Cavs-Warriors Predictions and Comments

Draymond losing his cool & getting suspended for a game would be a huge blow to the Warriors. 

I think the Cavs are going to try & get in his head & make him lose his cool because that's the only way the Cavs have even a chance to win as long as GSW continues to play defense like games 5, 6 & 7 vs. the Thunder.

To be the man....You gotta BEAT the man!

I do not think 5 games is going to happen. Too much $$$ to make. 

I think King James gets the ring. Not that I am rooting for it, just that I think it'll happen. There are defensive issues on both sides here. The matchups should be the most interesting part to watch. I think Kerr has more tools in the kit, so we'll see if Lue makes it interesting with a wrinkle it two. James going into full attack mode should be what happens, and if it does it'll be fun to watch. 

So far GS defensively setting the pace. LeBron in attack mode...

Bogut having an impact offensively- will Mozgof make an appearance? 

Tristan Thompson literally shoves Bogut away, gets a rebound, putback. That's the same stuff OKC was getting away with when they were owning the o-boards in the last series...

Wow... The GS bench torching the Cavs...

Curry/Thompson combine for 20 on 8 for 27 shooting but 6 others in double figures and GS routes the Cavs...

wtf will happen when Curry/Thompson start hitting again? 

Thats an ugly way to start the series if you're a Cavs fan...

Anybody else need a Dellavadova reach - around?

You really have to wonder how good Shaun Livingston would have been if he hadn't suffered one of the worst knee injuries in NBA history in 2007 after having a "more normal" knee injury in 2004. I work in the medical field and I can't even watch the video of the 2007 knee injury, it looks horrific. He tore almost every ligament in the knee, dislocated his patella, and dislocated his the lower leg.  He missed the entire 2007-08 season as a result (he was 22 years old).

He played 193 games in his first 6 years in the league. He started to play more games in 2010, but he's probably just now starting to get back to probably 60% of what he could have been. He's a guy that's 6'7" with great court vision and with his wingspan and the way he shoots with his arms extended for post-ups, his shot is virtually unblockable for anyone under 6'10".

Without knowing much about him personally, he just seems like the type of guy that deserves at least a cameo in the spotlight. There are very few guys who have had to work as hard at rehab just to be able to play in the NBA as he has. He's now in the perfect situation as a guy who can play 20 minutes a game on a great team. If he played for another team, he's so good that the temptation would be to play him starter's minutes and he'd probably break down pretty quickly in that scenario.

Loved how Curry, Klay, Draymond, and company filed off the floor immediately after the game giving Livingston his spotlight with the ABC sideline reporter. 

I haven't watched a lot of Cav's games this year. But are Love and Irving that spectacularly bad on defense all the time? They are both legitimately horrible defenders. Not Harden bad, but close. 

Love just has no lateral quickness. Irving isn't much to speak of without the ball. They're both one dimensional players. 

The really curious thing is why Mozgof continues to be on the bench. Yes, GS goes small- but impose your will and force them to adjust. It's not working by matching their small ball- go power lineup and try to slow the game down. 

Btw- some of Livingston's reemergence occurred in Milwaukee. He played really well on that bad 2011-12 team. Liked his all around game. 

Music City posted:

Love just has no lateral quickness. Irving isn't much to speak of without the ball. They're both one dimensional players. 

The really curious thing is why Mozgof continues to be on the bench. Yes, GS goes small- but impose your will and force them to adjust. It's not working by matching their small ball- go power lineup and try to slow the game down. 

Btw- some of Livingston's reemergence occurred in Milwaukee. He played really well on that bad 2011-12 team. Liked his all around game. 

Love's game is a little more well-rounded. He can shoot 3s, he's a very good defensive rebounder, and good at outlet passes to start fast breaks. Your right on the lateral quickness - he's a total liability in pick and roll situations. Also, for a guy his size, he's not a very effective posting up guys 1 x 1.

