What a difference a year makes. The NBA Finals teams are the same, but the roles are reversed. Stephen Curry has surpassed LeBron James in hype if not ability. The picks are actually pretty similar, though. 41 of 49 NBA experts we found last year picked the Warriors to win the Finals. This time, 45 of 53 are picking Golden State. Once again, eight experts defy the crowd. Will they be wrong again? Tune in tonight.
Scoreboard Page: Cavaliers in 6. I don’t believe what I just wrote. But to be honest, the Warriors look vulnerable. Pushing for 73, getting Stephen Curry dinged up and having to rally from 3-1 down against the Thunder has to take its toll. But will it be in the NBA Finals? Or the offseason? My pick is the former, because on the other side is LeBron James. Remember him? The former undisputed best player in the game? He ought to be picking one flavor in the Finals: Salty. If he is everything so many fans hoped he would be, he’ll avenge last year’s Finals loss and reclaim the throne. Besides, he never wins his first year on a new team. He saves it for Year 2.
CBS Sports
Ken Berger: Warriors in 7
Bill Reiter: Warriors in 6
Zach Harper: Warriors in 7
James Herbert: Warriors in 6
Matt Moore: Warriors in 6
Ananth Pandian: Warriors in 7
Sports Illustrated
Lee Jenkins: Warriors in 6
Ben Golliver: Warriors in 6
Andrew Sharp: Cavaliers in 6
Chris Ballard: Warriors in 6
Rob Mahoney: Warriors in 5
Matt Dollinger: Cavaliers in 7
DeAntae Prince: Warriors in 5
Jeremy Woo: Warriors in 6
Sporting News
Sean Deveney: Warriors in 7
Adi Joseph: Warriors in 5
ESPN
J.A. Adande: Warriors in 7
Kevin Arnovitz: Warriors in 7
Ian Begley: Cavs in 7
Chris Broussard: Warriors in 7
Bradford Doolittle: Cavs in 6
Amin Elhassan: Warriors in 6
Chad Ford: Warriors in 7
Chris Forsberg: Warriors in 7
Nick Friedell: Warriors in 6
Israel Gutierrez: Warriors in 7
Tom Haberstroh: Warriors in 5
Baxter Holmes: Warriors in 6
Cassidy Hubbarth: Cavs in 6
Zach Lowe: Warriors in 7
Tim MacMahon: Warriors in 6
Arash Markazi: Warriors in 6
Mike Mazzeo: Warriors in 7
Dave McMenamin: Cavs in 6
Kevin Pelton: Warriors in 6
Ramona Shelburne: Warriors in 7
Marc Spears: Warriors in 7
Marc Stein: Warriors in 6
Ethan Sherwood Strauss: Warriors in 6
David Thorpe: Warriors in 6
Justin Verrier: Warriors in 6
Michael Wallace: Cavs in 6
Calvin Watkins: Warriors in 7
Michael Wright: Warriors in 7
Royce Young: Warriors in 6
Los Angeles Times
Broderick Turner: Warriors in 7
More: http://www.latimes.com/sports/nba/la-sp-nba-finals-capsule-20160602-snap-story.html
The Associated Press
Brian Mahoney: Warriors in 7
More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2016/05/31/capsule-preview-of-the-nba-finals-warriors-vs-cavaliers/85201210/
Bleacher Report
Howard Beck: Warriors in 6
Ric Bucher: Warriors in 5
Kevin Ding: Warriors in 5
Adam Fromal: Warriors in 5
Grant Hughes: Warriors in 5