Can Golden State hold home court in game seven? Will LeBron go off again?

As the National Basketball Association comes down to the final game seven of the 2016 Finals, to predict a winner in that decisive game is not easy.  Do you go with a now hot Cleveland Cavs team led by a hotter LeBron James who has dominated games five and six?  Or is it one’s preference that the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors, who will have their home court advantage with the fact that this team has the greatest regular season under their belt. Add the fact that the Warriors have not been beaten three in a row this season?  Tough choice, and one that the emotions and statistics have to be given due credit.  To figure that the home court will make the Warriors a heavy favorite Sunday night, it will take a third supreme effort by James and his cohorts, Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson especially, for the Cavs to bring home the trophy to Ohio. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are going to have a lot to say in the final game of the best of seven, and Draymond Green will make sure his play is at the top of his game with respect to defense.

Cleveland and Golden State will have to prove that they can come out at the start and take control early. For the Warriors to get up by ten, twelve, or more points in the first quarter would be a strong indicator that they will be the two time champs. The team that puts the hurt on the other early has been winning in this series. The Warriors must take the game to Cleveland, and to assure a less than close win, the faster they put the Cavs away the better.  At anytime Curry and/or Thompson can go off, and Cleveland must limit extensive runs that would be devastating to their chance. I don’t expect Cleveland to come out big as in the previous two games.

If LeBron James can continue to take the Warriors to the paint, make the plays as he has in the past two games, this will be a close and last second game.  Shots must fall for the Cavs as the Warriors will not let this one go with a poor shooting night by them.  Home teams tend to shoot better and that is expected by Golden State.

That home court is something that the Warriors have earned with their historic regular season (73-9), and they used that seventh game at home to dispose of an equal of both finalists, the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Plus, they know that teams can come back from a three to one deficient as they did against the Thunder.  They understand it can happen.

There will be blood in this one.  These teams don’t like each other.  And with the fact that I think Danny Crawford’s officiating team will call the game, it will a slugfest no-holds barred type of contest. Curry and Thompson and that home crowd will send the Golden State franchise to a second NBA title.   Golden State by three, 105-102.