Well, we're running it back ... again. For the fourth straight season, the Golden State Warriors will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals. It was a bit harder than usual for the two teams to arrive at this point, as they each needed to win a Game 7 on the road in their respective conference final series, but they got the job done to set up a four-match. Is that a word? Well, it is now.
The Warriors arrive in the Finals looking for their third title in four seasons, while the Cavs are hoping to even the score in these matchups at 2-2 after falling in five games last season. The action will get underway with Game 1 from Oracle Arena on Thursday night (series schedule), but until then, let's take a look at which team has the advantage in some key areas:
Which team has the best player?
There is certainly no debate about the best player for the Cavaliers, that's easy. it's LeBron James. As for the Warriors, they have four All-Stars, and two of the three best players in the world, so there might be some people who want to debate this topic, but let's just settle that quickly. Steph Curry is the Warriors' best player. OK, great, now that that's out of the way, we can move on to the question of who has the best player in the series. This looks like the Warriors' series to lose, but this point has to go to the Cavaliers.
LeBron is still the best player in the world, and you have to look no further than the past six weeks to realize that fact. In the postseason he's averaging 34 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists, while shooting over 54 percent from the field. Oh, and he plays more than 41 minutes a night. He's the most dominant player in the league, and even against the mighty Warriors he'll still be the best player on the floor. Edge: Cavaliers
Which team has the best supporting cast
Well, this one is pretty easy to figure out. Let's just go down the line. The second best player on the Warriors is Kevin Durant, while the Cavs' second option is Kevin Love, whose status is still up in the air after entering the concussion protocol. Moving on, the Warriors can go to Klay Thompson -- one of the best shooters in the league and a lock-down defender -- while the Cavs turn to ... 37-year-old Kyle Korver? And then, of course, the Warriors' fourth-best player is only another All-Star and their defensive mastermind, Draymond Green. The Cavaliers have George Hill, or maybe J.R. Smith depending on who shows up. Anyway, the point is the Warriors' supporting cast is far superior. Edge: Warriors
Which team has the best coaching
Tyronn Lue said after Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals that it took a while to put Korver -- one of the Cavs' best offensive weapons -- into the game because the Celtics hadn't put Semi Ojeleye in. It's an absolutely outrageous comment. Even if that was what actually happened, you have to make up something better than that to tell the media. On account of that alone, the edge goes to Steve Kerr. Edge: Warriors