I don't consider these early series against soft Eastern teams to be major competition. Let's see what he produces against the Warriors.
Man I hated Lebron 2 years ago, then I started to like him when he defeated those cocky warriors fuckers If he beat them again this year he will be my god How quick things change
The NBA still plays 5-on-5. They play the finals to determine the best team,. not the best player. Was LeBron not also the best player on the planet in 2011, 2014 and 2015 (and probably several other years , as well)? He didn't win the championship in those years, either and you could argue he had better teammates in those three years than he has this year. GSW beat him without Durant in 2015 and the addition of a 4-time scoring champion and former MVP makes GSW so much more formidable this year than they were two years ago. Don't let CLE's current cakewalk over BOS fool you. BOS doesn't have a Big 4, a Big 3, or even a Big 1. Their best player is a midget who plays zero defense, when healthy, and he's hurt. BOS was the only team to make the playoffs that didn't have at least two players score 1000 points during the regular season. Without a second dominant scorer, even when Thomas was healthy, it's just too easy to shut down an offense that relies so much on one player, especially when that player is 5'9". BOS wouldn't have even gotten out of the first round if Rondo hadn't gotten injured. Since March 14, GSW is 26-1 and CLE is 18-9. Yes, LeBron sat out 3 of those games, and they were all losses. But, Durant missed 15 of those games, including two in the playoffs, and GSW went 15-0 without him. That is how deep GSW is. They don't need their best player to have a great game to win. Hell, they don't even need him to play and they are still capable of dominating teams without him. Yes, both teams are undefeated in the post season. GSW's margin of victory is 16.5 ppg, CLE's is 13.8. GSW is beating better teams and they are beating them by more. GSW is simply the better team. Barring injuries, they will win the championship. BNM
Maybe not against BOS, but it will matter against GSW. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't GSW beat LeBron in 2015 without Durant? Didn't they go up 3-1 on him last year before Bogut got injured and Draymond suspended? In the last two years, GSW is 7-6 against CLE in the playoffs, and that was without Kevin Durant. This year, they have Durant. BNM
I should have been more clear. My original point is CLE doesn't have a dominant 4th scorer. Yeah, Klay is not having a good post season, but he did average 22.3 ppg during the regular season, and is capable of going off for 20 points (or 37) in a quarter at any time - especially if you leave him wide open to help out on Durant of Curry. The point about Thompson scoring more points per game in the playoffs than Smith in Korver was not that he's playing better than those two combined, it was just to illustrate that CLE doesn't have a serious 4th option. Of course, you can only play 5 players at a time, so it's not like you can play both Smith and Korver against Thompson. If you do that, you should also add in Ian Clark's 7.1 ppg. The fact remains that GSW has more quality depth than CLE. They have a legitimate Big 4 to CLE's Big 3. I mentioned it in anther post, but without Durant, GSW is 7-6 versus the Cavs in the playoffs over the last two years, and now they've added Durant. They don't NEED Klay Thompson to play great to beat CLE. It will just make it easier for them if he does. BNM
Yeah, LeBron had 11 scrubs. Love was out and his replacement was crap. Kryie was out (after game 1 I think).
If Kevin Love shows up this finals that's a game changer, people seem to forget he put up awful numbers in the finals last year.
His 11 scrubs were better that year than they are this year. In 2014-15, CLE had three players, other than LeBron, Kyrie amd Love that averaged in double figures during the regular season. This year, Korver, at 10.7 ppg is the only CLE player outside of the Big 3 that averaged in double figures during the regular season. CLE had much more depth up front that year, too. Mosgov played amazingly well against GSW in that series, including 3 double-doubles where he scored at least 17 points. This year, if Tristan Thompson goes down, or more likely, gets in foul trouble, CLE doesn't have another big body they can throw out there and defend the paint and rebound. And, GSW added Kevin Durant... BNM
We shall see, at the end of the day the Warriors & Durant when pushed up against a wall have shown to falter in the past. I hope it happens again.
I'd say that the team as it is now, is better than LeBron James and the Jamesettes. Also, who on the Warriors is a beast in the middle?
Zaza and McGee are both solid and they play Draymond at the 5 when they go small. They don't need a lot of scoring at the 5, just defense and rebounding. Zaza doesn't block a lot of shots, be he's a smart vet that plays good position defense. McGee was a great pick up for them. In both the regular season and the playoffs, he has given them very efficient scoring, solid rebounding and great shot blocking. David West was anther solid pickup that has given them good minutes in the post season. GSW does rim protection by committee (Draymond, Durant, McGee and West). They lead the league in blocked shots during the regular season, and it wasn't close. They averaged 6.8 BLK/G in the regular season and are averaging 7.9 BLK/G in the playoffs. CLE averaged 4.0 BLK/G in the regular season and is averaging 5.1 BLK/G in the playoffs. When it comes to defense and rebounding, GSW is much deeper up front than CLE. BNM
Steph Curry was playing nowhere near his normal level, as he was still recovering from an MCL sprain. Curry being at full effectiveness is a bigger deal than Love playing better. And that's before adding Durant to the mix instead of Harrison Barnes.
Lots of factors going into this finals, let's also not forgot the Cavs have gotten even better shooters now too. It's just really interesting.
