The Official NBA Finals Thread: Game 7 - Cleveland Cavaliers are your 2016 NBA Champions

[T0INE]

I honestly don't see a way that the Cavs win 4/7 games against the Warriors.

Especially how they got that wake up call from OKC and bounced back. 

 

[DadNboujee]

The dubs won it all last year because they faced adversity in almost every way possible. Other than a 3-1 deficit.

This year, 3-1 deficit overcome.

Dubs are battle tested.


Cavs what? Facing a dangerous Toronto team?

NBA needs to reallign what teams belong on the east.

OKC/ Memphis. Will they beat brons squad, probably not. But it won't make playing in the east a cakewalk.

 

[jumpmanpro97]

Who would you choose before him before he got to the Cavs?

Pretty much only 4 choices at the time

Aldrige
Griffin
Love
Davis

Dirk/Duncan maybe

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...vin-love-as-the-best-power-forward-in-the-nba

 

[nick.]

Including this season, LeBron James has been the underdog in 5/7 Finals.

 

[junglejim]

Blake griffin

I'm not going to argue to much on this but here are their season splits for the year before KLove went to the Cavs:
[table][tr][td]SEASON[/td][td]TEAM[/td][td]GP[/td][td]GS[/td][td]MIN[/td][td]FGM-A[/td][td]FG%[/td][td]3PM-A[/td][td]3P%[/td][td]FTM-A[/td][td]FT%[/td][td]OR[/td][td]DR[/td][td]REB[/td][td]AST[/td][td]BLK[/td][td]STL[/td][td]PF[/td][td]TO[/td][td]PTS[/td][/tr][/table][table][tr][td]'13-'14[/td][td]

•  
• MIN

[/td][td]77[/td][td]77[/td][td]36.3[/td][td]8.4-18.5[/td][td].457[/td][td]2.5-6.6[/td][td].376[/td][td]6.8-8.2[/td][td].821[/td][td]2.9[/td][td]9.6[/td][td]12.5[/td][td]4.4[/td][td]0.5[/td][td]0.8[/td][td]1.8[/td][td]2.5[/td][td]
26.1
[/td][/tr][/table][table][tr][td]'13-'14[/td][td]

•  
• LAC

[/td][td]80[/td][td]80[/td][td]35.8[/td][td]9.0-17.0[/td][td].528[/td][td]0.2-0.6[/td][td].273[/td][td]6.0-8.4[/td][td].715[/td][td]2.4[/td][td]7.1[/td][td]9.5[/td][td]3.9[/td][td]0.6[/td][td]1.2[/td][td]3.3[/td][td]2.8[/td][td]24.1[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[awwsome]

guys, please stop calling anything a "death lineup." that sounds SO stupid.

It is, **** is corny.


Not to mention OKC proved that lineup isn't "death" at all.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Including this season, LeBron James has been the underdog in 5/7 Finals.

Who cares if he's the underdog or not?

Haven't we anointed him as the best player in the league? How are you the best, but expected to lose in the big dance almost every year? I just don't understand this logic.

We live in a society where it's supposedly OK to fall short, just as long as you "kill" it in the regular season. I can't accept those sort of standards.

 

[rafabio]

NBA Finals: Schadenfreude in Seattle

View media item 2051186Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder surrendered a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 96-88 Game 7 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Golden State Warriors’ improbable comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the Western Conference finals Monday night gripped basketball fans everywhere. But it left three distinct groups feeling especially overjoyed.

One was the Warriors themselves, who found a way to keep their record-breaking season alive. The second was the NBA, which is all but guaranteed sky-high ratings for Golden State’s Finals rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The third was a collection of NBA fans more than 600 miles from the site of Monday night’s game, who were openly and enthusiastically rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder to lose: the people of the scorned basketball city of Seattle.

“If they had gotten swept, sure, we would’ve liked that they lost,” said Paul Rogers, an editor and senior writer with Sonics Rising, a blog dedicated to bringing the NBA back to Seattle. “But the fact that they were up 3-1, then lost? It will sound petty, but to me, it’s almost better that way,”

For fans of the Seattle SuperSonics, who lost their franchise when it relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, the feelings of anger and resentment haven’t dimmed much with the passing of time. For some, they may have only gotten stronger.

