The 2017 NBA Finals

vs.

Begins Thrursday June 1, 2017 on preceded by

followed by

Schedule (all times EST):

Thu June 1: CLE @ GS, 9:00 pm

Sun June 4: CLE @ GS, 8:00 pm

Wed June 7: GS @ CLE, 9:00 pm

Fri June 9: GS @ CLE, 9:00 pm

Mon June 12: CLE @ GS, 9:00 pm*

Thu June 15: GS @ CLE, 9:00 pm*

Sun June 18: CLE @ GS. 8:00 pm*

*if necessary

If the refs don't control the outcome of the games.........Warriors in 6.

Steph Curry, historically, is underwhelming in a championship series. Kevin Durant, with his "life is
more to me than rings" mentality, is concerning. Klay Thompson doesn't get too many touches. It
is actually Draymond Green who will be doing a lot of damage, but he's a loose cannon.

LeBron James is not expected to win so he's no pressure on him after that heroic comeback last year
that was not aided by anything other than his team outperforming and scoring more points than the
other team.

Cleveland in six: they'll split the first two games in California, Cleveland will win games three and four
at home, lose game five back in California, and close out the series next Thursday at home in game six.

[Edited 6/1/17 9:18am]

Dasein said:

Steph Curry, historically, is underwhelming in a championship series. Kevin Durant, with his "life is
more to me than rings" mentality, is concerning. Klay Thompson doesn't get too many touches. It
is actually Draymond Green who will be doing a lot of damage, but he's a loose canon.

LeBron James is not expected to win so he's no pressure on him after that heroic comeback last year
that was not aided by anything other than his team outperforming and scoring more points than the
other team.

Cleveland in six: they'll split the first two games in California, Cleveland will win games three and four
at home, lose game five back in California, and close out the series next Thursday at home in game six.

Lol....Dramond being suspended changed the series.

Graycap23 said:

Dasein said:

Steph Curry, historically, is underwhelming in a championship series. Kevin Durant, with his "life is
more to me than rings" mentality, is concerning. Klay Thompson doesn't get too many touches. It
is actually Draymond Green who will be doing a lot of damage, but he's a loose canon.

LeBron James is not expected to win so he's no pressure on him after that heroic comeback last year
that was not aided by anything other than his team outperforming and scoring more points than the
other team.

Cleveland in six: they'll split the first two games in California, Cleveland will win games three and four
at home, lose game five back in California, and close out the series next Thursday at home in game six.

Lol....Dramond being suspended changed the series.

Um, no it didn't. He played in games six and seven and the Warriors still lost. And please do not
appeal to the argument that his suspension for game five changed the momentum as there's a no
more unquantifiable stat than "changing the momentum".

Green's suspension only impacted one game; and it's not like the Warriors are completely unable to
win one game without Draymond Green. Conversely, if the Warriors had won game five, you would
not have said "That's unbelievable! They couldn't have possibly won game five without Draymond
Green!" You would not enjoyed the Warriors winning the series any less if they had done so in game
five without Green's involvement.

So, that typical ESPN-talking head argument doesn't really hold.

Dasein said:

Graycap23 said:

Lol....Dramond being suspended changed the series.

Um, no it didn't. He played in games six and seven and the Warriors still lost. And please do not
appeal to the argument that his suspension for game five changed the momentum as there's a no
more unquantifiable stat than "changing the momentum".

Green's suspension only impacted one game; and it's not like the Warriors are completely unable to
win one game without Draymond Green. Conversely, if the Warriors had won game five, you would
not have said "That's unbelievable! They couldn't have possibly won game five without Draymond
Green!" You would not enjoyed the Warriors winning the series any less if they had done so in game
five without Green's involvement.

So, that typical ESPN-talking head argument doesn't really hold.

Lol....impacted 1 game, GS LOST by 1 game, thus impacted the series.

Cavs will be lucky to win one game - defensively, they don't have an answer for Durant.

Durant really screwed up the balance of power in the west. I wanted to see what he & Westbrook would have done against the Warriors this time.

