-to-back titles for the first time in franchise history, while the Cavs are trying to capture their second title in the last four seasons. 

There was some doubt about the fourth chapter of this rivalry taking place as the respective challengers to the Finals participants in the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets took the Cavs and Warriors to the limit in the Conference Finals. Both the Cavs and Warriors eventually got past the C’s and Rockets in seven games, denying some NBA aficionados a championship series featuring some fresh new blood and different storylines. 

This fourth installment between the Cavs and Warriors will bring its own excitement and intrigue. 

Rivalries are what makes pro sports one of the most exciting and compelling and this fourth clash arguably the second highest rated in the past six decades of the NBA compared only to the storied Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers struggles. 

To bring this clash between the Cavs versus the Warriors into clearer context, NBA opponents had only matched up in consecutive Finals only 12 times in NBA history. The same two teams had never butted heads in The Finals three seasons in succession. The last time the same two teams matched up in The Finals in consecutive seasons was in 2013-14 when the Miami Heat, led by four-time league MVP LeBron James, and fellow perennial All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh matched up with two-time league MVP Tim Duncan, along with future Hall of Famers Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, and the San Antonio Spurs. Prior to that, the eventual back-to-back-to-back NBA champion Chicago Bulls, led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and then head coach Phil Jackson faced Hall of Famers John Stockton, Karl Malone and then head coach Jerry Sloan, and the Utah Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 Finals. 

Of the prior seven consecutive times that James has advanced to The Finals, dating back to 2010 when he led the Heat to the championship round, his eighth straight of nine overall appearance may be perhaps his toughest test to date. 

While we know that “King” James, will bring his A+ game to the hardwood from the start of this series to the end, it is his supporting cast of JR Smith, Jeff Green, Tristan Thompson, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance, Jr., Kyle Korver, and George Hill have been very inconsistent this postseason. 

That unpredictability by the Cavs not named LeBron James is one of many reasons it took the Cavs seven games to beat the No. 5 Seeded Indiana Pacers in the First-Round. While they got pasted the No. 1 Seed in the East the Toronto Raptors in a four-game sweep in the Semifinals, the Celtics battled the Cavs tooth and nail in the Eastern Conference Finals before taking them down in Game 7 87-79 on Sunday night. 

Unlike the first three times head coach Tyronn Lue’s squad has squared off against the Warriors, James in this fourth matchup will not have Kyrie Irving, who was dealt to the Celtics back in the summer of 2017 and All-Star forward/center Kevin Love is unlikely to play in Game 1 on Thursday night because of a concussion he sustained in team’s 109-99 victory in Game 6 of the Conference Finals back on Friday night. 

That being said, at 33 years of age in season No. 15, James has appeared in all 100 of the Cavs games and has just continued to perform at an even higher level this postseason, where he has averaged who has averaged 34.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists, on 54.2 percent from the field and a decent 34.4 percent from three-point range. The only real negative of James during the 2018 NBA playoffs has been his 73.0 percentage from the free throw line. 

For the defending champion Warriors, their 2017-18 season was marked by boredom and a seriousness to manage injuries that led them to winning 59 games, their lowest number in the four seasons under head coach Steve Kerr. 

The Warriors entered the 2018 postseason without two-time league MVP Stephen Curry on the shelf due to a knee injury. 

Even without one half of their dynamic starting backcourt, the Warriors still managed to get passed the five-time champion Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans 4-1 respectably in the first two rounds behind the teams other three All-Stars in Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. 

The All-Star Core 4 became whole again when Curry made his return in Game 2 of the Semis versus the Pelicans, scoring 28 points with seven rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes off the bench, going 8 for 15 from the field, including 5 for 10 from three-point range in the Warriors 121-116 win on May 1. 

Even with the Core 4 back together again, the Warriors got all they could handle and them some in the Western Conference Finals versus the Rockets. So much so that a 98-94 loss in Game 5 last Thursday night had them on the brink of elimination trailing 3-2.

