The final curtain gradually descends across the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are set to play their third straight NBA Final on Thursday night, and Chinese fans are waiting to see the excitement.
Battle of the Line-ups
Cavaliers’ "Big Three", Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, have strong scoring capabilities. King James, the brain of the Cavaliers, combines multiple skills for scores, assists, rebounds and blocks. While the Warriors features in small-ball strategies and three pointers with the "Death Squad": Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala.
Cleveland Cavaliers "Big Three" /ESPN Photo
Golden State Warriors "Death Squad" /usatoday Photo
Battle of the Benches
Both teams have powerful strength in terms of the bench as well. For the Cavs, they have the former all-star point guard, Deron Williams, who may be a bit older and suffers from injuries, and the experienced 3-point shooter Kyle Korver, along with Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye, which matches with the pace and speed of their rival. The two Warrior's veterans, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala, can encourage other bench players, and they can also fit in Steven Kerr's system via their roles on the court. What’s more, newcomer center JaVale McGee defends the paint.
3-point shooter Kyle Korver /VCG Photo
center JaVale McGee /VCG Photo
Battle of Coaches
Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue will probably be coaching against Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown because of head coach Steve Kerr's chronic back injury on the first game of the final at Oracle Arena Thursday night. Embarrassingly, Mike Brown's highlights included taking the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in 2007 and being named NBA Coach of the Year in 2009, which more or less tied his coaching success to LeBron James in the eyes of some. Also, Tyronn Lue will be attempting to defend himself to win back-to-back NBA championships during the NBA Finals series.
Head coach of Cavaliers Tyronn Lue vs Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown / usatoday Photo
Will the Warriors with "Death Squad" avenge last season's loss? Or will King James lead the "Big Three" to defend the Cavaliers' title? The ending of the trilogy is on.