It's time for the 2016 NBA Finals! 
Once again, it's the Golden State Warriors vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It all begins on Thursday, June 2nd, 2016.
Who do you like?
I am (again) rooting for the Cavs! 
As a Bay Area resident, I’ll be cheering on the Warriors.
The series promises to present an interesting contrast in styles. The Warriors have one of the best three-point attacks of any team ever to play in the NBA. The Cavs can also shoot the three, but their bread and butter is attacking the basket.
The high-scoring playoff games the Warriors played this year in getting to the finals do not bode well for them. I’m okay with the Warriors scoring big, but the number of times they allowed an opponent to surpass the century mark is not a good sign. It suggests the Warriors do not always play championship-level defense.
Bay Area teams have been on a hot streak in recent years. The Giants, Warriors, 49ers, and now the Sharks, have all played or won championships recently.
Go Warriors!
hmm I needed a cheat cart here:
To quote the now late Johan Cruyff:
What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster.
though I don’t like warrior
but I think the winner still them
that’s hilarious 
though you might want to add cricket (and rugby?) for some of the commonwealth countries.
Yes. I found there is many people does not like the Golden State Warrior. Maybe people do not like their playing style.
One point is really let them success in recent year, their 3-pt shooting ability.
There are many 3-pt shooters inside this team (3-pt shooting machine).
It is crazy on the 3rd Quarter. The three consecutive 3-ptson 3rd quarter by Curry. You will see OKC does not react and stop it.
I think it must have someone to stop their 3-pts game or shoot more accurately.
Otherwise, they will break a record again 
I won’t bet against them but the Cavaliers will probably blow it like Cleveland teams have a habit of doing.
You lost me there.
Would like to see the Cavaliers win, but I think the Warriors will get their 2nd straight title. Getting tired of seeing Steph Curry with that mouth piece hanging out of his mouth, pointing to Jesus every time he makes a shot, and mumbling during interviews. At least he quit doing the cutesy towel over his head thing.
You left hockey off the list, Miller. Love them or hate them the Warriors are one of only two relevant teams left. Watching the splash brothers sink treys from 6’ beyond the arc while everyone else pigeon-toe’s up to the line is sick and I don’t recall seeing anyone arc floaters as high as Steph to get over defenders, it’s like a whole new shot. The Thunder played them tougher than any team in the regular season so that should quiet the “didn’t have to play the Spurs” crowd(but probably won’t). Personally, I got real tired of watching big men backing down(pushing butt) to get close enough since they couldn’t shoot a lick from distance and watching the ball handling and shooting skill of the great guards today open the floor makes the game more fun to watch. No lead is safe when either team can score so quickly. Put the ball in the basket, however and from wherever, using every man on the team to get it done. As a youngster I wore a retainer and hated it so while I might not like seeing the mouth guard I’d probably do the same. Fist pumps, bat flips, pointing at the sky, whatever, it’s part of every sport in town. If the other guy does it too much then your team is probably losing. I don’t mind a bit of winning after so many years on the other end.
Go DubNation.
How quickly we forget! The Oscar awards are a great example of this. Anyone remember which movie won best film two years ago? Three?
The 49ers scored 29 points in Super Bowl 47, and were only one play (and 5 yards) away from taking the lead inside the final two minutes.
Both teams have shown their weaknesses in the playoffs. The Warriors are dependent on their 3-point shooting. The Cavaliers need to maintain their composure on both ends of the court. I think the starting 5 favors the Cavs, while the bench and coaching favor the Dubs. I call it for GSW in 6.
Are there any great rivalries any more? I miss the good old days of Bird versus Magic. I don’t think we’ll ever see that kind of competition happen again, not with the free agency revolving door.
