The NBA’s defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers will spend the next two days preparing for their matchup against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
As most basketball fans know, the Cavs and Warriors have met in the previous two championship rounds. Golden State took the first round (2015). Then, in 2016, Cleveland came back from a 3-1 deficit to erase their 52-year championship drought.
The Cavs and Warriors look a bit different than they did at this time last season. While it’s true that Golden State added Kevin Durant and Zaza Pachulia to their rotation, they were also forced to drop several role players, including Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut. The changes seem to have worked for the Warriors, however. The Boys from The Bay have swept their way through the Western Conference playoffs and finished the regular season with a league-best 67-and-15 record.
As for the Cavs, they too have made changes. Gone are the days of “Delly Time” (Matthew Dellavedova). Enter a new era of “D-Will” (Deron Williams). And let’s not forget to mention Timofey Mozgov‘s departature to the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason and Kyle Korver‘s arrival in February. In fact, the Cavs had several players come and go this season for a variety of reasons, but through it all, their core has remained the same (LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love).
After today’s shootaround at Cleveland Clinic Courts, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue spoke to members of the media with regards to how both teams have improved.
“We’ve gotten better,” coach Lue said. “We’re more versatile offensively. More versatile defensively. We have more ball-handlers now that we can put on the floor. They’ve gotten better, adding an MVP — probably the best scorer in the league, so both teams have gotten better. It’s gonna be a good challenge.”
Game 1 is set for June 1st at 9:00 p.m. on ABC. As coach Lue often says, “It’s time to put up or shut up.”