No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win any playoff series, let alone the NBA Finals. If the Cleveland Cavaliers can somehow come back to win the championship this year, it would go down as perhaps the greatest upset in not only basketball history but sports history.
The most compelling question that seems to remain regarding this series is if the Cavs can even win a game against the Golden State Warriors.
In their previous three Finals showdowns with the Cavs, a sweep has been the one accomplishment that has alluded the Warriors thus far.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN has a great story about the reactions from multiple Cavs players about the daunting challenge they have before them.
LeBron James pointed out how remarkable it is that the Warriors can still win when a superstar like Stephen Curry has such a poor game.
If Curry or Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant get shut down, the other two guys are still capable of exploding on the offensive end.
It’s what makes the Warriors nearly impossible to defeat. Their opponents need to play perfectly, while the Warriors can get average or below average games from multiple superstars and still have a chance to win.
J.R. Smith added to that sentiment, lamenting at how discouraging it is to force Curry and Thompson into bad shooting performances and still lose.
Tristan Thompson has garnered most of his attention these Finals jawing with Draymond Green, and he basically said the Cavs still have to give it everything they’ve got for the duration of the series and play their hearts out.
The eventual winner of this series is no longer in doubt. Now it comes down to whether the Warriors will hoist another championship trophy on the road or at home.