Rogers, who is 47 years old, didn’t try to hide his satisfaction at the Thunder’s season-ending loss. In fact, he acknowledged that he’d only really begun to pay attention to the Western Conference finals once Oklahoma City lost control of its commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

He wasn’t alone in feeling that way. On Saturday, Mariners fans at Safeco Field saved their loudest cheers of the night for when the final score from the Thunder’s Game 6 loss flashed on the jumbotron.

Monday night at Stout, a bar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill where 33-year-old salesman Miles DeCaro watched Game 7, about two-thirds of the 300 patrons were wearing Sonics or Warriors gear.

View media item 2051188Seattle SuperSonics fans lead a cheer for the return of an NBA team to Seattle during a city council hearing earlier this year. Photo: Alan Berner/Associated Press

“There might’ve been one person in the room cheering for the Thunder,” DeCaro said. “More than anything, we all just feel relieved. I’m happy the Warriors succeeded—and the Thunder did not.”

All of which underlines that many Seattle fans are far from over the franchise’s abrupt relocation to Oklahoma, which followed the sale of the team in 2006 to Oklahoma City businessman Clayton Bennett, who subsequently failed to secure the public funding necessary to build a new stadium for the Sonics.

For eight years, a rabidly passionate fan base here has been without a franchise, leaving a legion of former Sonics followers in the NBA wilderness. Rachel Engrissei, a 33-year-old recruiter for a staffing agency, said the city’s basketball fans face a dilemma: They want a team to replace the Sonics, but they don’t want it to come at the expense of another city that would have to endure a similar heartache.

“The situation came up in Sacramento a couple years ago, and we had a chance to get another team,” said Engrissei, whose father stopped watching the NBA after the Sonics vanished. “Everyone wants another team, but I didn’t want to take that away from them, because I know how that feels. They’d view us the same way we view Oklahoma City now.”

Golden State’s victory derailed what would’ve been a matchup between a pair of cities that have lived through the consequences of relocation. While Oklahoma City got the Thunder from Seattle in 2008, Cleveland lost its NFL team, the Browns, to Baltimore 20 years ago, in 1996.

Both situations were especially tough for the vacated cities because of how quickly the teams found success after moving. The Ravens won the Super Bowl five seasons after leaving Cleveland—a city that hasn’t won a major championship since 1964—while Oklahoma City has become a perennial NBA power with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on the roster, reaching the Finals just four seasons after relocating.

View media item 2051189Clay Bennett, right, moved Seattle’s NBA franchise to Oklahoma City after buying the team in 2006. Photo: mark d. smith/Reuters

Seattle’s feelings about Durant, who won Rookie of the Year during the Sonics’ final season in Seattle, are complicated. Fans seem to like and root for him personally, though those sentiments are generally overridden by a stronger desire to see the Thunder lose by any means necessary.

“When I see disappointment in his face, I’m not happy about it, because we like Kevin. He even came back here a few years ago to play in a charity basketball game,” said Rogers, the Sonics Rising editor. “It’s just really hard to separate him from Oklahoma City. That’s why we’d like to see him move to another team, so we can cheer for him again.”

This ambivalence isn’t reserved for Durant. Engrissei says she essentially refused to talk about the Thunder with a cousin who lived in Oklahoma because the issue remains such a sore spot for her.

DeCaro says he still won’t buy Starbucks because he resents the company’s chief executive, Howard Schultz, for selling the team to Bennett in 2006. He once turned down a free ticket to watch a playoff game in Oklahoma City in 2012 because of his feelings about the move, though he did buy a ticket to Game 2 of the Warriors-Thunder series and posed for photos wearing Sonics gear in the crowd.

The Thunder’s collapse from 3-1 up in the series meant Seattle fans were saved the pain of 2012, when they had to watch their former team reach the Finals just four years after leaving. But the fact that Seattleites continue to cringe each time Oklahoma City—or Choklahoma City, as it’s known here—makes a deep playoff run shows how much some people still care.

Spencer Hawes is a perfect example. He’s from Seattle and though he now plays in the NBA as a center for the Charlotte Hornets, he remains as anti-Oklahoma City as any other resident of his city. “It’s gonna be an open wound until we get another team,” Hawes said at a Seattle bar days before Game 7. “It hurts to see them play.”

But it didn’t hurt on Monday night. Hawes went to Game 7 in Oakland, and he was spotted after the game, outside the Warriors’ locker room, wearing a huge smile—and a Seattle SuperSonics shirt.

