NBA Finals Preview

The time has arrived. Seven months ago, we started this journey. Now that most of the dust has settled, there are two teams left standing. The battle for the Larry O'Brien Trophy is about to begin. The next seven games will determine who the best team in basketball really is for the 2015-16 season. Lebron James is looking to bring the NBA crown back to his hometown. Stephen Curry and company are looking to cap off their record setting season with another ring on their fingers. Time for talk has ended. Lets get right into it. Here's the breakdown for the NBA Finals.

We have ourselves a rematch from last years finals. The best team in the West, the Golden State Warriors, take on the best team in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The city of Cleveland hasn't seen a championship in its town in 52 years (Indians won World Series in 1948). The Cavs have never won an NBA championship, making it to the finals three times. They lost to the Spurs in 2007, and the Warriors last year. This will also be the sixth consecutive NBA Finals appearance for LeBron James, the most for any player not part of the 1960s Boston Celtics, and the fifth for James Jones (who technically qualified for the 2011 NBA Finals along with James, but did not play). Cleveland finished the regular season with a 57–25 record, capturing the Central Division title and the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland started the playoffs off strong, sweeping both the Detroit Pistons in the first round and the Atlanta Hawks in the second round. The conference finals were a little bit tougher, but they pulled it off by defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games. Cleveland is now 96-86 as a franchise in the playoffs.

Golden State has taken a bit of a different path to reach the NBA finals. This will be the defending NBA Champions second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals and eigth overall. The Warriors broke the record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls by finishing the regular season with a 73–9 record. In addition, the Warriors also broke the single-season record of 933 three-point goals set by the 2014–15 Houston Rockets by finishing with 1,077. In the playoffs, the Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round and the Portland Trail Blazers in the conference semifinals in five games each. In the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors were pushed to the limit by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but pulled off the series win, becoming only the 10th team in NBA history to overcome a 3–1 series deficit, and advancing to a second straight NBA Finals. Golden State is now 79-73 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the 2nd meeting between the teams in the playoffs, Golden State won the meeting last year. The Warriors swept both meetings during the regular season.

Here's the date and times for every game in this series:
June 2 9:00 PM Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
June 5 8:00 PM Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
June 8 9:00 PM Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
June 10 9:00 PM Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
June 13 9:00 PM Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors* Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
June 16 9:00 PM Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers* Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
June 19 8:00 PM Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors* Oracle Arena, Oakland, California

Golden State set the record for the most wins in a single season. That could all be for nothing if they can't finish the job against the Cavs in this series. The only Warriors' five-man unit to appear in all seven games was none other than the vaunted 'death lineup' featuring Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. There have been times during this playoff run where they have looked human, the Western Conference Finals was full blown proof of that. Golden State still has a solid defense. Except for two hiccups in Oklahoma City, the Warriors are capable of defending better than any team in the league. Golden State got knocked for a loop against the Thunder, but like any other great, championship caliber team, they made the adjustment and are now back in the finals. Its not just the Splash Brothers. Curry has missed a little time during this years playoffs with knee issues. Andre Iguodala, who if you remember was last year's Finals MVP, again flustered the opposition all year this year, and has done just as well this year in the playoffs.

Cleveland is now slouch. Lebron James,Kevin Love, Richard Jefferson, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye have been dorping three pointers at the same pace as the Warriors, so they are trying to play the style that made Golden State so successful. Cleveland has played solid defense as well. A big difference between this years finals and last years is that Irving and Love are both healthy this year and will be on the floor, unlike last year when they were both hurt by the finals and couldn't play. At times, Cleveland got a little over aggressive, which they did against Toronto. It lead to their only two losses so far in this post season. That has to change in the Finals, if they want to stand any chance of pulling off the victory against Golden State.

Irving and Love will make this year's matchup more intriguing than last year's six-game series, but their defensive shortcomings will also sting. They'll need to sustain their masterful shooting to finally bring Cleveland a championship, but the Splash Brothers are more likely to keep wreaking havoc from outside the arc.

Pick: Warriors in 7!