NBA Finals | Game 1 | Cavs @ Warriors | May 31, 2018 | 9:00pm EST

King_LebronJames23 said:

Every finals since 2012 Lebron been down 1 - 0 by first game.His record is 1 - 7 in first game of nba finals, the pressure on us at game 2.

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We have to win game 1 IMO.

Winning 3 of 6 against the Warriors with 3 at home is doable.

Having to win 4 of 6 is really tough.

I'mWithDan said:

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Am I right, or am I right?

OK RCF, it's time to get hyped.

Gonna throw this out there....

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/six-key-stats-on-the-warriors-vs-cavs-re-re-rematch/

GSW had a rating of 1850 last year, and it is only 1710 this year. And no Iggy I would say drops that to sub-1700. Kyrie is great of course, but he was ass on D. We have G. Hill doing his work now. Leaping Larry and Jeff Mean Green locking down, and maybe even a surprise from secret weapon Cedi Osman.

GSW thinks they are going to cruise, and even if they are down at half, hit us in the 3rd quarter. Well I see us mucking this game up, keeping them out of a rhythm, and hitting OUR three pointers.

The Cavs are winning this one tonight, and when we do, we ain't losing at home.

King James
JR Swish
Kevin Love
George Hill
Kyle Korver
Tristan Thompson
Jeff Green
Larry Nance Jr.
Rodney "don't sleep on me" Hood
Cedi Osman
The broken microwave, Jordan Clarkson

WE GOT OURSELVES A FUCKING SQUAD. LET'S GO!!!! NEVER SURRENDER!!! BRING IN PERK!!!

Cavs in 6 or 7.

Hard to imagine an upset against the Warriors in a game that Ed Malloy is refereeing. Dude calls every fucking touch foul on and off the ball. Warriors are undefeated in the past four postseasons when he is the ref.

I would feel less pessimistic about this were Clarkson and Hood more reliable off the bench.

Clarkson in particular. I just remember that Celtics game he debuted in and he was KILLING IT.
Hood, I hope does SOMETHING this series.

I think Jeff Green will be OK. JR will be mostly OK. As long as they communicate on defense...

I’m really just going into this game and series with no expectations and nothing to lose.. and lebron should do the same thing.. nothing more dangerous than the best player in the world playing at his best with nothing to lose.. just go out there and play the best you possibly can and whatever happens.. happens. Just leave it all on the court.

I think we have more of a shot than people are admitting because no one wants to get their hopes up. Houston made a lot of shots in an iso based offense and took them to 7 games with a chance to win. The problem is we have seen our guys go MIA for entire rounds. I think we have better defenders as well. Never count out a heart of a champion. Mavericks pulled off a big upset. Why not us?

I've seen too many bad teams in my short life to not be cheering like hell to win. No matter what the odds are.

I learned my lesson on optimism last year. I vividly remember so many posters on here and on Reddit making claims such and such as to why the Warriors were very beatable in the same way that the Heatles were in their first year, and that the NBA would step in and create parity in order to not let the NBA get out of hand, etc....blah blah blah...none of those got even CLOSE to happening. And I expect the same thing this year.

It will be a sad sight in here after this first game and the other 3 games once reality sets in for most of you.

A few things I’m gonna pay attention to:

1. Hill defense on Curry, and who else will guard curry once hill rests?

2. Nance’s production (if he plays, and I think he will excel when they go small ball)

3. How will GSW guard LeBron?

bigfoot5415 said:

I think we have more of a shot than people are admitting because no one wants to get their hopes up. Houston made a lot of shots in an iso based offense and took them to 7 games with a chance to win. The problem is we have seen our guys go MIA for entire rounds. I think we have better defenders as well. Never count out a heart of a champion. Mavericks pulled off a big upset. Why not us?

I've seen too many bad teams in my short life to not be cheering like hell to win. No matter what the odds are.

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Well for one, Houston isn’t a bad team. They have very good role players who showed up (except for Ariza, who is yet to be found).

Second, they have a borderline elite shot blocker in capela.

Three, multiple players scored double figures on multiple games.

Four, they won a game with harden shooting 24% and cp3 shooting 32%. Remind me a game that we won where lebron didn’t have to ball his ass out?

Rockets are well rounded, we have the potential to be, but are not for whatever reason. We showed no reason to think otherwise so far, so while I do think we have a punchers chance, as many believe, don’t get too excited because of what you saw in the WCF.

I'mWithDan said:

We have to win game 1 IMO.

Winning 3 of 6 against the Warriors with 3 at home is doable.

Having to win 4 of 6 is really tough.

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Agreed. Especially with iggy out, Lebron has gotta be aggressive, and give them the first punch.

RuanuLaw said:

I learned my lesson on optimism last year. I vividly remember so many posters on here and on Reddit making claims such and such as to why the Warriors were very beatable in the same way that the Heatles were in their first year, and that the NBA would step in and create parity in order to not let the NBA get out of hand, etc....blah blah blah...none of those got even CLOSE to happening. And I expect the same thing this year.

It will be a sad sight in here after this first game and the other 3 games once reality sets in for most of you.

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My biggest issue with last years finals, was Lue's intention to try and run and gun with the Warriors. He didn't make any secrets about it......he wanted to play as fast or faster than GS. Fight fire with fire....

That was an awful strategy.

What gives me some hope is I truly believe we will see heavy ISO ball, selective fast breaks, and an effort across the board to keep this game tight. And I feel like Boston was a great lead-in for us into this series. Boston doesn't have the players of GS, but Boston plays a gritty/physical style of ball, that will help us heading into this series.

GS plays less physical than Boston, but they're a high pressure, high turnover defense. In some ways, with the way GS plays, I think CLE will find the more free-flowing style of GS to be less grueling and mentally draining. Everyone knocks the East, but at this moment in time, I'm wondering if our run through the East was the best possible thing that could've happened to this team. Two game 7's, two extremely physical teams, tight defensive games, and 1 series in which LeBron just mentally and physically dominated a team into a sweep.

Fuck! I'm not getting any work done. I'm worthless right now until tip-off!

ACisKING said:

Hard to imagine an upset against the Warriors in a game that Ed Malloy is refereeing. Dude calls every fucking touch foul on and off the ball. Warriors are undefeated in the past four postseasons when he is the ref.

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* Except on LeBron I'm sure.

I am pumped for this game. I would love nothing more than to steal game 1 and get 2 days rest.