By: Jaelyn Robards-Allen, contributing intern (@_jaealeise_) Last night’s kicks off the 2016 NBA Finals ended with a 104-89 defeat by the Golden State Warriors. This highly anticipated rematch between Golden State and Cleveland Cavaliers features both the East and West’s top seeds. The record-breaking Warriors (73-9) are only the tenth team ever to come back from a 3-1 hole after winning the Western Conference Finals against the OKC Thunder. The Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25) won the Eastern Conference Finals in a 6-game series against the Toronto Raptors, giving LeBron James his 6th straight NBA Finals appearance. Cleveland’s dangerous starting lineup will include three All-Stars, five first-round picks, four top-five picks and two number one overall picks. Golden State will also start three all-stars in addition to four lottery picks, and one number one overall pick. The 2016 Finals, unlike the 2015 Finals, will include both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Additionally, lifelong former Cavalier, Anderson Varejão, will of course be playing for the Warriors. Varejão will also be receiving a championship ring regardless of the outcome since he started the season playing for the Cavaliers. It’s a win-win for him! If that’s not exciting enough, two-time reigning KIA MVP, Stephen Curry, could potentially be the 11th player in NBA history to win MVP for both the regular season and the finals. That hasn’t been done since LeBron did it in both 2012 and 2013. The 2016 NBA Finals are going to be very interesting and a Game 7 is definitely expected.
