While the NBA Finals don’t start until Thursday night, the anticipation from both the Cleveland Cavalier and Golden State Warriors has been growing. On one end, the Warriors are the perceived favorites to win because of their four All-Stars. On the other end of the spectrum, the Cavaliers are the defending NBA Champions and have three All-Stars of their own.
However, Las Vegas and various other predictors have the Cavaliers as heavy underdogs against the Warriors in the Finals. While that may be the case, Cavs forward Kevin Love isn’t buying into the underdog role and is using it as motivation.
Following from Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“The whole underdog thing is funny to me, because, yeah, at the end of the day we are defending our title,” Love said Saturday after the Cavs’ first practice in preparation for the Warriors since clinching a spot in the Finals. “We’re trying to repeat, which is so hard to do. I think we will use it as fuel, we will use it as motivation, but the idea of playing into it? It’s tough for me to say that is the case. I don’t feel like we’re underdogs. We match up well with them, and I think they’d say the same about us.”
