Thursday, June 4, 2015

12 Fun Facts About the NBA Finals Between Cleveland and Golden State



After a weeklong break, the NBA Finals are finally here! Will LeBron James win a long awaited title for Cleveland or will MVP sharpshooter Steph Curry bring the championship to Golden State? With all the buildup leading up to the series, here are 12 interesting facts you may have missed.

  1. The NBA Finals will be between two teams with 40+ year title droughts for the 1st time in NBA history. It has never happened in the NHL or NFL either.
  2. The Warriors are the 1st team since the 1996-97 Jazz to make the NBA Finals without any players with Finals experience, and are seeking to become the first such team to win a championship since the 1990-91 Bulls.
  3. LeBron will be starting in his fifth consecutive NBA Finals. He is the only player to do that since the 1960’s Celtics dynasty.  
  4. So far in the playoffs, MVP Curry is shooting .437 from 3PT, which is behind Cavs guard Kyrie Irving at .481
  5. Only two of the past 11 NBA MVPs went on to win the title, both times it was LeBron.
  6. So far in the playoffs, the Cavs have out-rebounded opponents by 8 or more rebounds 8 times. The Warriors have only done it twice. 
  7. Two rookie coaches (Cleveland's David Blatt and Golden State's Steve Kerr) are in the Finals for the first time since the first title was contested in 1947. 
  8. The Cavs are holding teams to .281 3PT% in the playoffs. The two times the Warriors shot worse than .281 from 3 in the playoffs they lost.
  9. If the Warriors win the title, Curry will become the first player in NBA history to face and beat his four fellow All-NBA First Team members (Davis, Gasol, Harden, James).
  10. In the 2015 NBA Playoffs, the Warriors and Cavaliers have combined for a 24-5 record. This is the best combined total shared by two teams (who made it to the finals) since 1991 when the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers totaled a 22-4 win-loss card.
  11. LeBron is the first player in NBA history to enter ‪ the Finals‬ with averages of at least 27 points, 10 rebounds & 8 assists.
  12. The Cavs are undefeated in the playoffs when rookie and UVA grad Joe Harris plays.

3 comments:

  1. These are really interesting facts. I did not pay attention to them until I read your article.

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  2. Thanks for sharing those 12 interesting facts that I might have probably missed. I'll consider them!

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  3. The teams must make every effort to prove their primacy among the champions. It will be a challenge for the final. We should see this.

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