2: Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena on Christmas Day
The Trilogy: Christmas Edition is here.
The rematch of this past year’s NBA Finals is here again on Christmas Day for the third straight year. The Cleveland Cavaliers come into Oracle Arena with lots of drama in the offseason after getting disposed in the Finals four games to one to the Warriors.
First, Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert let go of his general manager, David Griffin, leaving the Cavs without a general manager for quite a while until they hired Koby Altman.
Second, superstar guard, Kyrie Irving requested for a trade from the Cavaliers because he wanted to take control of his own career and be the man somewhere else other than Cleveland. It seemed like part of the trade request was not playing alongside LeBron James, the best player of this generation and one of the greatest players to play the game.
Lastly, James supposedly wants out of Cleveland and wants to leave to form a different superteam. He has been linked with the Los Angeles Lakers as a potential destination for next summer to play alongside #2 pick in the draft Lonzo Ball and possibly Paul George.
The Warriors had quite the opposite summer of Cleveland re-signing almost all of their players and signing Nick Young and Omri Casspi as well. The Warriors have bolstered their team, while it seems like the Cavaliers are headed in the other direction signing Jose Calderon and Derrick Rose, who are great pieces, but won’t be nearly enough to beat the Warriors.
The Warriors chemistry is as good as it’s been and the Cavaliers are slowly crumbling, but despite the drama, Cleveland is still one of the best teams in the league. This Christmas game will not only give us an insight on the gap between the Warriors and Cavs are but also the psychological and chemistry gap between the two franchises.