The NBA finals tip off this Thursday with the Cleveland Cavaliers facing off against the Golden State Warriors. Both teams find themselves in unfamiliar territory heading into game one. The Warriors, led by this season’s MVP, Stephen Curry, haven’t won a title since 1975. The Cavaliers led by four-time MVP LeBron James are looking for the team’s first title in franchise history and the first sports title for the city in 50 years.        

Going into the game one, both teams have looked very good this postseason. One problem facing both teams, however, is injuries. Cleveland has had multiple players banged up this season, including the team’s two stars, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Irving has been dealing with both knee tendinitis and an injury to his right foot, while James has been battling with a sore back for most of the season.

The Warriors, on the other hand, may be without their starting shooting guard, Klay Thompson, for game one. Thompson suffered a concussion in the Warriors’ game five win against the Rockets, last week, after getting kneed in the head by the Rockets’ Trevor Ariza during the fourth quarter. After the game, Thompson’s father, Mychal Thompson, said his son was unable to drive himself home and also threw up a couple times.

Thompson did participate in practice this week and expects to be cleared for game one on Thursday, but he cannot be cleared to play until he pays the NBA’s concussion test to prove there are no lingering effects from last week’s injury.

Matchups are ultimately going to determine who wins the finals this year, and the biggest matchup will be Curry vs Irving. Whichever point guard can have a bigger impact on the game will take their team to the Promised Land.

There’s a lot of pressure on Irving during these finals, especially on the defensive end. The Cavs are going to need Irving to play much better defense than he has in the past and that’s no easy task, especially when you have to guard the league MVP.

While the Cavs have Irving, James or even defensive specialist Iman Shumpert and guard Curry, there’s still a lot of pressure on Irving to step up his play on the defensive end. Shumpert, who the Cavs could have guard Curry, may be asked to guard Klay Thompson, who can score points in bunches, just ask the Sacramento Kings (Thompson scored an NBA record 37 points in a quarter against the Kings back in January).

The Cavs could put LeBron on Curry, but the team can’t afford to tire out LeBron by guarding Curry, when he’s already asked to do so much in terms of not only defense, but scoring and distributing, as well. So the Cavs will need to Irving to play the best defense of his career, if there is hope to end Cleveland’s 50-year championship drought.

Now while the Cavs have to worry about Curry, the Warriors have to worry about finding a way to stop LeBron. One luxury the Warriors have is multiple defenders that they can throw LeBron’s way. Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green are all possibilities to guarding LeBron, despite the former MVP’s very versatile skills and play style.

The Warriors stifling defense, combined with assistant coach Alvin Gentry’s innovative offense, should prove enough to win the finals and capitalize on the greatest season in franchise history. You can never count out a four-time MVP, like LeBron, and even though he’s injured, Kyrie Irving is still one of the best point guards in the NBA. That being said, the Warriors are the best team in the NBA for a reason, and they should take this series in six.

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