NBA season comes to a close

Cleveland Cavaliers forward, LeBron James, may have lost his headband, but he has yet to lose a playoff series this year. After sweeping the Boston Celtics in Beantown at the end of April, the Cleveland Cavaliers were riding high until news of Kevin Love’s dislocated shoulder caused all of the momentum to come to a screeching halt.

Despite the bad news, NBA fan Ryan Skinner ’15 is confident in their ability to persevere.

“The Cavaliers are one of the most versatile teams in the league, and they’ve got talented players at each position who know their job and can get it done,” Skinner said. He predicts the Cavs will triumph over the Golden State Warriors to take home their first championship in franchise history.

Luckily, Skinner has statistics on his side. According to fivethirtyeight.com, LeBron James alone has a real plus-minus of 9.2. In addition, the website predicts the Cavaliers to have a 21-percent chance to win the championship; the second highest percentage in the league to the Golden State Warriors.

Another avid NBA fan, Spencer Gabor ’15, has his own prediction for the NBA Finals. He envisions the Chicago Bulls and Warriors squaring off, with the Warriors taking home the crown.

“With Kevin Love out and J.R. Smith probably being suspended for hitting [Celtics forward Jae] Crowder, the Cavs might lose to [the Bulls] in the semi-finals. Also Derrick Rose has been playing really well, and the Warriors are just a machine,” Gabor said.

As for the Warriors chances of winning it all, they are helped by one of the best players in the league in point guard Stephen Curry. Curry helped the team average 109.9 points per game the most in the league, according to teamrankings.com.

Additionally, the Warriors are historically efficient, boasting a 47.6 percent shooting percentage. Their average of 41.5 field goals per game is almost two field goals ahead of the second place team, the Dallas Mavericks.

Either way, the NBA playoffs are shaping up to be full of intrigue and drama. The Finals are set to begin on Thursday, June 4, on ABC.