With the third straight NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and Warriors tipping off tonight on ABC, basketball fans "finally have the best-of-seven series they’ve eyed" since the start of the season, according to Connor Letourneau of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Ever since F Kevin Durant last summer "announced he was signing with the Warriors," a third straight Cavs-Warriors showdown "has felt inevitable." Fans have watched "both teams steamroll through the first three rounds of the playoffs," and they now get a "matchup cut from cinema: the star-studded casts, the motivation for revenge, the history." Never before have the NBA Finals "pitted the same two teams three years in a row." Letourneau notes what "makes this Finals historic is not just that it is happening, but also how it came to fruition." The Warriors are the "first team in league history to open a postseason 12-0," and if not for their "Game 3 meltdown" against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs would also be 12-0. This is "easily the best Finals matchup, in terms of the two clubs’ combined playoff winning percentage, since the postseason expanded to 16 teams" in '83-84. The question now is "whether the product will match the hype" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/1). In DC, Tim Bontemps writes, "With A-list stars on both sides, and with legacies on the line in a variety of ways, these Finals have the potential to be a spectacle the likes of which we have never seen." Also special are the "forces arrayed in this series, one that the NBA hopes will make up for what has been an otherwise disappointing postseason" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/1).
IT'S HERE! In DC, Deron Snyder writes Game 1 "should be a scrumptious hoops feast, offering tasty treats for everyone no matter their preference." The series could leave fans "craving for more if the full seven games are necessary to determine a champion." Snyder: "This thing took long enough to arrive. Let’s enjoy while it lasts" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/1). In Charlotte, Tom Sorensen writes, "Forty-seven days after the playoffs began, we get the main event. ... This is the series we’ve craved" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/1). USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt writes this is the "matchup most NBA experts predicted," and the one fans are "eager to watch" (USA TODAY, 6/1). In Chicago, Steve Greenberg writes this is the "most tantalizing, most glamorous, most Goliath-on-Goliath Finals since Act 3 of Bird vs. Magic in 1987." There have been teams since then "that had all-time-great chops." Yet those teams "tended not to face quite the level of opposition in the Finals that these Cavs and Warriors are dealing with." The playoffs thus far "haven’t exactly been a nonstop thrill ride," but a seven-game Finals "could change a whole lot of opinions." Greenberg: "It's the Finals we all deserve" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/1). In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde writes this Finals "was scheduled from the time Cleveland and Golden State ended a year ago and will be again as soon as the confetti stops falling" following this year's series (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 6/1).
WORTH THE WAIT? SNY contributor Dan Graca said even if this is a "great series," fans still "can't forget the fact the regular season was six months of a complete waste." The first three rounds of the playoffs "were garbage as well." The N.Y. Daily News' John Harper also said the games this season "weren't worth watching." But the Daily News' Bob Raissman said the "stench of the regular season will be completely erased by this series" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 5/31). NBA TV's J.E. Skeets said, "The NBA is not suffering. They set an attendance record for the third year in a row. ... Their playoff television ratings are still up, despite all the blowouts. ... It can be maybe tedious at times and feels like it's a foregone conclusion, but it is good" ("The Starters," NBA TV, 5/31).