Chris Herring (chris.herring@wsj.com)

 

[jumpmanpro97]

I'm not going to argue to much on this but here are their season splits for the year before KLove went to the Cavs:

[table][tr][td]SEASON[/td]

[td]TEAM[/td]

[td]GP[/td]

[td]GS[/td]

[td]MIN[/td]

[td]FGM-A[/td]

[td]FG%[/td]

[td]3PM-A[/td]

[td]3P%[/td]

[td]FTM-A[/td]

[td]FT%[/td]

[td]OR[/td]

[td]DR[/td]

[td]REB[/td]

[td]AST[/td]

[td]BLK[/td]

[td]STL[/td]

[td]PF[/td]

[td]TO[/td]

[td]PTS[/td]

[/tr][/table][table][tr][td]'13-'14[/td]

[td]

•  
  
• 
  MIN
  
  

[/td]

[td]77[/td]

[td]77[/td]

[td]36.3[/td]

[td]8.4-18.5[/td]

[td].457[/td]

[td]2.5-6.6[/td]

[td].376[/td]

[td]6.8-8.2[/td]

[td].821[/td]

[td]2.9[/td]

[td]9.6[/td]

[td]12.5[/td]

[td]4.4[/td]

[td]0.5[/td]

[td]0.8[/td]

[td]1.8[/td]

[td]2.5[/td]

[td]
26.1

[/td]

[/tr][/table][table][tr][td]'13-'14[/td]

[td]

•  
  
• 
  LAC
  
  

[/td]

[td]80[/td]

[td]80[/td]

[td]35.8[/td]

[td]9.0-17.0[/td]

[td].528[/td]

[td]0.2-0.6[/td]

[td].273[/td]

[td]6.0-8.4[/td]

[td].715[/td]

[td]2.4[/td]

[td]7.1[/td]

[td]9.5[/td]

[td]3.9[/td]

[td]0.6[/td]

[td]1.2[/td]

[td]3.3[/td]

[td]2.8[/td]

[td]24.1[/td]

[/tr][/table]

Clippers were 57-25
Twolves were 40-42

Wolves would've been an 8th seed if they were in the east.

 

[ny mavurs]

Including this season, LeBron James has been the underdog in 5/7 Finals.

Not 2...not 3....not 4....

The slander will still come his way

 

[MVP]

Wonder if Kerr is going to go back to Barnes in the starting lineup or just put Iggy out there from jump street?

 

[lamekilla]

Kevin Love slander is at an all time high, I think he's gonna avg at least 18ppg

As far as lineup, I think Lue will make Kyrie play off the ball and have Bron facilitate. If bron can spread the floor and not be afraid to charge the paint, GS will be in trouble. Bron will start getting every call because of Draymond's goofy *** antics in the low post and then he'll start attracting all the attention. Now at that point he's just kicking it out to whoever is open/hot. They can't fall in love with the 3 ball though, that's GS's game. They have to dominate the post. I'm taking Lebron in the paint over curry from 3 in a 7 game series. He's either going to the charity stripe consistently or getting and 1's...

Now that I've analyzed this. It has to be Cavs in 6. Cavs WONT win a game 7 in oracle.

 

[junglejim]

 

The Clippers also had Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan but I guess that doesn't factor into the difference there.  The Wolves next best player was Kevin Martin and Ricky Rubio

  

The fact that they were almost a .500 team is incredible.

 

[elpablo21]

