The Golden State Warriors overturned a 3-1 deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder to book their place in the NBA Championship series. The Warriors, who broke the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins in a single regular season, will now face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in what could be a memorable seven-match series. After all, these two teams probably deserve their place in the finals and both boast extremely talented rosters – which should mean that the quality of basketball on show is of an incredibly high standard.
After four matches of their Western Conference Championship series, it looked like Golden State were about to suffer a shock defeat at the hands of Oklahoma. The Warriors had lost just nine regular season fixtures all year but had already lost five of their 14 playoff clashes with the Houston Rockets, the Portland Timbers and the City Thunder. And if truth be told, many Golden State supporters believed that their dream of retaining the NBA Championship was over, especially as Stephen Curry was struggling to perform at his very best.
However, Golden State bounced back, as true champions do, to claim three victories in a row – giving themselves the chance to cement this franchise as one of the greatest rosters in the history of the National Basketball Association. At the time of writing, the Warriors are priced at 4/9 with 32Red Canada to go on and win the NBA title for the second season in a row. And with Curry back to his brilliant best, Golden State will be quietly confident of achieving this goal, even with the Cavaliers in fantastic form.
On his day, Curry is unstoppable. The Golden State star was voted as the NBA’s regular season MVP for the second successive year, but this time, he was the first ever unanimous winner of the award – an immense feat. Curry will go down in history as one of the all-time greats, especially if he inspires his side to defend their crown. After all, they certainly couldn’t have eclipsed the Bulls’ 72-10 record without him. Curry was truly magnificent in the opening few months of the campaign and could find that form again when it matters most.
Cleveland are a capable outfit and the Warriors will have to perform extremely well to keep LeBron James and co quiet in the coming weeks. The Cavaliers whitewashed the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the postseason, before cruising past the Toronto Raptors in six matches – sending out a clear statement to the Western Conference. Right now, Cleveland are by far the best team in the East, and Golden State will know the size of the task at hand. They can’t just focus on keeping James quiet; Cleveland have too many big-name players that can hurt you.
The @cavs defeat the @Raptors 113-87 and advance to the #NBAFinals! James, Love & Irving combine for 83 points! pic.twitter.com/JHHWkjhV4f
— NBA (@NBA) May 28, 2016
??
Even if LeBron isn’t at the races, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love almost certainly will be. Cleveland’s fabulous trio are a joy to watch and the Warriors will have their work cut out against what is widely regarded as the best offensive group in the sport. While Golden State have the records and the glamour, Cleveland have the power and the presence of mind to finally get their hands on a first NBA Championship title. And at the time of writing, you can back the Cavaliers to pip the defending champions to the crown at 37/20 with 32Red and 188Bet.
And with renewed confidence and optimism flowing through the Golden State Warriors after their latest come-from-behind moment of magic, they could go on to thrash Cleveland in the NBA finals. 4-0 is a rare score nowadays but the high-flying Warriors will be eyeing a sensational whitewash on the biggest stage of all.