Irving is James Harden-lite. A great offensive player who can be a decent defensive player if he puts out any effort at all. Irving's problem may be he got a big shoe contract before he accomplished anything in the NBA, so he knows it's offense and spectacular shots that get you paid, not the dirty work like defense. his advanced stats for defense are really bad. According to basketball reference.com, he has a defensive +/- score per 100 minutes of -1.7 this year. James Harden is at -0.4 for perspective. Draymond Green is at +3.9. 40 year old Tim Duncan is the top guy in the league at +5.0.

LINK

I expect Cleveland & L. Bron Hubbard to really bring it on Sunday.

L. Bron might score 60 & it still might not be enough for Cleveland to win.

This series is over 

The Warriors kicked the dog **** out of C Town and Curry and Thompson were totally off.  You know that won't continue. 

The Cavs might win one game but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a sweep.  

GS is going to make a mockery of Cleveland 

Kevin Love is one of the most overrated players of this era.  Kyrie Irving isn't far behind. 

The factory of misery is alive and well in Cleveland.  Unless LeBrona scores 60 a game they will not win this series.  

Speaking of which - the chosen one is 2-5 and soon to be 2-6 in the Finals.  Hello Jerry West part deux 

Not sure who in Oakland found their legitimate two way players. But they have 5 of them. Cleveland has 1. This is a bad matchup. 

Oklahoma City would have kicked Clevelands ass.

The 7 game series with OKC was the training ground for this. 

Tschmack posted:

Kevin Love is one of the most overrated players of this era.  Kyrie Irving isn't far behind. 

The factory of misery is alive and well in Cleveland.  Unless LeBrona scores 60 a game they will not win this series.  

Speaking of which - the chosen one is 2-5 and soon to be 2-6 in the Finals.  Hello Jerry West part deux 

Lebron James owes Ray Allen big time. If Ray doesn't hit one of the biggest clutch shots in NBA history (immediately after Lebron bricked his 3 badly), Lebron is 1-6 on his way to 1-7 in the Finals. 

ChilliJon posted:

Not sure who in Oakland found their legitimate two way players. But they have 5 of them. Cleveland has 1. This is a bad matchup. 

Oklahoma City would have kicked Clevelands ass.

The 7 game series with OKC was the training ground for this. 

The Spurs would have also kicked Cleveland's ass. You could put an all-star team together from the Eastern conference and they probably still don't beat any of the top 3 teams in the West in a 7 game series. 

Wow guys....let's see what happens in game #2.

This series isn't over yet

MichiganPacker posted:

 

Defensive Box Plus/Minus
1.	Tim Duncan ▪ SAS	5.0
2.	Rudy Gobert ▪ UTA	4.8
3.	Paul Millsap ▪ ATL	4.2
4.	Draymond Green ▪ GSW	3.9
5.	DeAndre Jordan ▪ LAC	3.8
6.	Pau Gasol ▪ CHI	3.5
7.	Hassan Whiteside ▪ MIA	3.4
8.	Nerlens Noel ▪ PHI	3.4
9.	Ian Mahinmi ▪ IND	3.3
10.	Amir Johnson ▪ BOS	3.2
11.	Mason Plumlee ▪ POR	3.0
12.	Danny Green ▪ SAS	3.0
13.	Thabo Sefolosha ▪ ATL	2.8
14.	Kawhi Leonard ▪ SAS	2.8
15.	Al Horford ▪ ATL	2.6
16.	Ed Davis ▪ POR	2.5
17.	Russell Westbrook ▪ OKC	2.4
18.	Gorgui Dieng ▪ MIN	2.4
19.	Trevor Booker ▪ UTA	2.3
20.	Derrick Favors ▪ UTA	2.3

Not a single Bucks on that list...

This series will come down to game 4. its going to 2-1 going into game 4 in Cleveland, and whoever blinks in that game will lose the series. I do not think you'll see what happened in game 1 again- the Cavs are better defensively than people realize. Shumpert on Curry was interesting- and length is the one thing that can get to Curry. 

But again- why try to beat them with small ball? That their game. Put in a power lineup and force them to adjust. 

OKC was the team to beat the Warriors.  They have length at every position and rebound well but got sloppy and undisciplined at times and it cost them.  

