Cavs-Warriors Preview

Tonight marks the start of the NBA Finals, featuring the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, two of the top teams in the league. It’s anyones guess who is gonna end up lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the series. Here’s what you need to know about each team, including their strengths and weaknesses.

Golden State

The Warriors finished the year with the best record in the NBA, an impressive 67-15. Dub Nation is led by 2015 MVP Steph Curry, who averaged 23.8 points per game this season along with 7.7 assists. He is accompanied by big man Draymond Green, an aggressive power forward who was one of the top defenders this year, and Klay Thompson, a shooting guard who has the ability to shoot the lights out any given night. Head coach Steve Kerr is only in his first year, and he already has this young Warriors team in the Finals.

Strength – 3-point shooting. The Warriors are lethal from behind the line, with Curry and Thompson shooting .4343 and .439 from 3-point land, respectively. Golden State also has veteran Andre Iguodala, swingman Harrison Barnes, and Green to splash threes. If the Cavaliers aren’t careful, the Warriors can get hot from deep and go on a run too big to overcome.

Weakness – Rebounding. This Warriors team is somewhat of a small one. Andrew Bogut is a 7-foot center, but Green is somewhat small for the power forward position, at 6’7″. An interesting matchup will be Green and Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson, who has a knack with rebounding. If Green and co. can not keep the Cavs off the boards, there could be trouble in the Bay Area.

Cleveland

The Cavs, although banged up this postseason, are probably the hottest team in basketball, only losing two games this postseason. Lebron James has led Cleveland to their first NBA Finals since 2007, along with help from Thompson on the boards and J.R. Smith from behind the arc. Head Coach David Blatt does not really coach this team at all, but he will still get a ring if they win. Good for him.

Strength – Offense. Plain and simple. As much as i hate his dramatic guts, James can get by anyone in the league, so he can either drive to the bucket or kick out to Smith or Iman Shumpert for an open 3. The Warriors will need to slow down James and keep him from getting in the lane in order to have a chance to win.

Weakness – Health. Sounds weird, but its true. The Cavs already lost star Kevin Love for the playoffs, and point guard Kyrie Irving has been hobbled by a foot injury. Simply put, the Cavs can not afford anymore injuries. They are on their last leg, and need to keep it together to have a chance to knock off Golden State. Also, Lebron needs to not be a crybaby, preferably.

Picks: Warriors in 7. Can’t physically pick Lebron. Go Dubs.

Tock- Warriors in 6

Biggie- Warriors in 6

Beard- Warriors in 5

Largey- Warriors in 5

 

NBA MVP Race: Who’s it Gonna Be?

What a NBA season we have had upon us. New #1 seeds in both conferences, a lot of 3 pointers made, and a lot of high scoring games. But at the end of every season, one player stands out more than the others. This season, there were a lot of players who stood out, and I mean a lot. But only one person can win the MVP award, so we have to narrow it down. Let’s take a look at my Top 3 candidates for the MVP at season’s end.

Steph Curry

If you have checked twitter or watched SportsCenter within the past 5 months, chances are you have seen someone talking about this kid. The 26 year old playing in his 5^th season has led his Golden State Warriors to a league-best 67-15 and an unbelievable 39-2 at home. Steph made an NBA-record 286 3-Pointers, beating his previous record of 272 from two years ago. Steph started 80 games for the Warriors, averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 assists, and 2.0 steals. He shot 48.7 % from the field, and 44.3% from behind the arc, which is pretty good if you ask me. As a small point guard coming out of Davidson, I don’t think anyone expected him to have a season like this.

James Harden Although some people are mad at the Thunder for trading away Harden back in 2012, but in the long run it may have been the best thing for James Harden’s career. Ever since he has gone to Houston Rockets (2012-2013 season was his first with the team) he has started every game he has played. This season, he played all but one game and averaged 27.4 points (2^nd in the league) , 7.0 assists and 1.9 steals a game this season. He has lead his Rockets to a 56-26 record, which was good enough for a 2^nd place finish in the Western Conference. The Bearded Beast seems like sometimes he can’t be stopped, but we will see once the playoffs start.

Russell Westbrook With his teammate and last year’s MVP Kevin Durant out for most of the season, someone needed to step up big for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sadly, they didn’t make the playoffs, getting beaten out by the New Orleans Pelicans on the last day of the season, but Russell did not go down without a fight. Although he only played 67 games due to injuries, he still led the league with 28.1 points per game, and also averaged 9 assists and 7.6 rebounds. Westbrook also set an NBA Record with 11 triple-doubles this season. Eleven. That is just absurd. But with his shortened season and his Thunder not making it into the playoffs, it makes a tough case for him to win this award.

So who do I have as my winner?

Steph Curry. Led his team to an amazing record, shot the ball better than anyone that I have ever seen, and he just knows how to get his team to win. He may not lead the league in scoring or any other category, but he knows how to win basketball games, even if he doesn’t score 30+ every night. That is just my opinion, but we will have to wait and see what the writers and broadcasters decide soon enough.