The NBA Finals

Game 1

Cleveland Cavaliers 91 Golden State Warriors 113

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors came into these NBA Finals for the third consecutive year, something that has never happened in the history of the NBA. Coming into this series Lebron James was chasing history, becoming the only player in NBA history outside of the legendary Boston Celtics dynasty of the 1960's to appear in seven consecutive NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry was seeking redemption for losing in last years' NBA Finals after having earned the best regular season record in NBA history. And Kevin Durant was seeking his first NBA title after falling short during his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both teams came into this NBA Finals well-rested, so would anyone come out rusty?

It appeared that way in the beginning, as both teams missed a bunch of shots, but the rust quickly went away, and by the end of the first quarter both teams were playing at a fast pace. But by the second quarter it became obvious that the Warriors were the fresher team, as they played with ease on offense and were able to pass the ball to their teammates with fluidity and precision. Meanwhile, the Cavs began turning the ball over, which led to the Warriors extending to an eight point lead by halftime.

But it was the opening of the third quarter that decided the game. The Warriors went on a 13-0 run that put them up for good. They were led by Kevin Durant, who played with intensity and fury on his way to 38 points while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out eight assists. The Cavs would cut the Warrirors lead to 12 points late in the third quarter but could get no closer. Stephen Curry scored 28 points, shooting six 3-pointers while also dishing out 10 assists and grabbing six rebounds. Draymond Green added nine points and 10 rebounds. Lebron James led the Cavs with 28 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists bot also turned the ball over eight times. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points while Kevin Love added 15 points and 21 rebounds, but the rest of the team was MIA as Golden State dominated once again.

Golden State leads series 1-0.

Twenty turnovers, bad defense, very little offense from Tristan Thompson & the bench plus Durant being Durant = a complete ass-whipping.

Graycap23 said:

Dasein said:

Um, no it didn't. He played in games six and seven and the Warriors still lost. And please do not
appeal to the argument that his suspension for game five changed the momentum as there's a no
more unquantifiable stat than "changing the momentum".

Green's suspension only impacted one game; and it's not like the Warriors are completely unable to
win one game without Draymond Green. Conversely, if the Warriors had won game five, you would
not have said "That's unbelievable! They couldn't have possibly won game five without Draymond
Green!" You would not enjoyed the Warriors winning the series any less if they had done so in game
five without Green's involvement.

So, that typical ESPN-talking head argument doesn't really hold.

Lol....impacted 1 game, GS LOST by 1 game, thus impacted the series.

They still lost games six and seven with Draymond Green playing.

Your argument is dumb, Gray.

728huey said:

The NBA Finals

Game 1

Cleveland Cavaliers 91 Golden State Warriors 113

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors came into these NBA Finals for the third consecutive year, something that has never happened in the history of the NBA. Coming into this series Lebron James was chasing history, becoming the only player in NBA history outside of the legendary Boston Celtics dynasty of the 1960's to appear in seven consecutive NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry was seeking redemption for losing in last years' NBA Finals after having earned the best regular season record in NBA history. And Kevin Durant was seeking his first NBA title after falling short during his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both teams came into this NBA Finals well-rested, so would anyone come out rusty?

It appeared that way in the beginning, as both teams missed a bunch of shots, but the rust quickly went away, and by the end of the first quarter both teams were playing at a fast pace. But by the second quarter it became obvious that the Warriors were the fresher team, as they played with ease on offense and were able to pass the ball to their teammates with fluidity and precision. Meanwhile, the Cavs began turning the ball over, which led to the Warriors extending to an eight point lead by halftime.

But it was the opening of the third quarter that decided the game. The Warriors went on a 13-0 run that put them up for good. They were led by Kevin Durant, who played with intensity and fury on his way to 38 points while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out eight assists. The Cavs would cut the Warrirors lead to 12 points late in the third quarter but could get no closer. Stephen Curry scored 28 points, shooting six 3-pointers while also dishing out 10 assists and grabbing six rebounds. Draymond Green added nine points and 10 rebounds. Lebron James led the Cavs with 28 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists bot also turned the ball over eight times. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points while Kevin Love added 15 points and 21 rebounds, but the rest of the team was MIA as Golden State dominated once again.

Golden State leads series 1-0.

Here we go!

uPtoWnNY said:

Twenty turnovers, bad defense, very little offense from Tristan Thompson & the bench plus Durant being Durant = a complete ass-whipping.

