2016 NBA Finals: 5 Things To Know Heading Into Game 7

The narratives, hot takes and predictions are pouring in before a decisive Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Here are the five things you really need to know before Game 7.

The 2016 NBA Finals have been the most uneven yet balanced championship series in recent memory. Every game between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers has been decided by double digits, and yet somehow, the two teams are dead even in total points.

LeBron James has been a god among mere mortals. Stephen Curry hasn’t been his usual MVP self. Draymond Green was suspended for a game. Kyrie Irving has played out of his mind in isolation ball, defying the odds against a team defense designed to capitalize on that kind of tactical flaw.

These are all indisputable facts, and yet, the 2016 NBA Finals have seemed more controversial than any in recent memory.

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

• Latest intel calls Donovan Mitchell’s future with the Cavs into question
• 5 players who will challenge Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year
• Cleveland Cavaliers: Analyzing the Max Strus acquisition
• Ranking the 5 best available shooting guards in 2023 NBA free agency
• NBA Rumors: Cavs have secret weapon to lure LeBron back to Cleveland

Heading into a decisive Game 7 at Oracle Arena Sunday night, a clash between six combined MVP awards, an all-time great team and an all-time underdog, and Oracle Arena against Cleveland’s momentum will define the 2015-16 NBA season.

It will be a classic battle between an unstoppable Warriors team and an immovable LeBron James.

With so much at stake, it’s easy to lose track of the storylines that have brought us to this point. In an effort to set the record straight before Game 7 gives rise to more controversy and hot takes than you’ll be able to count, it’s time to take a look at the most important things to know before Game 7.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time to rant and rave about every prevalent storyline in this championship series so we know what the stakes and expectations are for a completely unpredictable Game 7.

Next: No. 5

5. Prepare For Random Game 7 X-Factors

It hasn’t really been the case in this series, but normally, playoff series feature each team’s brightest stars shining when the lights are at their highest intensity. This formula always leaves room for delightful X-factors that pop up out of nowhere and play an unexpected role in making NBA history.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

In a series where role players like Shaun Livingston (Game 1), Tristan Thompson (multiple games), Leandro Barbosa (Games 1 and 2) and yes, even Dahntay Jones (Game 6) have had significant impacts, one of the great treats heading into a decisive Game 7 will be watching these role players try to leave their imprint on the Finals.

Will Anderson Varejao record another couple of clutch offensive rebounds and flop his way to eternal glory? Will Harrison Barnes emerge from his 2-for-22 shooting skid over the last two games in the return of “Playoff Harry B”? Will Richard Jefferson pull a 2012 Mike Miller and start draining threes in his turn-back-the-clock moment?

There’s no way of knowing, but watching Marreese Speights try to shoot his way to a Larry O’Brien trophy or J.R. Smith straddle the line between blatant incompetence and heat check Pipe mode is the reason the expression “enjoy the little things” even exists.

Game 7 could very well just come down to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving vs. the Splash Brothers. But in a do-or-die contest that will decide the 2016 NBA champion, you can be guaranteed someone’s unexpected contributions will be remembered forever.

Next: No. 4

4. Green’s Suspension Was The Turning Point

The Golden State Warriors got caught playing with their food, and if they lose Game 7, they’ll be left with the rotten taste in their mouths of letting a historic 73-win season slip away.

If that happens, Draymond Green’s Game 5 suspension will go down as the undisputed turning point during the greatest upset in NBA Finals history.

In the waning moments of Game 4, Green made a play on the ball(s), going (for the) nuts after LeBron James made a show of stepping over him to get back to the play.

Then ensuing flicka-da-wrist on the King’s jewels resulted in a well-earned Flagrant 1 upon further review by the league, putting him over the flagrant foul points threshold and punishing him with a one-game suspension for Game 5.

