2015 NBA Finals Prediction

Like any championship series, the matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers has no shortage of story lines. LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. A team that was mostly built through the draft and lacks a traditional superstar vs. a team that was built around signing a superstar then recruiting assorted role players from around the league to join him. Anyway you look at this NBA Finals, it's full of intrigue and it's the matchup a majority of basketball fans wanted as these two teams were the best in their respective conferences all season long. The Warriors and Cavaliers are pretty evenly matched as both teams can put point up a ton of points in the paint or from three-point land and screw up an offense's rhythm with stifling defense. What I believe this series will come down to is the health of Cavaliers superstars James and Kyrie Irving. They may have had a week and a half to rest before the start of this series, but James and Irving been battling lingering injuries and that may not be enough time for their health to improve by a notable margin. James should continue to solider on through his back injury without much drop in production, but if Irving's foot injury keeps his offense limited to isolated three's and outside jump shots, there could be some serious issues. Guys like Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova can't be counted on to make strong scoring contributions night after night and when James puts too much scoring responsibility on himself, the team has suffered. The let James fire away strategy may have been worked against the Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals, but the Warriors are too physical and aggressive on the boards and too good at capitalizing off of turnovers (the Cavs averaged 11.8 turnovers per game in the Eastern Conference finals) to allow the Cavs offense get away with being sloppy with the ball and score a ton of second-chance points like the Hawks did. I also believe the Cavs don't have an answer for the Warrior's bigs. Draymond Green has been playing lights out for the entire playoffs, containing the likes of Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol defensively and putting up consistently strong offensive showings with his combination of strong post play and a surprisingly decent outside shot while Andrew Bogut has backed up his reputation as one of the toughest defensive players in the NBA with his excellent rebounding and shot-blocking ability. Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov are solid players who are no slouches on the boards and can put up points when called upon, but they lack the offensive fluidity and high-motors defensively to hang with Green, Bogut and Festus Ezeli for an entire series. 

Prediction: Warriors over Cavaliers in 6
Finals MVP: Stephen Curry

NBA Final Prediction

After two grueling, hard-fought conference final series, it's time for the NBA Finals. This years final presents a very intriguing matchup between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Could this be the year Lebron James finally gets a title?  Or could this be the year Kevin Durant and the young gun Thunder become an elite team and secure a title in their first trip to the Finals?

My Prediction is: Thunder over Heat in 7
This is a very-close matchup, but I like the Thunder overall. The primary reason is the depth this team has. Clearly Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are the two biggest threats, but when you have guys like James Harden, Nick Collison, and Derek Fisher coming off the bench it bolsters the team big time. The Thunder also have a huge paint presence as well with Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. With a banged-up Chris Bosh and lack of other quality big men, the Heat could suffer big time in the paint. The Thunder's inside game could very well prove to be the X-factor in the series. As good as the Heat are and the stellar play of Lebron James of late, I don't think they can pull it out. James can't do it my himself and he's going to have other players besides Dwayne Wade step up if they are going to win a title. Chris Bosh is also still a question mark. Clearly they are a better team when he is in there, but with him being injured and the Thunder having a young roster more suited to shutting him down on both ends of the floor opposed to the Celtics old, seasoned roster could make him a complete non-factor. The Heat's lack of depth very well could be their downfall as a team once again. Not ruling out that the Heat couldn't win it all this year and it should be a tight, competitive series, but I think the Thunder's speed, depth, and unselfish brand of basketball will be too much for the Heat to overcome.