The Golden State Warriors are in their first NBA Finals series in four decades. The nostalgia and honeymoon period is over; now it’s time to worry about what the Dubs have to do to beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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All season long, the Warriors have been the best team in the NBA. They won 67 games, they mostly breezed through a brutal Western Conference and they have the league’s MVP, its best defense and its second best offense. But at this point in the season, against a Cavs team that is playing its best basketball right now, none of that matters.
What matters is how these two teams match up. We know that LeBron James will have to carry his team and we know that Stephen Curry will need to light it up as he has all postseason. We know that Klay Thompson has to play well and that Draymond Green must be the two-way X-factor he’s been all season long.
But what about the lesser known X-factors that will decide this series? Which role players will need to step up to swing the series? How will this series be decided? Here’s a look at five potential X-factors that probably aren’t as high on everyone’s radar.
Next: No. 5