The Finals we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived.
The Golden State Warriors will face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers to set the stage for one of the great rivalries in the NBA— and the first time two teams have met in the finals for three consecutive years.
This year, the finals will showcase seven NBA All-Stars, which would make it only the third time this has happened in NBA finals history.
But the question is, and has been for most of the season, who is going to win? Here are five reasons why the Golden State Warriors will win the 2016-17 NBA championship.
STEPHEN CURRY
Despite winning the championship in 2015, it’s no secret that Steph Curry hadn’t performed up to his standards in the playoffs.
Until now.
Kevin Durant’s own playoff greatness has liberated Curry on offense. Curry has been roasting opposing defences, knocking down timely buckets, while switching back and forth between being a deadly marksmen and casual playmaker. It has been the best playoff basketball we’ve seen from Curry, averaging career highs in points (28.6), field goal percentage (50%) and three-point percentage (43%).
Haunted by Kevin Love’s perimeter defence in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, Curry is playing like a man on a mission. With a lot of the focus on Durant, this might be the best opportunity for a healthy, motivated Curry to fully unleash his wrath on the biggest stage and prove to everyone why he’s the two-time M.V.P.
DEFENCE
The Warriors are known for their high-octane offense but quietly they’ve been a very strong defensive team, finishing with a top-five defensive efficiency over the past four years.
In these playoffs, they currently have a defensive rating of 99.1, which would have led the regular season.
With the injury to Kawhi Leonard in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, Damian Lillard and Gordon Hayward were arguably the top two offensive players the Warriors faced. In the first round of the playoffs, they held Lillard to 43.3 per cent shooting and limited Hayward to 40 per cent shooting in the second round.
The Warriors will have their hands full with LeBron James, but unlike the Pacers, Raptors and Celtics, the Warriors have the personnel to guard LeBron at the rim and the three-point line. Their best defensive line-up includes four elite defenders in Durant, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
The Warriors, who are second in blocks (6.8), have crafted a tough front line on a discounted price. Zaza Pachulia, David West and JaVale Mcgee have been punishing their opponents at the rim; allowing them to shoot 51.5 per cent from the field five feet or less from the rim, which leads the playoffs per NBA.com.
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DEFENCE PART 2
Last week, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said that the Boston Celtics offensive sets are tougher to defend than those of the Golden State Warriors.
Coach Lue is in for a rude awaking.
In games 5, 6 and 7 of last year’s Finals, the Cavs had the luxury of playing off of Harrison Barnes, who went 5 for 32 from the field and 3 for 15 from three-point range. This gave the Cavs the advantage when guarding the pick-and-roll, allowing James to blitz the passing lanes, guarding Green while still congesting the lane for Curry.
However, this year Harrison Barnes is in Dallas and Kevin Durant is in the Bay Area.
The Cavs don’t have enough defensive stoppers to slow down the Warriors, especially if they run Curry and Durant in a pick-and-roll. Any sort of blitz would leave a Golden State shooter open.
The Cavs have struggled against teams that create majority of their plays with effective ball movement and that set off-ball screens (we saw this in their Game 3 loss if the East finals against Boston). Fact is, there is no team better than the Golden State Warriors in moving the ball and setting off-ball screens.
The new look Warriors cannot be stopped on offense. The Cavaliers know this, which is why they picked up players like Kyle Kover and Deron Williams, who are known for their offense, not their defence. If the Cavs are going to match fire with fire, they’re going have to do it while taking a massive hit on the defensive end.
Attempting to slow down the Warriors in transition seems too tall of a task for the Cavaliers defence that finished 30th in transition defence and 21st in defensive efficiency, this season, per Synergy Sports. The Cavaliers lacklustre defence has been fairly better in the playoffs, but their Eastern Conference opponents are a shining candle to Golden State’s blazing sun.
THE BETTER TEAM
It’s pretty clear to see that the Warriors are the better team, both on paper and on the court.
The Warriors have one of the greatest scorers the game has ever seen in Durant. Curry and Klay Thompson are two of the game’s best shooters, and among the greatest of all time. Draymond Green has a chance of being an all-time great defender.
All four players could potentially be in the Hall of Fame one day.
To go along with their all-star starting line up, the Warriors are the only team in the NBA that has a reliable sub at every position.
So far in the playoffs, they’ve dismantled their competition— two of them being the top defensive teams in the NBA (Jazz, Spurs.
This team is more talented than last year’s record breaking 73-win team. It’s hard to see any team beating them four times out of seven.
STEVE KERR
Warriors General Manger Bob Myers said last week that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has no timetable to return from a battle against on-going complications stemming from a 2015 back surgery.
So far the absence of Steve Kerr hasn’t hurt the Warriors and I don’t see it happening in the Finals— not because Steve Kerr is a bad coach, but because his free-flowing philosophy runs deep through this team.
Kerr is clearly loved by his players and there will moments during the Finals where he will be missed. After a game three victory against the Portland Trailblazers, Curry saved the game ball for his coach and told ESPN’s J.A. Adande that the players were rallying around him.
With Kerr unable to enjoy this historic playoff run from the sidelines, the Warriors will be motivated even more to win a championship for their coach. And after last year’s choke job, the last thing the Golden State Warriors need is extra motivation.
Prediction: Warriors in 5.
