Who would win a Cavs-Thunder Finals? Will LeBron, Steph and KD miss the playoffs? Debate!

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With the NBA season at its midway point, let’s take a spin around the league as we approach the trade deadline and playoff push, starting with the top two teams in the league — the Cavaliers and Thunder — who face off on Thursday in another marquee matchup.

1. Cavs-Thunder, NBA Finals: Who ya got?

Dan Devine: Thunder. I went with Oklahoma City before the season, and I’ll stick with it at the midway point. Pick your preferred metric — net rating, margin of victory, simple rating system, adjusted efficiency — and the Thunder have been running ahead of Cleveland … and a June date gives our ol’ pal Chet Holmgren plenty of time to get back on the floor and up to speed, unlocking an even more menacing version of what’s already been one of the best teams in recent memory.

Vincent Goodwill: Thunder, if this is the matchup and someone help us all on these flights. They’ve experienced just enough pain in the playoffs, which is still a prerequisite for Finals success — sans the 2015 Warriors. Matchup-wise, they’re bigger and longer across the board. The Cavs could win the 3-point game, which makes this all obsolete. But I’m taking Shai as the most impactful player and the Thunder wings being the difference.

Ben Rohrbach: Thunder. They would have the best player in the series (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and the best defense (102.9 points per 100 possessions) — by a wide margin. That defense, by the way, already four points better than any other team in the league, will only improve with the return of Holmgren. Seriously, imagine adding an All-Star to a team with a historic net rating, and you have the Thunder, ever-so-slightly better than another historically great team.

Morten Stig Jensen: Thunder. We’re looking at a team that plays spectacular defense, and is one shooter away from basically being the Boston Celtics of last season. Gilgeous-Alexander is arguably the second or third-best player in basketball right now, and his all-around game, with his uncanny shot-making capabilities, just gives him, and thus the Thunder, the edge for me. But I want it noted that I am in no way a nonbeliever of the…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-16 17:00:00

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