Whether the league should extend its flagrant foul leniency the longer a team lasts in the playoffs, whether Green actually made contact with the King’s gems or just got the taint (a fascinating debate behind closed doors in the league office that day, I’m sure), whether the contact was incidental, whether it was a warranted reaction since LeBron tried to treat Draymond’s forehead like a cup of tea…none of it is relevant now.

All that matters is Green, knowing full well how close he was to being suspended, lashed out in the worst possible moment. Ultimately, it was his team that felt like it got smacked in the groin.

Given that the masses believed he should’ve been suspended before the LeBron James altercation, tempting the fates in that way was downright negligent, especially for the emotional leader of a 73-win team.

The Warriors had Game 4 wrapped up and were just a few minutes away from heading back to Oracle Arena for an elimination Game 5. You could see it on the Cavs’ faces: They knew the series was over heading into a title clincher in an arena where the Dubs were 50-3 for the season.

In a flash, their outlook changed. Green was suspended, Klay Thompson and Mo Speights started running their mouths, and LeBron James was served heaps of bulletin board material on a silver platter. Without their best two-way player, the Dubs dropped Game 5 and struggled to find their mojo in Game 6 with all the confidence that James and Kyrie Irving had rediscovered at Oracle.

Draymond Green earned Second Team All-NBA honors, he probably should’ve won a Defensive Player of the Year Award over the last two years, he was pivotal during Stephen Curry’s two-week absence in these same playoffs and in Game 7, all will be forgiven if he helps lead the Dubs to victory. The Dubs wouldn’t be on the verge of back-to-back titles without him.

But after a mediocre eight-point, 10-rebound, six-assist performance in what was supposed to be his triumphant return, Draymond Green had better turn in the best game of his career in a victory…or this Bay Area hero will become the scapegoat for the greatest collapse in NBA Finals history.

Next: No. 3

3. Curry Hasn’t Stepped Up, But Still Deserved Unanimous MVP Honors

There’s no better place for hot takes than the NBA Finals, and now that the Cavs have rallied from their 3-1 deficit to tie the series, here’s the most popular one you’ve probably had to endure: We’re finally seeing who the best player in the NBA is. Steph Curry didn’t deserve MVP. The league MVP is choking.

To sum up: Give me a f***ing break.

There’s no denying that Curry has been a disappointment during this playoff run. After putting together perhaps the greatest offensive season in NBA history, his postseason numbers have significantly dipped, especially on basketball’s grandest stage in the Finals:

• Regular season:  30.1 PPG, 6.7 APG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 3.3 TO, 2.0 PF, .504/.454/.908 shooting
• Postseason:  25.6 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 4.2 TO, 2.1 PF, .445/.413/.915 shooting
• Finals:  23.5 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 4.3 TO, 3.5 PF, .419/.424/.926 shooting

But to say Curry is choking or that he didn’t deserve unanimous MVP honors — which is a nonstarter since that’s a regular season award anyway — would be completely ignoring context.

That context is important when it comes to the greatest shooter in NBA history who hasn’t looked the same since his MCL sprain in the first round of the playoffs.

He’s had his moments where he’s gone off, like his 17-point overtime against the Blazers, his epic Game 7 to put the Thunder away in the conference finals, or his 38-point explosion in Game 4 of the Finals.

But an MCL sprain isn’t an injury you just shake off in a little over a month. Curry at his peak has still been the same Curry we saw all season long, but injuries don’t rob players of their peak performances; they rob them of their consistency.

It’s also worth noting that comparing Curry’s numbers to what LeBron James is doing right now is a fool’s endeavor. Chef Curry suddenly doesn’t deserve his MVP trophy because LeBron James just put together two of the greatest all-time performances in NBA Finals history?

That’s the exact kind of ass-backwards, faulty logic that so many people applied for years to LeBron himself — you know, until this series reminded everyone that, Hey, you know what, LeBron James is still really f***ing good!