Aside from their dominant performance in their 126-85 win in Game 3 versus the Rockets, the Warriors offense throughout the 2018 NBA playoffs has not always looked like the well-oiled, high-octane, three-point sniping, high assists offensive juggernaut that has helped them win two titles in the past three seasons.  

What has gotten them to this point has been their consistency at the defensive end and their ability to take control of games in the third quarter. 

The Warriors put it all together in Game 6 of the West Finals as they took down the Rockets 115-86 back on Saturday night to tie the series 3-3. 

In term of their offense, the Warriors shot 49.3 percent on the night from the field, including 16 for 38 (42.1 percent) from three-point range, going 12 for 20 from the distance in the second half. They finished with 26 assists and just 12 turnovers, and while they were outscored in fast break points 24-16 by the Rockets, they outscored them in the paint 40-32. 

Two years back in the Conference Finals at the Oklahoma City Thunder on the verge of elimination, Thompson came up large with 41 points going 14 for 31 from the field, including 11 for 18 from three-point range. 

Last Saturday night, Thompson came up large again scoring 21 of his 35 points in the second half going 13 for 23 from the floor, hitting 9 for his 14 triples with six rebounds and four steals. Curry had a stellar performance himself with 29 points on 12 for 23 shooting, including five threes in 14 tries with six assists, five boards and three blocks shots. Durant had 23 points, seven rebounds and two steals going 10 for 14 at the free throw line. While he scored just four points, Green had an impact with 10 boards, nine assists, four steals and five blocks. 

Trailing 61-51 at intermission, the Warriors turned up the intensity at the defensive end outscoring the Rockets 64-25 in the second half. After going 11 for 22 from three-point range in the opening half, the Rockets 4 for 17 from distance in the second half and shot 29 percent overall after intermission. The visitors were forced into 10 of their 21 turnovers in the second half, which led to 23 Warriors points. 

The Warriors who as mentioned earlier have been the best team in the league this season after halftime showed that dominance in Game 6 outscoring the Rockets 33-16 in the third quarter, going 11 for 21 from the field in the third period, with seven of those field goals being three-pointers. 

They were just as dominant in the fourth outscoring the Rockets 31-9 and going 12 for 19 from the field in the final frame. The Rockets in contrast were an abysmal 4 for 21 from the floor in the fourth. 

The Warriors had the same carryover in Game 7 on Monday night as they turned a 11-point deficit at halftime (54-43) into a seven-point lead (76-69) after three quarters on their way to a 101-92 win at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX on Monday night. 

The Warriors, who entered Game 7 with a point differential of +8.3 the first six games outscored the Rockets 33-15 in the third, hitting 12 for 21 from the floor, while holding the Rockets to 6 for 25 shooting. Seven of those field goals in the period were from three-point range in 12 tried, while the Rockets missed all 12 of their triple tries. Durant and Curry led the way combining for 24 of those 33 points, scoring 14 and 10 points respectably.

Durant finished with 21 of a game-high 34 points on 11 for 21 from the field, including 5 for 11 from three-point range with five rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Curry had 19 of his 27 points in the second half, going 10 for 22 from the field, including 7 for 15 from three-point range with 10 assists, nine boards and four steals. Thompson who battled four-trouble early on had 19 points, while Green had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, with five assists. 

To bring how the Warriors put the squeeze on the Rockets offense in the West Finals, during the regular season the No. 1 Seed in the West was held under 100 points just seven times during the regular season, losing five of those seven games. They were held under the century mark in five of the seven games in the series, including the last four. 

In that Game 7 loss, the Rockets shot just 40 percent on the night and went 7 for 44 from three-point range, including missing 27 in a row at one point.  

Last season, James averaged a triple-double in The Finals and the Warriors No. 1 task will be trying to slow him down. That has proven easier said than down as mentioned earlier. 

