The 2016-2017 NBA Finals was not a difficult matchup to predict. In fact, most everybody expected this matchup to come for a third year in a row. The Cleveland Cavaliers, for a third straight season, will face off against the Golden State Warriors.  The 2016-2017 NBA Finals was not a difficult matchup to predict. In fact, most everybody expected this matchup to come for a third year in a row. The Cleveland Cavaliers, for a third straight season, will face off against the Golden State Warriors.  The Cavs, coached by Tyronn Lue, and  led by the best player in the world–and some could even argue best player of all time–LeBron James. This is going to be James’s seventh consecutive NBA Finals appearance, having attended with the Cavaliers as well as with the Miami Heat.  He and his partners in crime, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, are looking to prove once and for all they are the superior team in the NBA. Irving is one of the top offensive point guards in all of basketball with his superb perimeter shooting and great dribbling skills. Love is also one of the top power forwards the game has today, with his rebounding and post scoring skills, as well as his excellent three-point shooting abilities, which is rare for someone his size and in his position.  With a team as fantastic as the Cleveland Cavaliers representing the Eastern Conference, there’s a team just as talented waiting for them in Oakland, California for game one of the series. The Golden State Warriors walk into the Finals with the best record in the NBA, four current or former all-stars, and three– some could argue four–All- NBA players. These players include Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. Curry and Durant are both former MVPs.  The so- called “Splash Brothers,” Curry and Thompson, have something to prove, as does as candidate for defensive player of the year, Draymond Green. This is due to  letting a series lead 3-1 in last year’s finals slip through their fingers. This year is all about redemption.  As desperate as the entire Warriors roster is to become champions once again, the player with most at stake is without a doubt Kevin Durant. Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise that drafted him, and that grew to love him, and watch him bud into the superstar he is now. Durant’s fans sent him threats, burned his jersey and more–so much is at stake for the superstar. The Warriors and Cavaliers will walk into the series with a chip on their shoulders. The crowd will certainly be rocking both of their respective arenas from game one, to possibly a game seven, from tip off to the final buzzer.  Every victory will put either team in an extremely great position to potentially become NBA champions. The series will surely bring excitement to all basketball fans around the country.