12 Talkers On Cavs/Warriors 3
Regardless of what happens, we’re living in the golden age of Cleveland Basketball, and we better enjoy it.
3 min readJun 2, 2017
- This has been my favorite season ever as a Cleveland sports fan, because for every single day we have been the reigning, defending, NBA Champs.
- Facing the Warriors a third straight time was inevitable. 2 years ago the Cavs took the Warriors to 6 games despite missing 2 of their 3 best players and relying on Shumpert/Mozgov for major mins despite both playing hurt. There’s no doubt in my mind they would have won if healthy.
- Of course, last season when the Cavs won the title after the Warriors blew a 3–1 lead in the finals despite having the two time unanimous MVP on their team, the warriors were missing their starting center, and both Iggy & Steph weren’t 100%. Maybe the Warriors win if they were. Maybe not.
- Either way, you can make the case that the better team lost each of the previous two matchups. But here’s what we know:
- We know the Warriors felt that if they were going to be able to get back to the finals and beat the Cavs after last season’s historic collapse, they needed to go out and add a *fourth* all-star, second best player in the league Kevin Durant to their team. It’s no small thing that they got rid of nearly half the players from a 73 win team to bring. Durant in.
- It makes it so this isn’t a true rematch in the sense of the two teams who met in the finals the last two seasons. The Warriors showed they needed more to compete with the Cavs after beating them when we were hurt, but collapsing when we were healthy.
- The Warriors once more enter the finals as the overwhelming favorite. Anything less than a title will be viewed as the biggest failure in the history of the NBA since, well, last time they were the biggest failure in the history of the NBA.
- And they know it. To be clear, the Warriors have been waiting for this for 2 years. They didn’t hide the fact that they were angry that people, including many of the Cavs, often said that had Cleveland been healthy the first time around the Warriors would have lost.
- So they went out last season and destroyed the league. They used every moment to prove that they were without question the best team in the league, and that their Finals win was no accident. Then down 3–1 in the playoffs to a fantastic Thunder team, they came back and won. And stormed to a 3–1 lead in the NBA Finals.
- And then they blew it. And they had to go yet another season without being acknowledged as the rightful NBA champions. So now they have yet another chance to be the undisputed champs. No team has ever been more motivated.
- As for the Cavs? I predict they lose in 6. Warriors have too many stars. But if for some reason they manage to win it again this year? You can move Lebron to official GOAT status.
- Regardless of what happens, nothing can change the fact that we are in the golden era of Cavs basketball. 3 straight Eastern Conference titles, at least one championship, and no signs of stopping next year. It’s awesome.