And I enjoy watching basketball for the first 46 minutes or so. The last 2 minutes are a joke. The refs will scrupulously review a play to see who touched the ball last before going out of bounds. Meanwhile, all sorts of offensive and defensive fouls are routinely ignored. It is the only sport that I know of where the dictum, “let the players decide the game”, is so perversely applied. :cowboy_hat_face:
And then the wheels came off. . . the doors came off. . . The drive shaft broke. . . The biggest difference between the niner’s and the current crop of good Bay Area teams is management and the character of of the players assembled. The niners had a team loaded with talent but players left or retired early to get out and they can’t sign any new good players from free agency. I don’t look for role models in professional athletes but you don’t see outright criminals in the giants dugout it the warriors bench. It starts at the top, and if they’re good it’s good through and through. Trent Balki is not someone I’d want to share a meal with.
repeat of last years Final, but Cleveland is healthy. I’m only HAPPY for the Dubs to have made it back, it didn’t look good. Should be drama filled, too much for my heart to handle at times really 
I’m rooting against the Warriors, but if I were a betting man, I’d be betting on them winning.
Last year the Irvingless and Loveless Cav’s gave the Warriors just about all the could handle, Cav’s in six.
One of the rules the NBA needs to get rid of, is the player calling “time-out” when he gets in trouble. Shouldn’t be allowed to bale yourself out of a turnover by calling time-out. There was a real good example of that near the end of last nights game.
Indeed, the OWNER of the 49ers is the biggest problem.
If you care about making (or losing) money with your sports franchise, that means you are not wealthy enough to be an owner in the first place!
Back when former owner Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. had control of the team, the most important thing was winning. The niners did a lot of it. Unfortunately, after Eddie was arrested in Louisiana carrying a sack containing several hundred thousand dollars in cash (on his way to make an illegal payoff), ownership of the team was transferred to his sister and her husband, John York.
Under new ownership, the money became paramount. Winning took a back seat.
The DeBartolo real-estate empire had had its own problems, and the Yorks focused on stopping the financial bleeding at the 49ers. The finances are now in balance, but the team has not been the same since. I don’t expect success under the Yorks.
What the 49ers need is a new billionaire owner who only cares about winning!
BTW, what was that movie that won best film? Beats me!
Agreed.
In addition to what you mention, a pet peeve of mine is the ritual fouling that is built into the rules. Basketball is the only sport where breaking the rules (i.e., fouling) is designed to create an advantage for the team that breaks the rules.
What is that about?!!
The NBA, of course, likes the ritual fouling, because it makes for closer games. I guess the athleticism of basketball, by itself, is not enough to sustain fan interest.
Maybe the NFL should do something like this. When a football team trails in the last two minutes, it should be allowed to foul if it is on defense. As a reward (ahem,… I mean, penalty), the clock should stop, and the team that fouled should get possession of the ball.
Hey, it’s just a modest proposal.
I would like to see NBA rules changed so that a team that is fouled in the final two minutes has its choice to either:
1. Shoot free throws.
2. Shoot no free throws, but keep possession of the ball with a new clock (possibly set to 14 seconds).
I am not sure how you would word such a rule.
I believe the current rule goes something like this: “Whenever a player has possession of the ball, he can call a time out.” It is difficult to codify what you describe. What is the language that describes having possession, but simultaneously being “under duress?”
In some of the scrambles you are talking about, I am amazed that no fouls are called. Evidently, after a player falls down, you can crawl all over him without ever fouling.
I don’t know how they would do it either. The refs would probably have to make the determination like they do for a flagrant, or just a judgment call. Many times you see a player trapped in the corner about to lose the ball, and they call time out. Thats BS, since it was the trapped player who got himself in that position in the first place.
I don’t think the rule “Whenever a player has possession of the ball, he can call a time out”, was ever supposed to mean “If you screw up and are in trouble you can call time out”
In the case of the scramble last night Green vs Westbrook, it would have been called a jump ball had Green not called time out, and it should have been a jump ball after Green lost control. They both had equal control over the ball. Instead the Ref accepted Green’s timeout request, and possession of the ball went to Golden State, where Curry then knocked down a 3. Pretty critical the last 2 minutes of the game. It went from a 4 pt lead to a 7 pt lead.