10 NBA Finals Predictions: The Conclusion

Now that the Finals have ended it is time for me to revisit the 10 predictions, some bold and some not so bold, I made about the NBA Finals. As the series went on some of my predictions were correct and some were so ridiculous you would think they were Donald Trump tweets. So here are my predictions and their results…

1.The Cavaliers will win Game One in Oakland. Boy was I wrong about this one. I had good reason to think that the Cavs would leave Oracle Arena after Game One with a win under their belt. The Warriors had a history of struggling in Game One’s during the playoffs and they were coming off over a week’s worth of rest while the Cavs had dominated during Game One throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. But it was Cleveland, not Golden State, who came out the gate rusty and struggled from the opening tip. The Warriors exploded out of the gate as Durant drove to the basket untouched time after time throwing down vicious dunks and Golden State cruised to a 22 point victory. Shame on me for doubting the Warriors.

2.The Warriors will win the series in 6 games. I was about half right and half wrong with this prediction. I stated that game one would not be a foreshadowing of things to come in this series which turned out to be completely false. The Warriors routed the Cavs again in Game Two and went on to win Games Three and Five to win the series in Five Games. So while I was right in picking the Warriors to win the series I was wrong in the amount of games that it would take. However, in my defense the Cavs had a chance to win Game Three up six with three minutes left and up by two with 45 seconds left so I blame the Cavs for getting that one wrong.

3.Kevin Durant will be the Finals MVP. I could not have been more right with this prediction. Although picking Durant winning the Finals MVP award wasn’t the boldest pick it was still no guarantee. With a team like Golden State and the caliber of players they have there’s so saying who would win the MVP a la Andre Iguodala winning the award rather than Steph Curry in 2015. But Durant was on an absolute tear during the Finals as he averaged 35.2 points per game along with 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Durant put on the performance of his career and was well deserving of the Finals MVP award.

4.Lebron will average less than 20 points per game. I followed up perhaps my most correct prediction with a prediction that could not have been more wrong. I said that with the defensive firepower Golden State possessed Lebron would be over whelmed and fatigued which would lead to him failing to score more than 20 points per game. Maybe if Lebron played each game like he played the fourth quarter then this prediction would be correct. However, to my disappointment Lebron played the first half of each game like his life was on the line and despite struggling in the fourth quarter throughout this series he became the first player to ever average a triple double throughout the entire NBA Finals. Lebron did everything he could possibly do to help his team win as he averaged 33.6 points per game, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. However as well as Lebron played it was not enough to stop the Golden State juggernaut.

5.Draymond Green will record two Triple Doubles. This was a little farfetched as Draymond has only recorded three triple doubles in the playoffs during his career. However, for this prediction I decided to go out on a limb and say that the Swiss army knife that is Draymond Green would put together a couple games where he notches a triple double. Although he was unable to record a triple double during the finals he was able to average a double double in the Finals so that has got to count for something, right?

6.The Warriors will win convincingly. This prediction turned out to be more true than false. Yes, the Warriors got blown out in Game Four but, if anything, that helped their case for one of the greatest teams of all time. If you think about it, the Cavs had to break the NBA Finals record for points in a single quarter, the Finals record for points in a half and the NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers made in a game just to beat the Warriors. It took THREE record setting performances to beat the Warriors ONCE. Meanwhile when the Warriors won they won by a total of 55 points over four games, good for a 13.75 point differential. This series was so lopsided that radio and talk show hosts began to count out the Cavs and instead compared the Warriors to all-time great teams and debated if this Warriors team could beat the 96 Bulls or the Showtime Lakers.

7.Kevin Love will be a no show. This prediction was correct as far as I am concerned. Yes, Kevin Love recorded 15 and 27 points in games One and Two as well as 23 points in Game Four to go along with 21 rebounds in Game One. However, all three of those games were blowouts, two in favor of Golden State and one for Cleveland. But in the two games where Cleveland needed him most? He scored 9 and 6. In Game three Cleveland had the lead with 45 seconds remaining and had the chance to even the series at two games apiece. Cleveland ended up losing the game and fell behind 3-1 in part due to the fact that Kevin Love only scored 9 points. And in Game Five, when Cleveland’s season and a Championship was on the line Love responded by scoring only 6 points.

8.Kyrie Irving will get the best of Steph Curry. This prediction didn’t necessarily end up being right or wrong. Steph Curry recorded a triple double in Game Two in addition to recording a double-double in four of the five games. Curry also scored 30+ points twice and only had less than 20 points once. Meanwhile Kyrie failed to record so much as a single double-double but had the exact same amount of 30+ games as Curry and the same amount of games with less than 20 points. The one area where Kyrie outplayed Curry was the fact that Kyrie scored 38 and 40 in back to back games. Kyrie did his best to lead the Cavs to a Championship but it was Curry who walked away with the Larry O,Brien trophy. I said in my predictions that this would be a Point Guard showdown for the ages and one could argue that at multiple times during the series these two players were the best ones on the court simultaneously.

9.Klay Thompson will be a difference maker for the Warriors. This prediction ended up being true. Klay came into the Finals struggling mightily throughout the playoffs and continued to struggle in Game One scoring only 6 points. However Klay was finally able to catch fire as he went on to score 22, 30, 13 and 11 in games two through 5. However Thompson is not only a difference maker on offense but arguably is more important to the Warriors on defense. Klay Thompson has proved to be an elite defender and is the only player of the stacked Warriors team and possibly in the NBA that can guard Kyrie Irving, Lebron James and Kevin Love in the same possession. Klay’s defensive versatility in addition to his contributions on offense proved to be a difference maker for the Golden State Warriors.

10.This will not be the final installment of Warriors and Cavaliers. It’s much too early to decide whether this prediction will be right or wrong however it seems more likely than not that the Warriors will face off against the Cavs again. After the Warriors clinched the series in Game Five, Lebron James was seen with his arm around Kyrie Irving telling him “We’ll be back” and with the way things are looking it appears that Lebron is correct and that the Cavs will be back in the Finals. You’ll be hard pressed to find a team that can over throw the Cavs in the East. Even if Gordon Hayward were to join the Celtics and Boston drafts Markelle Fultz number one overall they still seem far behind the Cavaliers. Meanwhile the Warriors look like a team destined to win multiple Championships in the years to come. But for now, only time will tell.