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Why this NBA Finals rematch is different than last year
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors meet in the NBA Finals for a second straight year. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Why this NBA Finals rematch is different than last year

After overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals. The Warriors, who are looking to win their second straight title, will face a familiar foe from the Eastern Conference: the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s right, the NBA Finals this season is a rematch from the previous year.

However, just because this year’s NBA Finals is rematch from the last season, that doesn’t mean it will be the same series. There are some huge differences from 2015. In fact, there are five are major reasons why this year’s NBA Finals rematch will be a totally different series. And here they are:

1) The Cavs are healthy

The most obvious difference between this year’s NBA Finals and the one we witnessed last season is that the Cavs are healthy. Specifically, their big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love appears to be 100 percent. This is in stark contrast to last year’s matchup, in which Love didn’t play a single minute due to a shoulder injury and Irving was lost in Game 1 after he fractured his left kneecap.

Still, without the help of his two best teammates, LeBron was somehow able to carry a shorthanded Cavs teams all the way to a sixth Finals game, averaging an incredible 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the process. Although those numbers are awesome to look at, Cavs fans should be thankful that King James doesn’t have to be options one, two and three on offense this time around. With two healthy All-Star-caliber players flanking him, James can be far more effective and efficient in picking his spots, while getting his other teammates involved.

Oh, and James also won’t need to play nearly 46 minutes a game like his did in last year’s Finals (although he will likely want to), meaning fatigue will be less of an issue for the four-time NBA MVP.

Besides the obvious benefit taking a great deal of weight off of LeBron’s shoulders, having Love and Irving in the mix this year also puts much more pressure and stress on the Golden State defense. Instead of just being able to key in on a fatigued LeBron like they did in Games 5 and 6 last year, the Dubs will have to account for two other All-Star scorers.

Granted, Golden State will likely match up Irving and Love with a pair of fantastic defenders in Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but the extra effort on the defensive end of the floor for Thompson and Green will be tiring. The Warriors are certainly equipped to handle and contain both Irving and Love, but over the course of a seven-games series, the extra energy needed to do just that can take its toll on a team.

That's not to mention that a player as talented as Irving always has the ability to find himself in the zone and win a game seemingly all by himself. Having healthy All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love both available to play will be the biggest difference in this year’s Finals rematch.

2) The Warriors are even better than they were last year

Despite nearly being eliminated by OKC, the Warriors are truly a better team than they were last season.

And if you’re not a Dubs fan, this fact should continue to freak you out all way into next season.

After posting a 67-15 record in the 2014-15 regular season on the way to the championship, all the Warriors did this campaign was win an NBA-record 73 regular-season games. The year after winning a championship, most basketball teams experience a dip in form, but the Warriors only got better!

This season, they have been scoring nearly five more points per game, rebounding the ball more effectively and are making an absurd 41.6 percent of their three-point shots taken. Star point guard Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to be unanimously voted MVP of the league, his second straight year as MVP, and Draymond Green has emerged as a true superstar.

Sure, the Cavs might be fully healthy unlike last year, but it might not matter simply because this season’s version of the Golden State Warriors is even better than the team that defeated Cleveland to become champs a year ago.

The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls might vehemently disagree, but if the Dubs are able to win four more games, then there is an argument to be made that the 2015-16 Warriors are the greatest NBA team ever.

3) Increased small ball

After splitting the first four games of last year’s Finals, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made a decision that would permanently change the dynamic of the series in his team’s favor. Kerr inserted small forward Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup over center Andrew Bogut. The adjustment by Kerr to go small from the get-go was too much for the Cavs to handle, and the Dubs won the next two games and the series. Iguodala was even named NBA Finals MVP.

A year later, you can expect the Warriors to deploy this tactic much sooner. Along with the fact that the small ball lineup is exhausting for opposing teams to guard, aforementioned starting center Andrew Bogut has struggled this postseason. If Bogut or backups Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights aren’t cutting it for Kerr, the second-year head coach won’t hesitate to bench them and go small.

