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SteemSports presents the Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors

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Game Preview

Basketball cannot get better than this. Christmas day. Two best teams in the world. LeBron versus Durant. Kyrie versus Curry. East versus West. It will be the first time since Cavaliers met Warriors after last year’s final and that only brings more tension. So, grab some food from your Christmas table and enjoy this little unpredictable masterpiece. I guarantee that it will be hot!.

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Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland curse was surrounding this city for 52 years. The drought for any sporting victory was killing people. An entire generation grew up without having a chance to celebrate their hometown’s major sports trophy. But then LeBron James came along to save the day.

We saw how Cavaliers fans made LeBron their king, burned LeBron’s t-shirt, and glorified him once again. This Cleveland and LeBron saga reached its peak last year, when Cavaliers pulled a comeback from being down 3-1 and won the first championship since forever. A story for Hollywood (to be honest, I am surprised if it is not being made yet).

So how do you find any motivation to start a new season after you did everything in the last one? Well, I might not know, but Cleveland has an answer clearly. They are 21-6 so far this season, confidently standing first in the Eastern Conference, and not even trying hard...

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Cavs Big 3

Well, it is the team which one last year’s NBA, so every player is quite good and valuable. However, there is always someone who stands out, even when we are talking about bests in business:

LeBron James or simply King James. The main discussion between NBA fans is if LeBron James is already better than Michael Jordan. I, personally, don’t think so, but that still shows how good of a player James is. He is soon to be 32, so at this age, he sees no point to play his best basketball on the regular season. So often we see him being a little lazy on defense or not playing aggressively on offense. Why? Because he is one of the smartest players ever, and he knows that play-offs is what matters the most. However, James is averaging 25.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.8 assists this season so far. Yup, I repeat, without even sweating. With all due respect to every basketball player, James is still the best on the planet.

Kyrie Irving This man averages 24 points and 5 assists per game this season. These numbers would be impressive in any team, but we are talking about champions here. However, controversial Charles Barkley’s words that Kyrie is only 25th best player in this league sparked a lot of discussions. People say that Kyrie is only good for scoring points, but sucks on defense. Others add that before James came back to Cleveland, Cavaliers failed to even qualify to play-offs. One might agree with all those speculation, but truth be told– Kyrie Irving is one of the main guys in the best team in the world. Nuff said.

Kevin Love Kevin is not playing as good as he used to do it in Minnesota (30 points and 30 rebounds game and similar things), but it is completely understandable. Love is now playing in a good team and shares his responsibilities with James and Irving. However, “not that good” still means 22 points and 11 rebounds per game. Also, Love managed to score 34 points in one quarter a few months ago, showing that he is still one of the best players out there. He is the last piece of Cavs big 3, and his form will influence Cavs fate big time this season

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Golden State Warriors

I will repeat myself once again, saying that every player is important to this team. Golden State Warriors is still dependent on 3 points shooting a lot and mostly playing small-ball, and good role players like Shaun Livingston or Ian Clark are essential for success. That being said, 4 other guys are even more important.

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Key Players

Draymond Green. There is no point looking at his stats, because it will never show the importance of this man being in the field. He is a true emotional leader of Warrior's; he is one of the top defenders in the league; and being a power forward, Draymond makes the most assists in the whole team and is the main guy when it comes to creating opportunities for teammates. If it wasn't for that kicking in the balls of Adams incident last year, I would say that he is one of my favorite players out there. A true talent.

Stephen Curry. Maybe the hype of Stephen Curry being the best player in the world is over, but that does not make him any worse. I still consider Curry to be one of the best shooters in the league ever, alongside Ray Allen, Larry Bird, and Reggie Miller. One of the best qualities of Stephen is that he can create opportunities for himself. Also, he can shoot from any distance and any situation with the same high percentage. Sometimes it is too painful to watch how this man just throws a well-contested shot and makes it 5 times out of 5. Just unfair how good he is.

Klay Thompson. When this man is on fire, nothing can stop him. No wonder why they named Curry and Thompson the “splash brothers”. Sometimes I even think that Klay is a better catch’n shoot player than Curry. What am I kidding… I think that he Klay is the best catch’n shoot player than anyone else in this league by a clear mile. His technique is flawless and his shooting speed is hard to detect with the plain eye. A true asset to any team.

Kevin Durant. As a fan of Oklahoma City Thunder, I must say that I was not really satisfied with Durant’s decision. It looked like a selfish move of a coward. However, it looks like Durant is having more fun in Oakland than he ever did in Oklahoma. He also averages 26 points and over 8 rebounds per game… After all, he was once named MVP for a reason. Even though, I don’t respect him that much anymore, I must admit that Durant is definitely one of the top 5 players in the league. He can simply do everything.

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Prediction

I can only predict that both teams will not bet holding back. There will be no gifts or festive mood in Quicken Loans Arena. Not on the court, anyway. That first match of a season between previous season’s finalists is always very intriguing and fun to watch. I can only guess that it will be a defensive, low scoring game, with both teams showing their best. My gut instinct slightly leans to Warriors, though. Just because Durant might make a difference this year.

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Presenter: @writingamigo

Originally, Kasparas is from Lithuania, and that automatically means that he is crazy for basketball. He is a geek for sports as he grew up watching everything that was airing (even curling once). Nowadays, Kasparas is practicing kick-box and traveling around Central & South America. The biggest heartbreak in his life so far, was when Italy beat Lithuania in 2004 Olympic basketball semi-finals.

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Editor: @cryptoiskey

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