The Pacers in the opening round tried Lance Stephenson and Bojan Bogdanovic, that did not work as James averaged 34.4 points, 10.0 boards and 7.7 assists on 55.3 percent shooting in the seven games. 

In the Semis against the Raptors, rookie OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam did not fare any better as James averaged 34.0 points, 11.3 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals, on 55.3 percent from the field in the four-game sweeping. 

Even the vaunted Celtics’ defense led by Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris, and others were no match for James, who averaged 33.6 points, nine boards and 8.4 assists on 52.4 percent shooting in seven games in the Conference Finals. 

If swingman Andre Iguodala, the Warriors primary defender on James, who has been shelved the final four games of the Conference Finals because of a bone bruise in his knee cannot go to start The Finals, Green, David West and the team as a whole will have to try to contain the best player in the league right now. 

For the Cavs, who will be task in slowing down Durant, the 2017 Finals MVP, who averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 blocks on 55.6 percent from the field, 47.4 from three-point range and 92.7 from the charity stripe. 

The first Cavalier to take on that task will be forward Jeff Green, the newest edition to this rivalry. 

Speaking Green, he and the other Cavs role players will be vital in terms of the production they can provide offensively as well as defensively. 

In the first three Finals tilts between these to squads, it was the Warriors who had the upper hand when it came to players not named Curry, Thompson and Green, and Durant last season. 

This time around, it is the Cavaliers who enter with the more capable so-called “others” as NBA on TNT/NBATV analyst Shaquille O’Neal likes to call the role players. 

The question for the Cavs is will coach Lue play the likes of Nance, Jr., Clarkson, Hood, and Hill, even their shots are not going or will he stick with the veterans in Korver, Thompson, Smith and Green. 

Coach Kerr has shown that he has complete confidence in playing the likes of Shaun Livingston, JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney, Nick Young, rookie Jordan Bell and Quin Cook at any point in time. 

Perhaps the biggest area that will make all the difference in this tilt is the third quarter. As mentioned the Warriors have been dominant in the first 12 minutes after halftime outscoring the opposition by 130 points. They have average 30.5 points in the third, connecting on 51.9 percent of their field goals in their 17 playoff games. 

The Cavaliers by comparison have only outscored their opponents this postseason by just one point (438-437) and have hit just 34.6 percent of their shot attempts after intermission. 

When these two teams met in the regular season, the Warriors beat the Cavs handily in both meetings on Christmas Day 2017 (99-92) and on Martin Luther King Day Jan. 15 (118-108). That loss prompted the Cavs and their general manager Koby Altman to overhaul the roster at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. While those moves were exciting at the time and gave the Cavs a major boost have been inconsistent since then and has left James to shoulder the burden of the Cavs heading into The Finals. 

Four years ago, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers took an unprecedented course into the hearts of the sports public. As they meet for the fourth time in The Finals, they bring once again star power both on the hardwood in LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kevin Love. It is that familiarity that will keep this championship series strong with the viewing public here nationally and globally as we all await to see if the Warriors can win their second straight Larry O’Brien trophy, their third overall in the last four seasons and sixth in franchise history. The Cavs are trying to win their second in the last four seasons and James is trying to win his fourth title overall. 

The fourth installment of the Cavaliers versus the Warriors gets underway with Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, presented by YouTube TV on Thursday night at 9 p.m. and the entire series on ABC. 

Series prediction: Warriors in six games.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/26/18 9 p.m. Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the Houston Rockets versus Golden State Warriors on TNT, presented by Hulu with Marv Albert, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, David Aldridge, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/26/18 11:30 p.m. edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 5/28/18 9 p.m. Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors versus Houston Rockets on TNT, presented by Hulu with Marv Albert, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, David Aldridge, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/29/18 www.nba.com article, “NBA Finals Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers versus Golden State Warriors, An Encore Presentation,” by Steve Aschburner; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3975/stephen-curry; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3202/year/2017/kevin-durant; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/1966/lebron-james; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Warriors.