The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will soon try to establish themselves as the best team in professional basketball.
Our team of writers and commentators at Crossover Chronicles has attempted to predict the Finals.
No explanations here — the answers are revealing in and of themselves.
The envelope, please:
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BRYAN GIBBERMAN
Cleveland key player: Tristan Thompson
Golden State key player: Andre Iguodala
Most important CLE statistic: offensive rebounding
Most important GSW statistic: threes
Player matchup CLE must win: LeBron James versus the 4 different guys that will guard him.
Player matchup GSW must win: Klay Thompson vs. J.R. Smith
Most important game of the series (1-4): 1
David Blatt must: let Curry get his and stop everyone else.
Steve Kerr must: make Kyrie work defensively.
Series prediction: Warriors in 5
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/2/4/5; Cavs win Game 3.
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TONY XYPTERAS
Cleveland key player: Kyrie Irving
Golden State key player: Klay Thompson
Most important CLE statistic: points off turnovers
Most important GSW statistic: Cleveland’s second-chance points
Player matchup CLE must win: Tristan Thompson vs. Draymond Green
Player matchup GSW must win: Klay Thompson vs. Iman Shumpert
Most important game of the series (1-4): 3
David Blatt must: pray Kyrie Irving is healthy.
Steve Kerr must: pray Klay Thompson is healthy.
Series prediction: Warriors in 6
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/2/4/6; Cavs win 3/5.
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JOHN CANNON
Cleveland key player: LeBron
Golden State key player: Harrison Barnes
Most important CLE statistic: 3-point shooting percentage
Most important GSW statistic: defensive FG percentage
Player matchup CLE must win: Kyrie over Klay Thompson
Player matchup GSW must win: Klay Thompson over Kyrie
Most important game of the series (1-4): 1
David Blatt must: force the Warriors to play big.
Steve Kerr must: force the Cavs to play small.
Series prediction: Warriors in 7
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/3/5/7; Cavs win 2/4/6.
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BART DOAN
Cleveland key player: Matthew Dellavedova
Golden State key player: Draymond Green
Most important CLE statistic: late shot-clock shots per game
Most important GSW statistic: offensive rebounds allowed
Player matchup CLE must win: Tristan Thompson versus his man on the boards
Player matchup GSW must win: Klay Thompson must win decisively over Iman Shumpert
Most important game of the series (1-4): 2
David Blatt must: rip into his team when it doesn’t move the ball, rather than allow it.
Steve Kerr must: put ’em in pads and practice that rebounding.
Series prediction: Cavs in 7
Win pattern: Cavs win Games 2/3/6/7; Warriors win 1/4/5.
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JOE MANGANIELLO
Cleveland key player: Kyrie Irving
Golden State key player: Harrison Barnes
Most important CLE statistic: total rebounds
Most important GSW statistic: points in transition
Player matchup CLE must win: Tristan Thompson over Draymond Green
Player matchup GSW must win: Andrew Bogut over Timofey Mozgov
Most important game of the series (1-4): 2
David Blatt must: find a way to cover Steph Curry and Klay Thompson while keeping Kyrie on the court.
Steve Kerr must: force J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert into tough shots.
Series prediction: Warriors in 6
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/2/5/6; Cavs win 3/4.
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JOSEPH NARDONE
Cleveland key player: LeBron
Golden State key player: Klay Thompson
Most important CLE statistic: offensive rebounding
Most important GSW statistic: tempo
Player matchup CLE must win: Its bigs must be more productive than Golden State’s.
Player matchup GSW must win: Bench points
Most important game of the series (1-4): 3
David Blatt must: prevent LeBron from going iso-crazy.
Steve Kerr must: not fall into a micromanaging trap.
Series prediction: Warriors in 7
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/3/5/7; Cavs win 2/4/6.
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SEAN WOODLEY
Cleveland key player: Tristan Thompson
Golden State key player: Harrison Barnes
Most important CLE statistic: LeBron in the playoffs: 33.3 % on mid-range shots, 17.6 on threes (GSW should allow these shots).
Most important GSW statistic: Curry-Livingston-Klay-Barnes-Green lineup: 43.7 NET rating, 67.3 rebounding percentage in playoffs (counter to CLE’s Mozgov-Tristan lineup)
Player matchup CLE must win: LeBron James versus Barnes/Andre Iguodala
Player matchup GSW must win: Klay Thompson vs. Kyrie Irving
Most important game of the series (1-4): 3
David Blatt must: remember how many timeouts he has at all times.
Steve Kerr must: avoid getting cute and stick to the 67-win formula.
Series prediction: Warriors in 5
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/2/4/5; Cavs win 3.
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MATT ZEMEK
Cleveland key player: Tristan Thompson
Golden State key player: Klay Thompson
Most important CLE statistic: J.R. Smith/Iman Shumpert 3-point percentages (especially in fourth quarters)
Most important GSW statistic: Cleveland’s offensive rebounding percentage
Player matchup CLE must win: Tristan vs. Draymond
Player matchup GSW must win: Klay Thompson vs. his defender(s)
Most important game of the series (1-4): 1
David Blatt must: lock up Klay the way he locked up Kyle Korver, forcing Golden State to beat his team with non-Curry jumpers.
Steve Kerr must: find ways to expose Kyrie, such that he can’t stay on the floor in this series.
Series prediction: Warriors in 6
Win pattern: Warriors win Games 1/2/5/6; Cavs win 3/4.
