INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Maging ang Vegas bookies ang naglahad ng sitwasyon – dehado ang Cleveland Cavaliers sa NBA Finals kontra sa Golden State Warriors.
Tunay na defending champion ang Cavaliers, at nasa kanila si LeBron James, ngunit laban sa Warriors maliit lamang ang tumataya sa kanilang tsansa na makapag-back-to-back.
Ngunit, mapapahiya ang mga nagdududa sa kanilang kakayahan.
“The whole underdog thing is funny to me, because yeah, at the end of the day we are defending our title,” pahayag ni Cavs forward Kevin Love, matapos ang ensayo ng Cavs nitong Sabado (Linggo sa Manila).
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“We’re trying to repeat, which is so hard to do. I think we will use it as fuel. We will use it as motivation, but the idea of playing into it? It’s tough for me to say that is the case. I don’t feel like we’re underdogs.We match up well with them and I think they’d say the same about us.”
Gayunman, higit na usap-usapan bago ang nakatakdang Game 1 ng NBA Finals sa Huwebes (Biyernes sa Manila) sa Oakland, ang binitiwang pahayag ni Warriors forward Draymond Green sa pagsisimula ng season.
Sariwa pa ang nakahihinayang na kabiguan sa Cavs matapos umabante sa 3-1 sa nakalipas na season, nangako si Green na kung mabibigyan ng pagkakataon, plano niyang durugin ang Cavs.
“He’s a guy who said he wanted us,” Love said, “and he has us — starting next Thursday.”
Iba’t ibang senaryo at istorya ang tinatahi para sa kauna-unahang ‘trilogy’ sa NBA championships, ngunit, nangingibabaw ang katanungan kung may kakayahan ang Cavs na sumagupa sa Warriors na nadagdagan ng lakas sa pagsama ni all-star Kevin Durant.
Naitala ng Golden State ang 73 win sa nakalipas na season at higit na nagningning sa pagdating ni Durant at tanghaling unang koponan na umusad sa Finals na may malinis na 12-0 record sa playoff sa averaged winning margin na 16.3 puntos.
Inihalintulad naman ni James ang Warriors bilang ‘beast’ at ‘juggernaut’.
“They’ve been right at the top, best team in the league for three years straight now. They’ve been super-impressive. It’s kind of in our minds that that’s who we were going to see. They played great basketball this year. Obviously adding an MVP to a team that already has a two-time MVP makes them even more impressive. It’s tough to say that we didn’t expect it; we knew they’d be right there,” sambit ni Cavs forward Kevin Love.
