It's officially the beginning of the NBA finals. Nothing better than a thread on VGChartz for it.

Game 1: Warriors win 113-91

Game 2: warriors win 132-113

Game 3: Warriors win 118-113

Game 4: cavs win 137-116

Game 5: (if Cavs don't get swept lol)

Game 6: (if needed)

Game 7: (if needed)

I personally think Warriors will win in 7. They managed to spread out the offense and place pressure on Kyrie. If they keep it up, things will go smoothly.

Game 2 update: Another close game which exploded. The Cavs were constantly criticized for bad defense, and it's showing up. Their offensive game is perfectly fine. However, defense is atrocious, especially with transitions.

With how they're playing, I won't be surprised if the Cavs get swept or lose in 5.

Game 3 preview update: Tomorrow is (in my opinion) the most important game of the series. Will the Cavs lose and put themselves in a 3-0 hole, or will they make it 2-1 to try to tie it in game 4? 

The X-factor of tomorrow's game is the Cav's defense and their role players. With J.R Smith, Kyle Korver, and others struggling, it isn't surprising to see them not lighting a match. The defense must also be fixed- allowing 113 and 132 points is not the way you win the finals. 

I'm predicting this game will be closer (I hope so), with Golden State winning 117-209 109. It will stay close overall until either KD or Curry close it in the final minutes. 

Game 3 update: wow, I was pretty accurate lol. My score prediction was close as heck, and (as I predicted), it'd stay close until KD/Curry shut the Cavs down.

Iguodala had what may be the play of the game though. A huge block which basically finished the Cavs. 

Golden State is now 15-0, which is (I believe) the best start from any team in the playoffs. I don't think 16-0 is impossible anymore.

Game 4 preview: As I said, game 3 was the most important, and the Cavs threw it away by being careless and going scoreless for the last 3 minutes. My 117-109 was pretty close too, along with me predicting KD would close it out. Maybe I should hit Vegas and test my luck? :p

Anyways, I don't see this game being a turning point for the Cavs. Their defense is simply pathetic, and it seems the experts' worries about it in the regular season were justified. With a 3-0 deficit and a Kevin Durant who is on another level, this may be the time for the Cavs' organization to reflect on their mistakes.

It's also time for many of the players to change. It's pathetic how Tristen Thompson has 13 rebounds the entire series, and yet Curry had 13 in game 3 alone. This man is being paid $80 million, and yet he simply disappear offensively and defensively?

This team is highly flawed. They have an aging LeBron, Jefferson is gonna retire, and Korver/Smith/others aren't getting any younger. Kyrie and Love are still bad on defense, and Thompson disappears when it matters most. What is the future for this team? Instead of being patient like the Warriors, they slapped on a bunch of contracts and tried to make it work.

Final score prediction: 127-112, Warriors win for the sweep

Finals MVP: Javale McGee 

Game 4: the officiating gave me cancer. Thank god this game is over.

This finals series' officiating has been mediocre at most. This game wasn't any better.

Game 5 preview:

Well folks, what first looked like a blowout is now a series which has tensions from both sides! It's not like anyone didn't anticipate it...

Anyways, the X-factor for the Cavs finally appeared- their role players. Thompson was finally aggressive, people were making their shots, and this time the Warriors were the ones committing dumb fouls. Talk about a turn of events. 

One thing we forget however is that the cavs were on fire- they were 24-45 on their threes I believe. Add in the fact that both Klay and Steph disappeared and you wonder how the Warriors didn't lose by 40. The second leading scorer for the Warriors was Green, who only had 17. Says a lot about their forgettable performance.

That being said, I think Klay will have a mediocre performance again, but Steph will fix his shot. The defensive lapses will also be corrected by Golden State to help them shut out the series 128-119. 

Bold prediction: LeBron will be finals MVP, even if he loses. He is performing at a superhuman rate. Add in the fact that he's 32 and carrying his team proves he's the most valuable player on the court currently.

