NBA Finals Preview

Welcome to another edition of WhoReps' look at the NBA Playoffs. Today we'll be recapping the Game 7's and looking ahead to the start of the NBA Finals. Enjoy! Click a bolded name to see their page.  
                                            
The Houston Rockets had the Golden State Warriors right where they wanted them. Even without injured All-Star Chris Paul, they were in good shape. At home, up eleven at the half, and with just 24 minutes separating them from their first Finals apperance in decades. It just wasn't meant to be. As they've done all season long, the Warriors came out with a vengeance in the second half, quickly erasing the deficit and then burying the Rockets under an avalanche of unguardable jumpers from their trio of Hall of Fame shooters. Golden State is back in the Finals once again.
 
The Rockets have nowhere to look but in the mirror after a second straight lackluster second-half performance to lose the series. Paul or no Paul, Games 6 & 7 were there for the taking and they couldn't grasp it. Missing a playoff record 27 threes in a row is a rough way for a season to end. But those are the breaks. Live by the three, die by the three. It will be a long summer in Houston. With Paul and several other key players impending free agents, the onus is on GM Daryl Morey to find a way to not just bring back talent but to improve it, and surround presumptive MVP James Harden with players that can finally get them over the hump.
 
2000 miles to the northeast in Boston, the result was simultaneously more predictable yet more amazing. LeBron James is going to the Finals for the eighth year in a row. Only 24% of current NBA players were in the league the last time LeBron James was not playing NBA basketball in June! But to do it with this Cavs team, the one that looked dead in the water all season long, may end up being his most impressive accomplishment of all. With Kevin Love injured, the second best player is... who exactly? It may end up being the engimatic journeyman Jeff Green, who is certainly talented but never consistent. If he can showcase the talent that made him a top draft pick in this, the biggest stage of his career, Cleveland may yet have a chance.
 
Let's be honest. We all knew it would end this way. When the season tipped off all the way back in October, the overwhelming favorites to meet in the NBA Finals were the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It wasn't always pretty, and it didn't always seem preordained, but the teams everyone thought would be there in the end are here at the end. The question is if Cleveland can make this series more interesting than the five-game snoozefest of last year. Frankly, it would be a miracle if they did. That was a much better Cavs team, with Kyrie Irving and a healthy Love. But if there's anyone on Earth who can do it, it's LeBron James. Game 1 is Thursday night!