OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The Latest on Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night (all times local):
4:25 p.m.
Mike Brown expects to coach the Golden State Warriors as planned in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Steve Kerr will likely watch again from behind the scenes as he deals with continued complications following back surgery nearly two years ago.
Brown addressed the media pregame on Thursday and said he hadn’t yet spoken to Kerr.
The 51-year-old Kerr had left open the possibility he might feel well enough to return to the bench by Thursday’s opener against the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena. Yet he hadn’t felt well enough in the previous days to feel like he was ready.
Kerr hasn’t coached Golden State – 12-0 heading into its third straight Finals against LeBron James and the Cavs – since Game 2 of the first round against Portland. He underwent a procedure to repair a spinal fluid leak on May 5 at Duke University but said he is still ailing and in debilitating pain.
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4:15 p.m.
After a 346-day wait, the NBA Finals are back and it’s as if nothing has changed.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are back in Oakland at the scene of their Game 7 victory last June to take on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in this year’s highly anticipated NBA Finals.
This is the first time in NBA history teams have met in three straight Finals. The last time it happened in any major North American team sport came in 1954-56 when Detroit and Montreal squared off in three straight Stanley Cup Finals.
This will be star-studded affair with Golden State’s Kevin Durant joining the mix as one of seven 2016 All-Stars in the series. In all, 11 players in the series have been All-Stars in their careers, tying the 1983 Finals between Philadelphia and the Lakers for the most in NBA history.
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