 WARRIORS PICKS

@jcmojica24  Dubs in 6

@Picasso Swerve  Dubs in 5

@GotHolesInMySocks  Dubs in 6

@Chester McFloppy  Dubs in 5

@KingFoamNYC  Dubs in 5

@Mamba MVP  Dubs in 5

@Hank Scorpio  Dubs in 6

@moe200069  Dubs in 6

@CP1708  Dubs in 6

@Antidope  Dubs in 6

@deekaleci  Dubs in 5

@awwsome  Dubs in 6

@DaNiKeRhiNo  Dubs in 6

@d3simet  Dubs in 7

@yancancook90  Dubs in 5

@superflyinchopstickninja  Dubs in 5

@heLiumcLinton  Dubs in 6

@Randy Magnum  Dubs in 6

@eddiengambino  Dubs in 7

@heatseeker23  Dubs in 6

@PMatic  Dubs in 5

@macbk  Dubs in 6

@hymen man  Dubs in 7

@Addict4Sneakers  Dubs in 6

@JJs07  Dubs in 5

@SonOfTony  Dubs in 6

@PHAMO  Dubs in 6

@OlDirtyReseller  Dubs in 5

@kidkain  Dubs in 6

@shoeking2102  Dubs in 5...maybe 6

@MaxElite  Dubs in 5

@yung16  Dubs in 7

@yAyToNyO  Dubs in 5

@itsaboutthattime  Dubs in 6

@RichDale718  Dubs in 6 

@erupt107th  Dubs in 6

@Al3xis  Dubs in 5 or 6

@PJDaBullsfan  Dubs in 6

@JumpmanPro97  Dubs in 4

@ill steelo  Dubs in 5

CAVS PICKS

@WhatsLosinLike  Cavs in 6

@SneakerPro  Cavs in 6

@Heshua  Cavs in 6  

@Maximus Meridius  Cavs in 6

@fo****zlesCavs in 6

@ShotsRangOut  Cavs in 4

 

@youngwolf  LeBrawn Jaymes in 4 

@phar0  Cavs in 6

@nickmaz96  Cavs in 7 

@wHipLAshTw03  Cavs in 7

@AIR JSARG  Cavs in 7

@Kanyeezy411  Cavs in 6

@CashBanks  Cavs in 6

@Sorkoram  Cavs in 6

@The Collector  Cavs in 6

@mosdef24  Cavs in 6

@pip777  Cavs in 5

@air4life  Cavs in 6

@FlyerThanDelta  Cavs in 6

@Lver of Jordan  Lebby in 6

BOLD STRATEGISTS  

@ELJEFEDubs in 3

 @doublemesh96  Dubs in 3

@Lightweight Champion  Cavs in 9

  

 

@Freeze  Dubs in 5

 

[junglejim]

Pretty much only 4 choices at the time

Aldrige
Griffin
Love
Davis

Dirk/Duncan maybe

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...vin-love-as-the-best-power-forward-in-the-nba

Aldridge was averaging 23 and 10 on worse shooting than love as well.  Kevin Love was absolutely a top 3 PF before he went to the Cavs and dropped off a cliff.  

I'll give you Anthony Davis though

 

[tekthemaestro]

Kevin Love slander is at an all time high, I think he's gonna avg at least 18ppg

As far as lineup, I think Lue will make Kyrie play off the ball and have Bron facilitate. If bron can spread the floor and not be afraid to charge the paint, GS will be in trouble. Bron will start getting every call because of Draymond's goofy *** antics in the low post and then he'll start attracting all the attention. Now at that point he's just kicking it out to whoever is open/hot. They can't fall in love with the 3 ball though, that's GS's game. They have to dominate the post. I'm taking Lebron in the paint over curry from 3 in a 7 game series. He's either going to the charity stripe consistently or getting and 1's...

Now that I've analyzed this. It has to be Cavs in 6. Cavs WONT win a game 7 in oracle.

but lebron in the paint was last year. and he was shooting 30+  "shots" a game by himself and it wasnt enough then. thats not even factoring in that klay was not there AT ALL. it was literally stephs 3 vs lebron in the paint. and steph showed up to the series in game 4... so really, you'd take lebron in the paint again, and kyrie at the 3, over steph and klay at the 3? no sir.

 

[Armada]

That bold strategists section 

 

[trynafeelmink]

Kevin Love slander is at an all time high, I think he's gonna avg at least 18ppg

As far as lineup, I think Lue will make Kyrie play off the ball and have Bron facilitate. If bron can spread the floor and not be afraid to charge the paint, GS will be in trouble. Bron will start getting every call because of Draymond's goofy *** antics in the low post and then he'll start attracting all the attention. Now at that point he's just kicking it out to whoever is open/hot. They can't fall in love with the 3 ball though, that's GS's game. They have to dominate the post. I'm taking Lebron in the paint over curry from 3 in a 7 game series. He's either going to the charity stripe consistently or getting and 1's...

Now that I've analyzed this. It has to be Cavs in 6. Cavs WONT win a game 7 in oracle.

I think the solution to this is

1) a lineup of Kyrie, Delly, J.R, Bron, Frye/Love is 100% food for GS defensively
2) Lebron Jumper has been shaky at best this season, so it allows defenders to sag off a little bit & i don't think it will be as simple for him to get to the basket as last year. If i'm GS i have no problem allowing Lebron to try and bully his way to the basket everytime. It will wear him down and freeze out guys like JR/Love who need touches to stay engaged. This year you allow Lebron to attack the same way he did last year, however defensively they give up a lot and GS is allowed to get in rhythm.