Golden State has also faced adversity whereas Cleveland has not.  The Warriors are battle tested. 

Unless King James has a series to remember this one is all over but the crying.  The Warriors thumped them without Curry or Thompson doing anything.  That's a bad sign for the Cavs.  

I hear a lot how good defensively the Cavs are but the Warriors are such a different team to defend that it's easier said than done. 

I just don't see Cleveland even being competitive in this one and maybe they can win 1 or possibly 2 but that would take a miracle at this point.  The East sucks and a handful of West teams would have beaten the Cavs in the Finals.   It's just a bad matchup and Golden State can put Iggy on LeBron and not miss a beat. 

Golden States bench could be a starting team in the East & make the playoffs.

I'm hoping the Splash brothers combine for about 90 on Sunday. Put an absolute beat down on L.Bron Hubbard. 

However, I expect Clevelands best shot. It's going to be another instant classic. 

Prediction for game 2???

1 team will drain a 3 to win it at the buzzer. Could be either team. Cleveland is a lot better than the media & some people think.. GSW has the edge in depth & that's where I believe GSW will win the series.

Assuming Thompson and Curry bounce back (pretty good guess) the Warriors win game 2 handily- by double digits.   

Cleveland will circle the wagons and win game 3 and GS wins games 4-5.  

Onto 2017 

Golden State making a run now before the half.  If Cleveland doesn't stop the bleeding quickly this will be another blowout 

What a pass by Livingston. 

Close game going... Then BAM! Down 13. 

GS just outclassing them again. Tscmack might be right- different level in the West...

My God. That last Warrior possession of the 3rd for a Klay 3 was a beautiful thing in ball movement. 

They have no answer. They traded away Wiggins for Love... Lol! 

The ball was passed 8 times and the ball hit the floor 9 times. Golden State is toying with them. 

Wow....this is a complete destruction. 

Cleveland simply doesn't have the horses to hang with the Champs.

I thought Cleveland would keep this game close. I was Rong.

Why does it feel like the series is over?

Warriors up by 32 and Curry only needed to take 11 shots and play 25 minutes. 

Cavs will probably win one in Cleveland but that's it

Yeah, David Blatt was the problem.

MichiganPacker2 posted:

Cavs will probably win one in Cleveland 

You think so?

All year long this Warrior team heard how they were "gifted a championship."

The Dubs have a chip on their shoulder. They want to end this season with an exclamation point! That means a SWEEP!

Only way Cleveland wins is if the Warriors decide to not play defense & turn the ball over. 

https://mobile.twitter.com/Tom...Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

LeBron hand picked this team and the new head coach. 

Stephen A Smith on the Cavs - "this was a disgraceful performance" 

Pretty much 

Don't worry Ty Lue is/was the answer as well.  Lebron wanted a "players coach" i.e. Someone he doesn't have to listen to or respect.

If you watch Cleveland their body language and chemistry is terrible.  So the so called Big Three even talk to each other?  

I wonder how long it would take to gather up OKC for a quick 2 out of 3 series. Anything but this. 

Loved Stephen A Smiths rant last night after the game. The Cavs should be forced to watch that over & over.

You wanted the Warriors. You're at full strength (Love has a concussion now). This is what you wanted. Now come & get it!

Tschmack posted:

Don't worry Ty Lue is/was the answer as well.  Lebron wanted a "players coach" i.e. Someone he doesn't have to listen to or respect.

If you watch Cleveland their body language and chemistry is terrible.  So the so called Big Three even talk to each other?  

I think Love is OK for what his role is (even though he can't play defense), but I can't see Cleveland ever winning with Kyrie Irving playing what he currently calls "defense"

LeBron is a top 15 player all time, but he is not a consistent enough shooter to consistently win games by himself. He's essentially Andre Iguodala on steroids (figuratively, not literally). Great passer, great defender, rebounder, post-up player, and great at getting to the rim. The problem he has is you can usually sag off him and let him shoot 3s and deep 2s. In those games where he gets hot from outside, he's good enough the win them all by himself, but that happens maybe once or twice a 7 game series.