Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off at 9 p.m. ET on ABC as the Warriors host the Cavaliers to begin the Finals for the fourth straight year.
Despite this being Year 4 of this rivalry, there are some new storylines to follow, even if the major players are the same (with the exception of the departure of Kyrie Irving from the Cavs this season). The Warriors have finally looked somewhat vulnerable, but can reassert dominance with an emphatic series win. The Cavaliers are the rag-tag group of underdogs that happen to be led by the best player in the world, who at times has almost physically dragged them through the postseason. In addition to that, LeBron James could be playing his last games as a member of the Cavs and everything that happens in this series and the outcome will be judged as an indication of what his decision will be.
We won’t know that outcome for sure for at least another week, but we can turn to NBA 2K18 for some guidance as to what will happen. The results of our series simulation can be found here, but for those that want to take a look into the future for Thursday night’s Game 1, we have something for you as well. Below you can watch the video of our Game 1 sim (or here, if that isn’t working), as well as the results of the game.
[protected-iframe id=”a9618ee2217c0e1048a03e115f0ffe6c-60970621-76566046″ info=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FDimeUPROXX%2Fvideos%2F10155321717215966%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”560″ height=”350″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border: none; overflow: hidden;” scrolling=”no”]
The Warriors get a big outing from Steph Curry after an up-and-down conference finals against the Rockets, which would bode well for the real-life Warriors if that can happen tonight. Curry is helped by good, but not great efforts from Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson as well, and, hark, is that a big JaVale McGee game I see?! If JaVale has 10 points and four boards in 15 minutes then I fear the Cavs are in big trouble.
LeBron is very efficient, going 10-for-16 from the field, but probably not active enough with only 16 field goal attempts and five free throw attempts. Jeff Green having another big game would be nice for Cleveland, but George Hill’s bad shooting night coupled with lackluster efforts from J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver from the perimeter doesn’t bode well for the road squad.
As you can see from the stats and the shot chart, the Warriors simply overwhelm the Cavs with ball movement and a hot shooting night from three-point range. That’s the recipe for Golden State success and if the Cavs can’t hit threes as well then this is probably a very realistic outcome for Game 1.
We’ll find out later Thursday night if 2K18 is prescient in this prediction or if the Cavs can muster up a shocking performance to steal homecourt from Golden State off the jump.