 

[shoeking2102]

I'm not going to argue to much on this but here are their season splits for the year before KLove went to the Cavs:

[table][tr][td]SEASON[/td]

[td]TEAM[/td]

[td]GP[/td]

[td]GS[/td]

[td]MIN[/td]

[td]FGM-A[/td]

[td]FG%[/td]

[td]3PM-A[/td]

[td]3P%[/td]

[td]FTM-A[/td]

[td]FT%[/td]

[td]OR[/td]

[td]DR[/td]

[td]REB[/td]

[td]AST[/td]

[td]BLK[/td]

[td]STL[/td]

[td]PF[/td]

[td]TO[/td]

[td]PTS[/td]

[/tr][/table][table][tr][td]'13-'14[/td]

[td]

•  
  
• 
  MIN
  
  

[/td]

[td]77[/td]

[td]77[/td]

[td]36.3[/td]

[td]8.4-18.5[/td]

[td].457[/td]

[td]2.5-6.6[/td]

[td].376[/td]

[td]6.8-8.2[/td]

[td].821[/td]

[td]2.9[/td]

[td]9.6[/td]

[td]12.5[/td]

[td]4.4[/td]

[td]0.5[/td]

[td]0.8[/td]

[td]1.8[/td]

[td]2.5[/td]

[td]
26.1

[/td]

[/tr][/table][table][tr][td]'13-'14[/td]

[td]

•  
  
• 
  LAC
  
  

[/td]

[td]80[/td]

[td]80[/td]

[td]35.8[/td]

[td]9.0-17.0[/td]

[td].528[/td]

[td]0.2-0.6[/td]

[td].273[/td]

[td]6.0-8.4[/td]

[td].715[/td]

[td]2.4[/td]

[td]7.1[/td]

[td]9.5[/td]

[td]3.9[/td]

[td]0.6[/td]

[td]1.2[/td]

[td]3.3[/td]

[td]2.8[/td]

[td]24.1[/td]

[/tr][/table]

The year when blake carried lac to 57 wins with chris paul missing like a quarter of the season almost or something like that?

The year he finished 3rd in mvp voting?

Nah but carry on

 

[friscostylez]

DUBS in 4....maybe 5

 

[junglejim]

 

I'd rather had Chris Paul for 62 games than Ricky Rubio for 82.

P.S., Kevin Martin missed about 20 games that year as well.  But continue to see what you want to see.

 

[shoeking2102]

I'd rather had Chris Paul for 62 games than Ricky Rubio for 82.

P.S., Kevin Martin missed about 20 games that year as well.  But continue to see what you want to see.

Ok man whatever lol

Back to the 2016 NBA finals

 

[mgrand15]

I don't really give the Cavs much of a shot but they have a chance.

- Warriors just played a grueling 7 game series. Klay had to guard Russell while running off a thousand screens. Now he's going to do the same while checking Kyrie. Iguodala now has to guard Lebron after 7 games of KD. Cavs are about as well rested as you can be at this point.

- Draymond hasn't been good recently. Clevelands a better match up but Lebron can do a lot of the same things KD did. He's gonna switch on to Lebron a lot and he can't get roasted like he did against KD.

- Cleveland has a lot more offensively than OKC does. Outside of Shump and TT, you need to stay home on everyone else. With Westbrook, Roberson, Waiters, Adams - there were a ton of bodies to throw in the paint. Cant do that if Lebron or Love is hurting you in the post.

Clevelands offensive ceiling is nearly at GSW level. I wouldn't be surprised if Cleveland made this competitive. Don't trust Cleveland at all to step it over 4-7 games though. Got the Dubs in 5.

 

[hoopcoach]

Momentum W's..Mental toughness W's..Cavs not used to high level of competition from west Advantage W's..Going 6 or 7 Gsw Champs.. depending on Stephs knee how long series goes his lift and lateral is game to game..Will be a decent series not the lopsided affairs we saw in east 4th qtr execution..Will Kerr let lebby go off and shut down klove kyrie or will he do the reverse..should be must watch..as an NBA fan this is matchup I wanted to see for sure

 

[darthska]

Jesus, almost at TWENTY PAGES... and the damn series is TWO DAYS AWAY.

How many pages before the opening tip?

Gimme... ummm... I'll just double this.

40

Gimme 40 pages.

over/under?