NBA Finals Thread

[MichaelNewtonII]

James Jones has gone to 5 straight NBA Finals

[Cuttinedge]

​question is: will cleveland offer him a max?  they seem content with thompson who's also gonna demand big money.  i could see them letting love walk tbh.  man if they don't retain love that's gonna go down as one of the worst trades in nba history.

That's what Bron Bron wanted. 

[Montsta]

Dubs all day. fug LeBron and the Cavs and anybody rooting for them. Yeeeee

[MichaelNewtonII]

Every time curry draws for a shot I'm like yeah here goes 3 more points for the warriors

[MichaelNewtonII]

5 straight Finals in by far the weakest conference in BBA/ABA/NBA history. And after Steph whips his ass he'll be 2-4 in the Finals.

Did you read the name lol... he'll be 2-3

[MichaelNewtonII]

All you hornets fans ought to hope cleveland wins because if Steph wins one here and thinks he can keep winning there's 0% chance of him going to his home town team

[Proudiddy]

I feel conflicted.

I've always kind of felt like the Warriors were my adopted west coast team.  I grew up reading about RUN TMC, then their runs with players like Webber, Sprewell, when Muggsy played for them a few years, J-Rich, B-Diddy (I could pull for him again after he left New Orleans, F THEM), Captain Jack...  And now, they have Charlotte's own, Steph at the helm...  And if you don't like him, you just don't like life.

BUT, I said last year when LeBron went back to Cleveland last offseason, that if we were out of playoff contention, I would be pulling for them...  I hate them as long as we're alive, but we WEREN'T from the season opener lol.  And it's not because of some affinity I have for Cleveland, but I am a LeBron fan, and I was happy he did the right thing.  It was the best thing for him and Cleveland.  It should be a fairy tale ending for his career to finish it out there and finally bring home a championship to their long suffering fans (the REAL reason I would like to see them get one), and it all is for his home state. 

I feel like it's one of those things where you truly don't have a dog in the fight, just a couple of dogs you found walking around on the street and gave them what was left off your Big Mac.  I feel like it's one of those matchups where I don't truly know who I want to win until it tips off.  I have reasons I'd like to see both of them win, but I also would feel sad for either of them if they lose, lol...  SO, what I'm saying is, is that this is going to be an awesome NBA Finals. 

 

IMO, this is probably going to be the best Finals since the Mavs came back and beat the Heat for Dirk's chip...  In all honesty, all of the season-ending injuries to the Cavs was probably the best thing that could happen for basketball.  Love never really found, or adapted to, his role in Cleveland and then once his injury ended the idea of their "big three," it forced the rest of the team to play as a team and LeBron to step his game up to MJ-esque levels of greatness.  But, it also made them a lot more complete, just as the Warriors are, from top to bottom.  So, I expect a highly competitive series!  It's gonna be fun!

[bLACKpANTHER]

I will be rooting for Cleveland and their city.. but if the Ws win, I won't be mad..
I just want to see a better series that these Conference Finals have been.

[bLACKpANTHER]

If Cleveland sticks with Irving on Curry- they should just have Irving run him off the 3pt line like they did with Korver.. force him to do something other than shoot open 3's.. Curry is way better than Korver at creating, but If Curry drives to the basket, you have a rim protector and rebounder (Mosgov and Thompson) down there to force tough shots and grab the boards..

If Cleveland throws Shumpert at Curry and puts Irving on Thompson- I think this might actually favor Cleveland. 1- Thompson has not been shooting well all playoffs (he did start to come alive late in the HOU series though). Irving would just needs to hang with him, not completely shut him down. 2- Shumpert is the best defender other than James for Cleveland; I love how he just scrapes and pokes the ball out (without fouling) of Teague's hands anytime he drove to the basket.

 

After typing all that.. I still think the Ws will shoot lights out and win..

[Kakarot]

I wanna see Lebron get another ring. Curry and Thompson...fug those light brites lol

[camycamcan]

Me neither but all the LeBron haters would

[cbarrier90]

 

I feel conflicted.

