After the longest break in NBA history, the NBA finals will begin tomorrow night in Oakland.  The West’s #1 seeded Golden State Warriors versus the East’s #2 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

Just how did we get here?  The Cavs swept the #1 seeded Atlanta Hawks and the Warriors closed out the Houston Rockets in five games over a week ago!  The NBA Finals schedule was already set and it was up to the participating teams to find the best way to wait it out.  The break also allowed two players a little more time to heal from their various injuries with mixed results.

Golden State’s Klay Thompson is apparently all better after suffering from a concussion from getting kicked in the head in the final game of the last series.  (A clear reason why teams always want to end a series in as few games as possible.)  The team initially cleared Thompson to return to the game, but thought better of it after Thompson began bleeding from the ear.  The NBA’s concussion policy will most likely be revisited after having Thompson exhibit symptoms on the trip home from the game.

Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving will try to battle through leg and knee injuries that the team has called tendonitis.  Irving hasn’t been 100% healthy for the Cavs entire post-season run, so it will up to the rest of the Cavs players to pick up the slack if he is unable to be effective.  One irony not being discussed is that the second best player on James’ team has knee issues for perhaps the third or fourth consecutive year. (See D.Wade 2012-14) If Irving can be close to regular season form, this will be a matchup of possibly the two best ballhandlers in the league with Irving going against 2015 NBA MVP Stephen Curry.  The two point guards will likely have their share of highlights.

This is the fifth-straight finals for LeBron James and the sixth time he has participated in the NBA championship series.  James took an undermanned Cavs team to the finals in 2007, losing to the San Antonio Spurs.  The sports world will go crazy on LeBron James storylines, depending on this year’s outcome. If the Cavs win, the Jordan comparisons are inevitable.  If they lose, James’ critics will point to his 2-4 record in the finals. On the other side, Stephen Curry will try to become the first player to beat all of the rest of the NBA first-team players on his way to a championship.  Curry has also already set a record for most made three-pointers (73) in a postseason and there are at least four games remaining.

My prediction: Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in a seven game epic! (Hey, we need to make up for the lackluster conference finals.)