SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — For the third straight season, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are set to square off in the NBA Finals.

Let’s take a look at where things stand. So far, they are tied with one championship each. LeBron James has been a key factor to the Cavaliers’ success, and Curry to the Warriors’. Let’s recap the last two finals.

Warriors
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, left, and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, right, in last year’s NBA Finals.

2015 NBA Finals

The Warriors won the 2015 NBA Finals after trailing 2-1. During Game 1, Kyrie Irving fractured his kneecap, resulting in a huge advantage for the Warriors. Andre Iguodala, a forward on the warriors, played especially well in this series with an average of 16.3 points per game. The scores of each game are below:

 

Warriors: 108-100

Cavaliers: 93-95

Cavaliers: 91-96

Warriors: 103-82

Warriors: 104-91

Warriors: 105-97

2016 NBA Finals

Making history, the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals after trailing 3-1, a feat never before accomplished in the NBA finals. During the first game of the western conference quarterfinals, Curry injured his knee playing against the Houston Rockets. He was still playing, but compared to his 2016 regular season average of 30.1 points, his 2016 playoff average became 24.5 points per game. Curry’s injury gave an advantage to the Cavaliers. Throughout game 6, Curry kept drawing fouls and was eventually fouled out, his first time since December 2013. Many calls did not go Curry’s way, and he had 2 fouls in the first quarter itself. The scores of each game are below:

  1. Warriors: 104-89
  2. Warriors: 110-77
  3. Cavaliers: 90-120
  4. Warriors: 108-97
  5. Cavaliers: 97-112
  6. Cavaliers: 101-115
  7. Cavaliers: 89-93
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant signs with the Warriors, and plans to spend the summer in touring India helping build the NBA India franchise.

The Key to Success

Both teams need good defense to win. The Warriors need to defend 3 major people on Cleveland; LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love. The Cavaliers need to defend many people on the Warriors; Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson. In offense, both teams need to make their three pointers if they want to win. This will give a raise in points and momentum. Defensively and offensively, each team will need to play their best in order to be crowned champion.

Finals MVP Race

Some are already predicting the finals MVP. With Durant leading the way, Curry and LeBron are second and third.  There is no doubt this will be close, but ultimately, most think Kevin Durant will rise as champion. That is, if the Warriors prevail. Why? Because they are facing almost the same Cavaliers team as last year, a team that has not changed its lineup much. Golden State, however, now has Kevin Durant in their lineup. So the 2017 finals are like the 2016 finals with one major change, Kevin Durant.