“GAANO man kahaba ang prosesyon sa simbahan rin ang tuloy.”
What most prognosticators had declared prior to the start of the 71st renewal of the National Basketball Association in late October has finally come to fruition.
Yes, it will be the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers against the unblemished Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals for a historic third consecutive year.
By virtue of their league-best and West-leading 67-15 record during the regular wars, the Warriors will enjoy homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven Finals against the Cavaliers, who were seeded No. 2 in the East at 51-31 but defeated top-seeded Boston, 4-1, in the conference finals.
In yesterday’s series-clinching Game 5 at the TD Garden in Boston, the Cavaliers routed the Celtics, 135-102, behind – who else but – LeBron James. The King, who along with seldom-used reserve James Jones reached the NBA Finals for the seventh consecutive year in stints with Miami and Cleveland, chalked up 35 points en route to surpassing the eminent Michael Jordan as the all-time leading scorer in NBA playoff history. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists in just three quarters of action.
James’ sidekick Kyrie Irving netted 24 points and seven dimes and Kevin Love secured a double-double in each of the five games in the East finals and got 15 points and 11 reebies. Late-season acquisition Deron Williams came off the pines to tally 14 points – all in the first half – as Cleveland took a 75-57 lead at intermission for the highest halftime score by one team in the NBA playoffs since 2003 and the most points ever in the first half of a postseason contest in franchise history.
Avery Bradley topscored for Boston with 23 points but his backcourt partner Marcus Smart was held to a single-digit score for a second straight game with six points. Gerald Green came off the pines with 14 points. Al Horford only had eight points and three reebies.
Cleveland and Golden State each triumphed once in their past two head-to-head Finals duels.
This one has been described as the “three-match” – a trilogy that is unprecedented as no two teams in NBA had ever faced each other in the Finals in three straight years until now – to decide who gets to move ahead in their three-leg run and romp away with Larry O’Brien championship hardware.
This year’s Finals also feature what is the best-ever titular showdown – record-wise – in NBA history.
The two high-powered combatants have combined for a mind-boggling 24-1 playoff record heading into the Finals. At no time in the past had there been two finalists combining for just a single loss. (In 1989, the Los Angeles Lakers were 11-0 and the eventual titlist Detroit Pistons were 11-2 entering that year’s Finals.)
The Warriors are lily-white at 12-0 in becoming the first playoff team ever to sweep three straight best-of-seven series and enter the Finals with 12 straight victories without a loss, having whitewashed Portland, Utah and San Antonio in the first three rounds.
The Cavaliers, on the other hand, are 12-1 with 4-0 sweeps versus Indiana and Toronto in the first two segments and a 2-0 lead over Boston in the East finals before dropping a 111-108 home decision in Game 3 then winning the final two outings of the series against the Celtics.
My fearful forecast: Cavaliers over Warriors in six games to retain their NBA crown.
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