Poll: Who Wins the Finals

[LGC88]

I agree Lebron can win a game or 2 almost by itself, but not 4 games out of 7.
They should have won last night and they miss that opportunity.
I'm not worried for the warriors at all. We know better, they had a hard time the first 3 games against Memphis but look what happened after that.
Warriors are young and it's their first finales, and considering that, I'm impressed they managed to play so well in OT and pull up the win (credit to the coach who always find the right moment to go small with Green at the 5 and disturb their opponent).
On the long run, their depth and their defense should make the difference. Cavs can't stop everyone (Iggy, Barbosa, Levingston are also contributing and it's too much for the Cavs).

[Moranis]

I agree Lebron can win a game or 2 almost by itself, but not 4 games out of 7.
They should have won last night and they miss that opportunity.
I'm not worried for the warriors at all. We know better, they had a hard time the first 3 games against Memphis but look what happened after that.
Warriors are young and it's their first finales, and considering that, I'm impressed they managed to play so well in OT and pull up the win (credit to the coach who always find the right moment to go small with Green at the 5 and disturb their opponent).
On the long run, their depth and their defense should make the difference. Cavs can't stop everyone (Iggy, Barbosa, Levingston are also contributing and it's too much for the Cavs).

True, but on the flip side I don't think Thompson, Shumpert, Smith, Jones, and Delly are going to shoot 6 of 24 most games either.

[Finkelskyhook]

When the messiah is that locked in AND getting treatment only he gets....It's truly amazing that the Cavs didn't win in regulation.  How many of his shots was the messiah able to overtly push off?  Or barrel his shoulder into whoever was defending him?

With or without Irving...GS is going to win.  But if the messiah is officiated as he is during the regular season...Every game will be a nail-biter.

[MJohnnyboy]

Interesting first game, though I think the Cavs may regret not being able to close it out.  That was a game they should have won and that is with Smith, Thompson, Shumpert, Jones, and Delly all playing pretty poor games on the whole (I know Thompson rebounded well, but didn't much else and Shump as always was good defensively but was pretty poor overall offensively).  They got more from Irving than they can probably expect going forward and Mozgov had a pretty solid game.  James scored a lot of points but took a lot of shots, good game not great game from him.  With all that on the road they had two shots to win at the end of regulation.

You can make the same case that the Warriors didn't play very well either. I think the Warriors had finals jitters in the first quarter but they got it together after that. What I took from last night was that the cavs rode Lebron hard but that's because they have no other choice outside of Irving and if Irving can't play then this series is over. Lebron looked exhausted in overtime, and when that happens, Cleveland is as good as dead. As amazing as Lebron is, he can't play like that in a 7 game series especially when he's facing a team like as deep as Golden State.

[Moranis]

And this is what I expected from the Cavs.  Hard gritty annoying defense and riding James on offense.  I don't know if they can still win the series without Irving, but I fully expect at least a split in Cleveland.  And Thompson, Delly, Shump, Smith, and Jones were still just 13 of 46.  They won't be that bad all series. 

And yeah I know Curry was awful, but I never expected Curry to be very good in this series.  It is why I originally picked Cleveland and why despite losing Irving that I think the Cavs still have a decent chance to win the series.  They play the style of defense that just plain disrupts a guy like Curry. 

[Vermont Green]

Game 2 was about as huge of a game this early in the series as a game 2 can be.  It changes everything.  If Cle loses, you say they have no chance.  By winning, they make it anybody's ball game.

Shooters usually shoot better at home than on the road.  That goes for both teams.  It is going to be very interesting to see how things change (if they change at all) in Cleveland.  By change I mean do some of the lower tier Cle players hit a few more shots.  Does LeBron hit a few more.  Does Cle get a few more calls.

These first two games were so close, so even; one shot-call-turnover, whatever, could have changed either game.  I think on balance, based on play and calls, the teams deserve to be 1-1.  Neither teams should feel they got robbed or got lucky.  It is 1-1, game is on.

