Warriors Want Rematch With Cavs
The Golden State Warriors have punched their ticket to the 2017 NBA Finals, sweeping all three of their Western Conference playoff series. As the team awaits their opponent, it appears that they are hoping for a third straight meeting with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Boston Celtics are still alive after shocking the Cavs with a victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, though they are still heavy underdogs to reach the finals. A few members of the Warriors organization have expressed an interest in having the rematch that’s seemed inevitable since Golden State signed Kevin Durant last summer.
READ: Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson Wants NBA Finals Rematch With Cleveland Cavaliers
“I don't care who we play, but my preference is Cleveland. We have some unfinished business,” Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob after the Warriors beat the Spurs in Game 4 Monday night, via ESPN’s Marc Spears.
In terms of their chances of winning a championship, Golden State would almost certainly be better off facing Boston. Even though they are the No.1 seed in the East, the Celtics don’t appear to be a legitimate threat to win the title. They’ve never been to the finals with this core of players, and Isaiah Thomas is out for the rest of the postseason with a hip injury.
With Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in the starting lineup, Golden State would unquestionably have the four best players in a series against Boston. That wouldn’t be the case if they were to face Cleveland, since James is still the NBA’s top player. The Cavs have two other All-Stars in Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, and Irving outplayed Curry in last year’s seven-game series.
Klay Thompson, pictured controlling the ball while being defended by Dante Exum at Vivint Smart Home Arena on May 8, 2017 in Salt Lake City, wants the Golden State Warriors to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals. Photo: Getty Images
As good as the Warriors have been, the Cavs have already proven that they can beat Golden State. Cleveland pulled off the greatest upset in NBA history by coming back from a 3-1 series deficit against a 73-win team, and the Warriors are seeking a measure of revenge.
“We were the better team but they did win,” Lacob said, via Marcus Thompson of The Mercury News. “We need a chance to go in there and prove that.”
It isn’t just the owner that wants to take on the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Shortly before the All-Star break, Klay Thompson echoed a similar sentiment in an interview with International Business Times’ Greg Price.
“I would like to see them, I think we owe them a little redemption. And it’s a great rivalry for the league, so I would like to see the Cavs again,” Thompson told IBT in February.
Thompson was at the center of Cleveland’s historic comeback last year. He called out James before Game 5, saying the Cavs' star's “feelings got hurt” by Draymond Green’s trash talk. The Cavs, of course, went on to win the next three games as James averaged 36.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists.
Green criticized Cleveland’s playoff opponents a few weeks ago, saying he wished the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors would have competed harder when they were swept by the Cavs. That prompted a response from Cleveland’s Richard Jefferson, continuing the subtle barbs that the two teams have traded over the last year.
The time for talking should be over Thursday, June 1 when Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals is set to begin.
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