2015 NBA Finals: Guide for beginners
By Stu White
The Golden State Warriors will be representing the Western Conference in the 2015 NBA Finals, having surged through the playoffs with their patented mix of stellar defense and highlight-reel-shattering offensive fireworks. Seriously, if you’ve never watched the Warriors play before, you’re in for a special experience; the Warriors play basketball as if they are trapped in a video game and have all the cheat codes activated. They aren’t the biggest team out there, thus they prefer to emphasize fast-breaks and three-point shooting over dumping the ball into their post players all game. But don’t let their overall lack of size fool you: The Warriors are a ruthless team, and their swarming, frenzied brand of basketball is probably (and hopefully!) the closest thing you’ll ever see to a piranha feeding frenzy.
What’s important to know about the Warriors as a franchise is that they haven’t won a championship since 1975 and spent many decades as the NBA’s symbol of futility. Outside of a remarkable first-round upset during the 2007 Playoffs — OH GOD I AM OLD! — the Warriors haven’t exactly experienced much success, and it’s only recently that they’ve transformed into the well-oiled basketball machine that they are today. (But I thought they were a school of deadly fish, not a machine? Hey, my article, my mixed metaphors, buddy.)
Facing the Warriors will be the Cleveland Cavaliers, another team with a less-than-spectacular franchise history. The Cavaliers, founded in 1970, have only appeared in the NBA Finals once before, back in 2007. When your franchise has experienced more uniform changes than championship seasons, not to mention when your franchise owns a share of the NBA record for most consecutive losses, you know you have fans that are champing at the bit to finally own a piece of championship hardware.
Like the Warriors, the Cavaliers play a brand of basketball that should prove entertaining for casual basketball viewers, although don’t be surprised to see them operate out of the half-court a bit more than Golden State does. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cavaliers turned in a good regular season, allowing 98.7 points per game, but they’ve dialed up the intensity during this postseason and are allowing a scant 92.6 points per game through the first three rounds. Their defensive prowess will be tested by the Warriors, who are scoring at historic levels.
Of course, while basketball is a team game, it’s undeniable that the NBA is a league driven by its superstars, and the matchup between the Cavaliers and the Warriors means that two of the most exciting, breath-taking players in today’s NBA will be taking over your televisions.
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