Yeah, but is Cleveland expecting much offense from Thompson anyways?

Dasein said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Twenty turnovers, bad defense, very little offense from Tristan Thompson & the bench plus Durant being Durant = a complete ass-whipping.

Yeah, but is Cleveland expecting much offense from Thompson anyways?

He has to give them something down low.

Cleveland played right into Golden State's hands with those quick threes - missed threes lead to fast breaks/dunks. Cavs have to slow it down, play halfcourt and move the ball around.

Dasein said:

Graycap23 said:

Lol....impacted 1 game, GS LOST by 1 game, thus impacted the series.

They still lost games six and seven with Draymond Green playing.

Your argument is dumb, Gray.

My statement is what actually happened.

The NBA Finals

Game 2

Cleveland Cavaliers 113 Golden State Warriors 132

The Golden State Warriors dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 1 of this series on both ends of the floor, scoring easily from the floor while also playing tight defense that forced 20 turnovers from the Cavs while they tied an NBA record low four turnovers in that game. However, Lebron James had a history of rebounding in game 2 of the NBA Finals, winning four of six contests. But the Warriors were getting an additional boost with the return of Steve Kerr coaching from the sidelines.

Early on, though, the Cavs came out with much more energy, crashing the boards and getting some huge buckets from Kevin Love, who played a strong first half and would finish with 27 points and seven rebounds. The Cavs even forced a number of turnovers on Golden State in the first half, nearly doubling the number of turnovers in the first quarter that they had in all of game 1, and they also got Draymond Green into early foul trouble. Even so, they didn't have an answer for Kevin Durant, and in this game they didn't have an answer for Klay Thompson, as he exploded from the field and finished with 22 points. The Warriors would extend the lead to double digits in the second quarter, but the Cavs refused to go away, even cutting the lead to one late in the first half.

But it seemed very time the Cavs got close, the Warriors would hit a 3-pointer or make a transition bucket to extend their lead. But by the middle of the third quarter the floodgates opened once again. Kevin Durant led the way with 33 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots, and three steals. Stephen Curry finished with a triple double, scoring 32 points, dishing out 11 assists and grabbing 10 rebounds. Draymond Green, despite getting into foul trouble, added 12 points, six assists, and six rebounds. Lebron James also had a triple double, scoring 29 points, dishing out 14 assists, and grabbing 11 rebounds while also making three steals. However, Kyrie Irving had a difficult night, scoring 19 points while shooting 8 for 23 from the floor. And once again the Cavs supporting cast was mostly MIA, with Tristan Thompson and Kyle Korver scoring just eight points each while J.R. Smith was held scoreless and had four personal fouls.

Golden State leads series 2-0.

This series is OVA. The Warriors are loaded - with Durant, they are too much for any team to deal with defensively. Love, Irving, Frye, Korver & Deron Williams don't scare you on defense. Shumpert's game has not progressed since his Knick days - dude still can't shoot.Scary thing is, Golden State would have scored more without the turnovers. Now that Klay found his stroke, forget it.

The series doesn't start until the end of game three. That's when we'll see what the deal is. So, I'm
of the school of thought that when you lose a home game, then we can start to make really educated
guesses about how a series will unfold.

Remember last year, the Warriors easily won the first two games at home; and then Cleveland won
game three at home. We all know what happened next . . .

Dasein said:

The series doesn't start until the end of game three. That's when we'll see what the deal is. So, I'm
of the school of thought that when you lose a home game, then we can start to make really educated
guesses about how a series will unfold.

Remember last year, the Warriors easily won the first two games at home; and then Cleveland won
game three at home. We all know what happened next . . .

Like LeBron said, this is a different Warriors team. Durant is the X factor.

Get the broom ready, especially if Cleveland keeps trying to beat GS at their own game. You have to slow it down, play ugly and stop jacking up quick threes.

uPtoWnNY said:

Cavs will be lucky to win one game - defensively, they don't have an answer for Durant.

Durant really screwed up the balance of power in the west. I wanted to see what he & Westbrook would have done against the Warriors this time.

