Mark WiedmerWhen the historic third straight NBA Finals between Golden State and Cleveland gets underway at 9 tonight, it’s hard to see the Warriors not winning their second title in three seasons against LeBron James and Co.
It’s not just that the Dubs own home-court advantage for the best-of-seven series. Or that they’ve strung together the best three-year regular-season record in NBA history. Or that, but for Draymond Green’s suspension in the pivotal Game 5 a year ago and a less-than-healthy Stephen Curry throughout, Golden State might be going for a three-peat instead of revenge.
At the risk of enraging Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics fans of the NBA’s Golden Age in the 1980s, the Warriors just may be – when they’re clicking on all cylinders, when Curry, Green, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are all knocking down the 3-ball – the most fun team to watch in NBA history.
That said, the Cavs have in King James the guy who just might wind up being recognized as the best player in NBA history. And of at least a little concern to Warriors Nation is whom Golden State might not have at full speed to guard LeBron – Andre Iguodala.
The former Arizona great has a history of somewhat frustrating James, going all the way back to Iggy’s wasted younger days as a Philadelphia 76er. He’s not as big as LeBron, but he’s insanely strong for someone 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, plus he’s crafty, which is one reason he was the NBA Finals MVP two years ago instead of Curry.
But he’s also been hurt lately, as he was down the stretch of last year’s title series, and an unhealthy Iguodala could spell trouble for the Warriors despite all their supposedly superior offensive weaponry.
That said, the biggest concern for Golden State and momentary head coach Mike Brown is what to do against the rest of the Cavs, notably point guard Kyrie Irving and post players Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson.
Irving was better than Curry during the Cavs’ final three wins last year, Love is hitting more than 40 percent of his 3-point attempts in the playoffs and Thompson might be the most underappreciated power forward in the NBA. As good as the Warriors are on defense, all three of those Cavs are stronger than their Golden State counterparts, which could become a huge problem if the Dubs aren’t splashing treys.
There’s also this in returning to King James: He’s 16-4 lifetime in head-to-head meetings against Durant.
None of this necessarily hints of a second straight Cavs title, which would give James four for his career and move him closer to Michael Jordan, who won all six of the title series he reached with the Chicago Bulls. (The fact that James is the only non-Boston Celtic to have reached seven straight NBA Finals helps his ongoing mission to one day be regarded as the NBA’s Greatest of All Time instead of His Airness.)
James isn’t exactly resting on his past success in these playoffs, though. His scoring average (32.5 points per game) is his second-best in the postseason after the 35.3 he averaged in 2009, and he’s also making 42 percent of his 3-point attempts, a postseason personal best.
And for those concerned about the 32-year-old’s postseason minutes, James has averaged more than this year’s 40.9 a whopping nine times in 12 trips to the playoffs.
To this point, the James factor isn’t swaying the experts. Of ESPN’s panel of 28 media folks asked to pick a winner, only five took Cleveland – four of those predicted they’d win in seven games – and eight of those who chose the Warriors predicted the series would end in five games. Only six siding with Golden State believed it would need to win on its home court in Game 7.
Golden State may indeed be that good, as well as that hungry to prove to people that last year’s collapse from a 3-1 lead was a fluke. But the James Gang is hungry, too. Especially its leader, who almost single-handedly forced Golden State to play six games to win it all two years ago against a team that was basically LeBron and a bunch of D-Leaguers.
For those with short memories, this is also the same James who somehow got Cleveland to the 2007 NBA Finals while playing alongside Larry Hughes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Sasha Pavolvic. Not exactly comparable to Larry Bird sharing the court with Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, is it?
And because of that – because Irving, Love and Thompson can more than hold their own against their more celebrated Warriors counterparts, as crazy as this sounds – I’ll take the Cavs in six.
But regardless of the outcome, I’ll also embrace this past weekend’s words from coaching great Pat Riley to sum up what’s most appealing about a third Warriors-Cavs championship series.
“I’m about great finals,” he said when cornered by muckraking monsters TMZ. “And I think this is going to be one of the best ones ever.”
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.