Warriors in 5 only because Warriors 'could' have a bad game.

It's bad the way LeBron disappears during important stretches of games. His stat line always looks good but if you watched the game when his team was sinking he was just looking at it. I don't understand this guy.

It's already over. Let's just deal with it and move on. <3

That's a major difference between him and Jordan. MJ often put the Bulls on his back and helped them weather those types of stretches. LeBron's teams often just implode. 

Yes I know. This is what Skip Bayless talks about with him. He seems like a hater and some of his points are but overall he's right about the guy. His mental is fragile. He's a front-runner.

He can be a monster whenever he wants which makes it even more baffling. The game 6 he played against Boston a couple of years ago with Miami proves this.

I said warriors in 5 before the series started but a sweep is more likely. Cavs would be lucky to win 1 game

It's still just one game. The only thing Cavs are trying to do is steal 1 and it didn't have to be game one. They have to win at the Warriors anyways.

My takeaways from Game 1 are this.

Cavaliers:
- LeBron had his usual stats and performance, 28-15-8. But those 8 turnovers are a big no-no when playing against this team, especially in their house, that has to change come Game 2.

- Kyrie was good, but not quite at the level we know he can be.

- Kevin Love, those 21 rebounds were great, everything else, not so much. I think that has more to do with Draymond Green's defense than Kevin Love suddenly getting cold, because 1) Draymond Green is the Defensive Player of the Year, most likely. 2) He just seems to have gotten in Love's head. Kevin Love, was a total non-factor in last year's Finals, and he wasn't much better here. It's something about the Warriors, Draymond especially that just seems to throw off Kevin Love. So, Kevin Love has got to do something in that regard because Draymond just seems to have his number.

- Everyone else did jack shit. Tristan Thompson - Only 4 rebounds? Really? Come on, dude, you're way better than THAT. JR Smith, just 3 points on 4 shot attempts? Where the hell was the bench outside of Richard Jefferson? 
 
Warriors:
- The Warriors Defense was very impressive. Those 20 turnovers weren't just the Cavs being sloppy. They made every possession tough, they made the Cavs work for every bucket they got, they disrupted a lot of passing lanes, and forced LeBron and Kyrie into some very uncomfortable spots where they turned the ball over. If this keeps up, this series ain't lasting very long.

- Kevin Durant IS NOT Harrison Barnes. He was dominant. That guy just had his way with Cleveland in the 1st half. Dunk, after dunk, after dunk, after dunk. At some point it's like, "Where the hell is the defense?!" the defense was running to the 3 point line trying to stop Steph from going off, speaking of Steph...

- A healthy Stephen Curry = Very Bad News for Cleveland. HE. IS. BACK.  Before the series even started, I was saying to my friends, the most important player in this series, meaning how he plays will determine the outcome of this series, will be Steph. LeBron is going to be LeBron. Durant will be Durant. Draymond will give Love all he can handle. Klay will try his damnest to make it as hard as possible for Kyrie, who will do his thing. Those 6 players will cancel each other out, the one guy to look out for is Curry. He is the most important player in this series. If he plays like garbage, Cavs win. If he plays average, this series goes 7 games with Game 7 going either way, like it did last year. If he plays like the Unanimous MVP, the Cavs don't stand a chance. If he's playing like the Stephen Curry we saw all of last season, it's over. Because, after the 1st half, even with all the turnovers the Cavs committed, all the points in the paint they gave up, and Durant going off the way he did, they were still only down by 8, they still had a chance. But than Steph got in that zone, that Steph Zone where when he's playing like THAT, nobody can touch him, and that was all she wrote. 

So after Game 1, it's looking a little hopeless for Cavs, but that's how it looked LAST year, and then look what happened... All we can do is wait until Sunday for Game 2.

You are totally reading my mind. Great comment. I feel the same. Anyone in this series can go crazy and the other team will still feel like they have a chance. But when Curry goes crazy it discourages you, he makes you hopeless.