In changing the balance of power for the West, Durant changed it for the entire league. No team in the league has enough skilled wingmen to defend the combinations the Warriors can use to score.

uPtoWnNY said:

Dasein said:

The series doesn't start until the end of game three. That's when we'll see what the deal is. So, I'm
of the school of thought that when you lose a home game, then we can start to make really educated
guesses about how a series will unfold.

Remember last year, the Warriors easily won the first two games at home; and then Cleveland won
game three at home. We all know what happened next . . .

Like LeBron said, this is a different Warriors team. Durant is the X factor.

Get the broom ready, especially if Cleveland keeps trying to beat GS at their own game. You have to slow it down, play ugly and stop jacking up quick threes.

You're right.

Dasein said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Like LeBron said, this is a different Warriors team. Durant is the X factor.

Get the broom ready, especially if Cleveland keeps trying to beat GS at their own game. You have to slow it down, play ugly and stop jacking up quick threes.

You're right.

In order for Cleveland to have a chance of winning ONE game, LeBron needs three of his guys to have lights-out performances. Who kidnapped J.R.?

namepeace said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Cavs will be lucky to win one game - defensively, they don't have an answer for Durant.

Durant really screwed up the balance of power in the west. I wanted to see what he & Westbrook would have done against the Warriors this time.

In changing the balance of power for the West, Durant changed it for the entire league. No team in the league has enough skilled wingmen to defend the combinations the Warriors can use to score.

With a healthy Kawhi Leonard, Spurs had a chance to at least make GS sweat.

Barring injury, we could see another Bulls-like dynasty in the making.

uPtoWnNY said:

namepeace said:

In changing the balance of power for the West, Durant changed it for the entire league. No team in the league has enough skilled wingmen to defend the combinations the Warriors can use to score.

With a healthy Kawhi Leonard, Spurs had a chance to at least make GS sweat.

Barring injury, we could see another Bulls-like dynasty in the making.

Nobody else has 4 All-Stars and 3 of the best shooters in NBA history. You'd need 3 scorers and a slew of perimeter defenders. Teams could have roughed these guys up in prior eras, but under the New Rules they are going to be tough to beat 4 of 7 year in and year out.

namepeace said:

uPtoWnNY said:

With a healthy Kawhi Leonard, Spurs had a chance to at least make GS sweat.

Barring injury, we could see another Bulls-like dynasty in the making.

Nobody else has 4 All-Stars and 3 of the best shooters in NBA history. You'd need 3 scorers and a slew of perimeter defenders. Teams could have roughed these guys up in prior eras, but under the New Rules they are going to be tough to beat 4 of 7 year in and year out.

Agreed.

And, dynasties are good for sports. The Warriors play a beautiful game of basketball even though
I like to root against them. But, here are last years' games one and two scores:

104-89 Warriors
110-77 Warriors

. . . and we all thought the series was over, until game three went:

120-90 Cavaliers

So, let's wait and see! Yet, if I'm General Manager Griffin, I'm trying to figure out a way to get
Jimmy Butler onto my squad for next year.

Dasein said:

namepeace said:

Nobody else has 4 All-Stars and 3 of the best shooters in NBA history. You'd need 3 scorers and a slew of perimeter defenders. Teams could have roughed these guys up in prior eras, but under the New Rules they are going to be tough to beat 4 of 7 year in and year out.

Agreed.

And, dynasties are good for sports. The Warriors play a beautiful game of basketball even though I like to root against them. But, here are last years' games one and two scores:

104-89 Warriors
110-77 Warriors

. . . and we all thought the series was over, until game three went:

120-90 Cavaliers

So, let's wait and see! Yet, if I'm General Manager Griffin, I'm trying to figure out a way to get Jimmy Butler onto my squad for next year.

Dynasties are good for sports when they have rivals with reasonable chances of beating them. Most every great dynasty had at least one. By signing KD away from OKC, they eliminated a rival.

Butler wouldn't be a bad pickup, if they coukd get some competent perimeter defenders as well.

The series won't be over until GS takes a game in CLE. But GS has lost only 4 games in 3 months. The Cavs are going to have to beat them at least twice in the next 3 days to make this a series. I don't expect lightning to strike twice.

namepeace said:

The series won't be over until GS takes a game in CLE.

That will happen tomorrow night.

Graycap23 said: