Warriors Have Largest Regular Season Net Rating Edge In Finals History

4 for LeBron James (and James Jones) and a second title for Tha ‘Land? Can James win his fourth ring?

An unprecedented Finals trilogy was finally set, and still, James had no interest or energy to engage the topic. Last year, Cleveland became the first team in NBA Finals history to come back after trailing the series 3-1. That jibed with comments James made in December, when he said of Jordan, “He was much more of a scorer”, adding, “You recognize the dominance that someone had. but there’s no similarities in our game, at all”. Irving played in the Cavs’ Game 1 loss, but missed the rest with an ankle injury. For the first game of the NBA Finals series, the fair statistical number is 225.5, dead on what the bookmakers have been offering us. The Warriors were three minutes away from going up 3-1 (famously) when he was called for a flagrant on LeBron.

James still trails Jordan in one key area: titles. But first, let me help you understand how far the National Basketball Association has gone in these two years since the first Finals between the two.

“Throughout the series, I didn’t get the opportunity to have that moment (with Thomas)”, James said Thursday night.

The banter comparing James’ resume to Michael Jordan’s for Greatest Of All Time makes for good sports-talk on a slow day. He was just 21 in his first playoff game, but was well-prepared at that point to lead his teams on lengthy runs, whereas Jordan didn’t get his Bulls out of the first round until he was 25. And so, I think maybe there’s just a lack of appreciation for greatness. Am I the reason that Brooklyn gave all their picks to Boston? “It’s just my personal goal to keep me motivated – that’s all”.

While Thomas has joked in the past that, with his emergence as one of the NBA’s elite offensive players, he’s ready for the Celtics to “bring out the Brink’s truck”, he stressed Friday that he can wait patiently for that payday. His team trailed by more than 40 points in the second half, but Thomas wanted to push through the pain.

I would have picked the Warriors in five before the playoffs started, but the Cavs’ run through the East makes that seem disrespectful. The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions met in three straight title games from 1952 to 1954, with the Lions winning the first two and Cleveland winning the third.

Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers had run-ins with Boston and…lost.

Is this any surprise though? He said the team knew he would eventually be unable to play, but Celtics brass still had to force him to shut down during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When asked about an extension, Thomas quipped, “That means more money?”

The Cavs now move onto the Finals where they will face a heavily favored Golden State Warriors team in a Finals threematch.

What does matter is the chance to cement his own legacy, one that inspires young players to look beyond scoring as they develop their games.

Will this be it?

The 2017 NBA Finals will be loaded with star power on every inch of the hardwood. Even the most experienced punters, who had trained their minds not to give that positive bias to take over, even they have to remain aware of it. Thursday was about James inching closer to Jordan, not the Finals matchup looming out West. LeBron is not the Unanimous GOAT, but thanks to him, neither is MJ.

“That is nearly, like, kind of disrespectful because it’s nearly like it’s been easy for us to get here”, Curry said. In addition to that, the Cavaliers had made a trip to the finals in two consecutive seasons.