The NBA Finals are now only a matter of days away, and the nerves are certainly sky high. Our writing staff gives you their predictions on who will win and their Finals MVP.
Preston Dubey- @Dubey23
Cavs in 7, LeBron Finals MVP
The realist in me wants to think that Golden State, with the addition of Kevin Durant this year, are simply too good. That they will continue rolling, Durant’s scoring is too unstoppable, and they get by Cleveland in 5 games, like many of my colleagues have predicted. However, a much larger part of me remembers the last two Finals and the level that LeBron is capable of playing at. I think, this year, he has another one of those legendary moments, leading the Cavs to a 7 game series win, and securing his 4th title and 4th Finals MVP.
Kirshner Saintil- @Kirsh_TLFO
Cavs in 6, LeBron Finals MVP
The Golden State Warriors added lethal scorer Kevin Durant for one reason and one reason only, to beat LeBron James in the finals. On paper, it would seem that the Cavs are outgunned and are headed for a world of hurt in the NBA Finals, but that will not be the case. Both Kyrie and LeBron have been playing at a high level. Kevin Love will be a large role in why I am choosing the Cavs to win this series. I expect LeBron to dominate both teams in all major categories as he has done in their last 2 Finals meetings, and although this may be the series Steph Curry finally shows up consistently, it will not be enough.
Andrew Jakuby- @Jakubicz
Cavs in 6, LeBron Finals MVP
As we gear up for a rematch of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. Now even though I am no expert on the game of basketball I am still going to do my best to predict the outcome of what should be an exciting and the rollercoaster of a series. Even though they are not favored I predict the Cleveland Cavaliers will win the Finals in Six games and the Finals MVP will be none other than Lebron James. While this may seem to be a basic pick, I believe that this is truly what will happen, and I think that the Boston Series proved it. In game 4 of the Celtics series, the Cavs showed their ability to have anyone show up and take over a game as Kyrie dropped 42 when he needed to. While I don’t think the Cavs will run away with it, I believe that their experience and the advantage of having the best player in the world on their team will allow for them to go back to back NBA Champions.
Cale Michael- @XJustified
Cavs in 6, LeBron Finals MVP
With LeBron and Kyrie playing at the level they are, and Kevin Love playing the best basketball he has ever played wearing a Cavs jersey, it is going to be a battle in the post for the title. If the Cavs can keep up with the Warriors on offense and not get blown away defensively, the deciding factor will be rebounding. With Love and Thompson facing off against some combination of Draymond and either Zaza or JaVale McGee, Cleveland has to be feeling confident.
Brandon Wentz- @Thebighonch
Warriors in 6, Curry Finals MVP
Warriors in 6
Now, in saying the Warriors will win the Finals, I’m not overlooking what LeBron has been doing throughout his career or short-selling Kyrie’s 42-point Game 4 against Boston; but more so giving credit to a Golden State team who swept every team they’ve played in this postseason, injuries or not. The way I’m looking at this series is it took the Cavs a lot of good fortune (and a Draymond Green suspension) to make a comeback last year and defeat the Warriors in 7, but now they have to deal with four of the best players in all of the league. While adding Kevin Durant to their already-stacked lineup did deplete their depth, Golden State has managed to keep the best record in the league (even if they didn’t win 70 games). Adding Durant has given the Warriors flexibility with their lineups, and one of the most efficient players in the league. The Cavs have a deeper bench than the Warriors, but they haven’t really used their bench much this postseason. In the three close games (i.e. games decided by less than 33 points) of the ECF against Boston, Cleveland only averaged 10 bench points per night.
What LeBron has done this postseason – and his whole career, for that matter – has been remarkable, but I don’t think the rest of the Cavs will be able to overcome the Warriors.
This postseason, in closeout games, Curry has averaged 34.3 points per game. Now, while the Warriors have clearly been the better team in all three of those series, and they have a much more even matchup on Cleveland, Curry’s play in the important games of Golden State’s postseason has been impressive. I think that should be a sign of things to come. Now that the Cavs will be challenged to focus on two former MVPs instead of just one, Curry will have less of a burden to get open than he did in the previous two Finals. While I still consider Golden State Curry’s team (which drove me to choose Curry for my Finals MVP projection) I wouldn’t be too shocked if Durant stepped up his game now that he’s back in the Finals.
Juwan Davis- @JuwanNBALead
Cavs in 6, LeBron Finals MVP
The Cavaliers will win this series in 6 games & further add to LeBron James’ resume as the GOAT. Game 1 will be the biggest factor into this series, where Golden State has had their worst playoff games thus far, with an average winning margin of +7.3. Rest is good for a team like Cleveland, but it gets the Warriors out of sync for a majority of the first half, as they’ve only led at halftime of one game 1 these playoffs. We all know the story behind the Spurs blowing their 25 point lead, but the Cavs are the only NBA team capable of holding onto a big lead versus Golden State. Winning Game 1 will give Cleveland home court advantage for this playoffs and we won’t see many home losses for either team. With that being said, LeBron James is playing his best basketball of his career, along with him having the greatest support cast he’s ever had, where Kevin Love & Kyrie Irving have been on fire since the ECF. Golden State is the best team in basketball, but the Cavs have always had Stephen Curry’s number in the Finals and Kevin Durant is still 5-18 versus LeBron James in his career, not to mention assistant head coach Mike Brown can only get them so far without them needing a real strategy and not counting strictly on talent to win them games. Golden State should still be the favorites on paper, but the Cavs bring a ton of things that aren’t on the stat sheet with two of the most clutch players in basketball. They will grind games out until the very end and all of their wins in the series will be close games, while Golden State’s wins will be blowouts where Cleveland accepts defeat early. If you can’t stand the MJ – LBJ comparisons now … you’re going to hate them this summer when LeBron is a 4x Champion & Finals MVP.
Eric Peterson- @eric_peterson20
Cavs in 5, Kyrie Irving Finals MVP
The Warriors are a great team on paper but have yet to face a true test this postseason. Prior to Kawhi Leonard’s departure from game one of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs were cruising with a 23-point lead midway through the third quarter. Portland-less Jusuf Nurkic, Utah-less George Hill and Rudy Gobert, and San Antonio-less Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker have not prepared the Golden State Warriors enough to take down the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James will be his usual self but Kyrie Irving will be crucial to Cleveland’s success.
Mohamed Bah- @RAGEMO23
Cavs in 7, LeBron Finals MVP
The real reason why I chose the Cavs to win is simply that this is the most important series in LeBron’s career as he will attempt to go for his fourth ring. If he loses, his finals record drops to 3-5, which is under .500, and LeBron understands that. Time and time again he has said that he is chasing a “ghost” and we now know who that is. Apart from this series is all about LeBron, the Warriors managed to make some moves, both good and bad for this upcoming season.
- The Warriors have no interior size- Last year in the finals when Andrew Bogut got hurt, you could sense that the Cavs had a green light to enter the paint at will which created more shots for shooters on the team. This is the one big impact this series will have due to LeBron playing at arguably his best in his career.
- The signing of KD will have a lot of impact on the offensive end of the floor, but no much defensively. I do not see Durant being able to stop LeBron, due to this series being between those two.