I've always kind of felt like the Warriors were my adopted west coast team.  I grew up reading about RUN TMC, then their runs with players like Webber, Sprewell, when Muggsy played for them a few years, J-Rich, B-Diddy (I could pull for him again after he left New Orleans, F THEM), Captain Jack...  And now, they have Charlotte's own, Steph at the helm...  And if you don't like him, you just don't like life.

BUT, I said last year when LeBron went back to Cleveland last offseason, that if we were out of playoff contention, I would be pulling for them...  I hate them as long as we're alive, but we WEREN'T from the season opener lol.  And it's not because of some affinity I have for Cleveland, but I am a LeBron fan, and I was happy he did the right thing.  It was the best thing for him and Cleveland.  It should be a fairy tale ending for his career to finish it out there and finally bring home a championship to their long suffering fans (the REAL reason I would like to see them get one), and it all is for his home state. 

I feel like it's one of those things where you truly don't have a dog in the fight, just a couple of dogs you found walking around on the street and gave them what was left off your Big Mac.  I feel like it's one of those matchups where I don't truly know who I want to win until it tips off.  I have reasons I'd like to see both of them win, but I also would feel sad for either of them if they lose, lol...  SO, what I'm saying is, is that this is going to be an awesome NBA Finals. 

 

IMO, this is probably going to be the best Finals since the Mavs came back and beat the Heat for Dirk's chip...  In all honesty, all of the season-ending injuries to the Cavs was probably the best thing that could happen for basketball.  Love never really found, or adapted to, his role in Cleveland and then once his injury ended the idea of their "big three," it forced the rest of the team to play as a team and LeBron to step his game up to MJ-esque levels of greatness.  But, it also made them a lot more complete, just as the Warriors are, from top to bottom.  So, I expect a highly competitive series!  It's gonna be fun!

 

You bring up a good point that helps explain why these playoffs have been so...boring.

1. Obviously, the competition just hasn't been there. We have had a total of two game 7s in the entire playoffs and four sweeps. No East series made it to a game 7. Eight times this year teams got 3-0 leads effectively ending the series before it could really get started.

2. Injuries: CP3, Wall, Conley, Love, Gasol, Irving, Matthews, Howard, Parsons. Then Carroll and Korver. All if those injuries were to significant players on their teams and completely changed the outlook for a majority of teams in the tournament. I'd throw in KD and Paul George and Chris Bosh and MKG as surely their teams could have made it if not for their untimely injuries.

3. No villains. Let's face it, it was fun having the Heat and LeBron play the heel for the last four years, but this year there wasn't a team that you could really loathe enough to openly root against. The Rockets ruined the game with Hack-a-Jordan, but then the Clippers, another unlikable bunch, collapsed and along the way deprived us of what would have been a much more fun Spurs - Warriors or Clips - Warriors series. LeBron is still LeBron but being in Cleveland with the underdog role has brought folks back into his corner. Then there's the Warriors whose only crime, much like the Seahawks is now EVVVVERYBODY likes them.

Ultimately we got the best matchup possible but as Batman alluded to a shorthanded Cleveland team could meet the same fate as that Heat team last season, out manned and over matched against the better team.

[FuFuLamePoo]

I could be completely wrong but I can't see the Cavs getting walloped like the Heat did last year.  Irving should be back and almost 100%.  He's yet to really ball out in the playoffs so I think he's due to have a few big games in the finals.  The Cavs are confident after that Hawks series.  JR and Shump have stepped up.  Those two are the X factor in this series.  We know LeBron will get his but JR and Shump need to keep hitting threes and Shump especially needs to play big on D.  He's always been a good defender and I assume he's getting Klay who's a little roughed up.  Shump needs to play big and JR needs to go unconscious a few more times.  Cavs have rim protection in Mozgov and TT.  Dubs have a lot of guys to play on LeBron.  I bet they'll throw Dray, Iggy and Livingston on the King to give him different looks.  

I think this series goes 7 games, and anything can happen in game 7 but I could be way wrong. 

[Montsta]

I kinda hope it goes 7 games just because I have an opportunity to go to game 1, then I'm in NYC for a week, then I have an opportunity to go to game 7. But if we sweep I won't cry or anything.