The same can also be said about the Cavs. Tristan Thompson is the only center on Cleveland who even receives significant playing time, and with midseason acquisition Channing Frye shooting nearly 60 percent from beyond the arc in the postseason, the Cavs are likely to play their own small ball lineups.

This is in stark contrast to last year’s NBA Finals, when Cavs center Timofey Mozgov was at times Cleveland’s second best option on the offensive side of the floor. Flash-forward a year, and Mozgov can barely even crack the rotation.

4) Tyronn Lue

Along with Cleveland’s health, there is one other massive difference between last year’s Cavs and the team about to begin its battle for the Larry O’Brien Trophy on Thursday. Cleveland has a new head coach in Tyronn Lue.

After looking sluggish out of the gate this season, the Cavs fired coach David Blatt. Seldom does a team that fires is head coach midway through the season make the playoffs, let alone win a championship, but the decision by Cavs GM David Griffin to replace Blatt with Lue is paying dividends.

Lue has a far better relationship with LeBron James and the rest of the Cavs team than Blatt ever did. The Cavs actually seem to respond to Lue’s coaching instead of just constantly looking to LeBron on the floor, as was often the case with Blatt in charge. Also, from a tactical standpoint, every coach is different. The adjustments from game to game that Blatt made in last year’s Finals will not be the same ones that coach Lue will make this time around.

Coaching in the NBA playoffs is chess game, and the Cavs have a new man on the sidelines moving the pieces this year.

5) LeBron’s legacy could be on the line


Granted, LeBron James is 31 years old and has ton of basketball left in him, but when it comes to King James' legacy, a ton is stake for him in this NBA Finals. If he is unable to lead the Cavs to a championship in the coming weeks, then his career record in the NBA Finals will be 2-5. Michael Jordan never lost in a single NBA Finals, let alone five of them. Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and a host of other NBA legends whom James is the same class as all never even approached five NBA Finals series losses.

Yes, basketball is a team game, and 100 percent of the blame or praise can never be assigned to a single player — but if James comes up short in the Finals once again, the optics don’t look good. LeBron came back to Cleveland with the intention of not only winning the city its first NBA title, but multiple. If James is unable to even bring his home state one NBA title, his legacy will take a major hit.

You better believe LeBron is keenly aware of this fact, feels the urgency of the situation and is going to do everything humanly possible to take Cleveland to the promised land. Unfortunately for King James, one of the best teams in NBA history appears to be standing in his way.

This should be one hell of a series.

Can you name every player on both Cleveland Cavaliers' Finals-losing teams?

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost in the NBA Finals after the 2006-07 and 2014-15 seasons. Two players were on both teams. An asterisk (*) denotes player was on both teams.

SCORE:
0/28
TIME:
5:00
14-15 PG
Matt Dellavedova
14-15 SG
Joe Harris
14-15 C
Brendan Haywood
14-15 PG
Kyrie Irving
14-15 SF*
LeBron James
14-15 SF
James Jones
14-15 PF
Kevin Love
14-15 SF
Shawn Marion
14-15 SG
Mike Miller
14-15 C
Timofey Mozgov
14-15 C
Kendrick Perkins
14-15 SG
Iman Shumpert
14-15 SG
J.R. Smith
14-15 PF
Tristan Thompson
14-15 C*
Anderson Varejao
06-07 SG
Shannon Brown
06-07 PG
Daniel Gibson
06-07 PF
Drew Gooden
06-07 SG
Larry Hughes
06-07 C
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
06-07 PG
Damon Jones
06-07 PF
Dwayne Jones
06-07 PF
Donyell Marshall
06-07 SF
Ira Newble
06-07 SG
Sasha Pavlovic
06-07 C
Scot Pollard
06-07 PG
Eric Snow
06-07 SG
David Wesley

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