[LGC88]

Really?
You already forgot what happened in semifinales where GS was playing average to below average level and were down 1-2 against Memphis and finaly win 4-2 with great basketball.
And against Houston, they play poorly and could have lost the first 2 games as well. The next 3 games they play great and win the series.
Another point, I don't understand why we should expect Curry to have a bad series?
Is this just trolling? This is just a 1-1 tight series.
Last point : Most of the users here said the coach had no choice to play Irving so much in game one in order to try to win a game. Well they win without him. How is that?
Anyway I'm out, too much non sense. Almost nobody wants to look at facts.

[PhoSita]

I really wouldn't be surprised at all if Golden State won the next three games.  Most likely, this ends in 6.

The Cavs have squeezed every last drop out of what they have left.  It's been brilliant.  The Warriors have played tight and had a ton of trouble getting into any kind of rhythm.


Still, we haven't seen Golden State play like the great team we know they can be.  So far these Finals have been the '07 Super Bowl.  The Warriors have been losing this at the line of scrimmage, and their skill players can't shine as a result.

Golden State can and will adjust.  LeBron will keep taking a million shots, but the Warriors will figure things out, as they have all year (most notably against the Grizzlies), and this Cleveland team will run out of gas eventually.

[slamtheking]

Had Cavs in 6 simply because I think GSW is going to struggle under the pressure (which is what's happening) and Lebron will be superhuman to get that title (which he is) and will get even more lopsided preferential treatment from the refs (which is what's happening)

GSW should be counting their blessings they're not going to Cleveland down 2-0 and looking at a sweep by the Cavs.  if Cleveland can be this badly battered with their roster and still give GSW fits in their own arena, they should be very concerned how the 2 games in Cleveland could go.

[greenhead85]

GSW are holding to their dear lives for Games 3 and 4.

They need to get back the HCA to keep themselves relevant in this series.

I believe it will be Cavs in 5.

[D.o.s.]

And this is what I expected from the Cavs.  Hard gritty annoying defense and riding James on offense.  I don't know if they can still win the series without Irving, but I fully expect at least a split in Cleveland.  And Thompson, Delly, Shump, Smith, and Jones were still just 13 of 46.  They won't be that bad all series. 

And yeah I know Curry was awful, but I never expected Curry to be very good in this series.  It is why I originally picked Cleveland and why despite losing Irving that I think the Cavs still have a decent chance to win the series.  They play the style of defense that just plain disrupts a guy like Curry.

You totally picked Cleveland because you're from the area. Don't be coy.

[PhoSita]

Had Cavs in 6 simply because I think GSW is going to struggle under the pressure (which is what's happening) and Lebron will be superhuman to get that title (which he is) and will get even more lopsided preferential treatment from the refs (which is what's happening)

GSW should be counting their blessings they're not going to Cleveland down 2-0 and looking at a sweep by the Cavs.  if Cleveland can be this badly battered with their roster and still give GSW fits in their own arena, they should be very concerned how the 2 games in Cleveland could go.

I definitely did not expect the Warriors to struggle this much under pressure.  It's unreal.

Still, the Warriors were looking kind of ragged against the Grizzlies, and then won 3 straight games.

The series is tied after 2 games.  Who wins it will come down to who makes the better adjustments.

Fact is, the Cavs can't really make any adjustments because they're doing all they can just to squeak by so far.  The Warriors have plenty of bullets left in the chamber.  That will win out over the next 4-5 games, I believe.

[SparzWizard]

I think if the Warriors lose Game 3, their season is effectively over.

We've all seen James putting up superhuman numbers (esp against the Celtics back in 2012), so expect him to put up great numbers like 30-9-8 in Game 3.

And also, look for J.R. Smith to have a huge game in either home game.

[Celtics4ever]

We've all seen James putting up superhuman numbers (esp against the Celtics back in 2012), so expect him to put up great numbers like 30-9-8 in Game 3.

I think he wilts next game, only time will tell, but even if he wilts the refs will put him on the line, they always do it to boosts peoples numbers.

They had their stand game, now they relax and the Warriors are woke up and the Slash Brothers both have a good game and win game three.

[PhoSita]

Can LeBron really average 40+ points on 35+ shot attempts for 5, 6, or 7 games?  That seems impossible, even for him.  He'll run out of energy.

Can the Cavs win without LeBron scoring around 40 points on at least 30 attempts?  I don't see how they can, unless J.R. Smith loses his mind (conceivable).