People forget, but King James was taking a ton of unnecessary flak as recently as last week when the Cavs fell behind 3-1. Despite averaging 24.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks per game through the first four games, James was hammered for not being assertive enough on offense, for not playing at a Herculean level, for not transcending the sport itself.

Now Curry is catching the same criticism, even though it took LeBron averaging a 41-12-9-3-3 stat line over the last two games to transform everyone’s outcries from “He’s not doing enough!” to “OMG LEBRON LET ME BEAR YOUR CHILDREN!”

Curry has only been the best player on the floor in one game this series, and he’ll have to show up in Game 7 for his team to go back-to-back. If he does, everyone without the short-term memory loss of Curry’s brilliance over the last two seasons will enjoy the collective whiplash of hot takes reverting from heavy criticism to unending praise.

But even if he doesn’t, getting outplayed by one of the 10 greatest NBA players of all time while dealing with a nagging knee injury is hardly indicative of a “choke,” especially after witnessing undeniable greatness for two straight years.

Next: No. 2

2. King James Is On The Cusp Of His Most Legendary Conquest

There’s still a very good chance that LeBron James falls to 2-5 in the NBA Finals for his career on Sunday night. And yet, even after averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game in last year’s Finals, it’s somehow taken this year’s championship series to remind the world that King James is a once-in-a-generation legend.

Again, context is important. If LeBron falls to 2-5, those will be the only numbers that matter to the general public, even though the only Finals series where his team was actually favored and lost was in 2011.

If he loses this year, he’ll be exempt from criticism for carrying this Cavs team back from the depths against the greatest regular season team in NBA history. If he wins, he’ll cement his legacy as one of the five greatest NBA players of all time.

Win or lose, it’s nice to live in a world where LeBron James is no longer the punchline of a cruel NBA Finals joke.

In Game 5, LeBron was masterful with a 41-16-7-3-3 stat line on 16-of-30 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range, but none of it would’ve mattered if he came out complacent in Game 6 and lost his fifth Finals.

With the Cavs counting on another all-time performance to force a Game 7, LeBron delivered once again in Game 6 and was arguably even better, dropping a 41-11-8-4-3 stat line on 16-of-27 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.

Every time the Warriors tried to rally a comeback, LeBron responded with a made jumper, a layup right at the basket, an alley-oop to Tristan Thompson or another backbreaking play to carry his team to victory.

It wasn’t always graceful, and if not for Curry’s ongoing struggles and Draymond’s suspension, this series would probably be over already. But the results were poetically undeniable nonetheless.

Forget about those two games! He tea-bagged Draymond Green and somehow got him suspended. He’s been the best player in a series featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving. He even provided the highlight play that’s been indicative of the entire series as a whole.

Ever since Klay Thompson’s comments about it being a “man’s league,” LeBron has been more than a man among boys; he’s been the proverbial Boogeyman, a terrifying monster lurking in the nightmares of the mere children that now represent his competition.

It’s almost enough to make you wish he’d pick on someone his own size, until you realize he’s doing all this against a 73-win juggernaut.

Win or lose, LeBron James has reminded the world that he’s so much more than the modern day Jerry West. On the cusp of leading Cleveland to its first ever NBA championship against arguably the greatest team ever, King James is not only deserving of Finals MVP honors, but he’s worthy of recognition and respect.

After all, he’s perhaps the only player in NBA history capable of this feat against an all-time great team with so little help.

Next: No. 1

1. No One Knows What To Expect

Heading into Game 7, the predictions will be running wild. The Golden State Warriors have history on their side, the Cleveland Cavaliers have momentum going for them. But don’t make the mistake of buying into any one narrative, because contrary to popular belief, nobody has any idea what the hell to expect in Sunday’s decisive contest.

For the Dubs, there are plenty of reasons to feel confident. For starters, no team in NBA Finals history has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win it all, with those teams going 0-32. The only two teams to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 in the Finals both lost Game 7s on the road. The home team is 15-3 all-time in NBA Finals Game 7s and oh, there’s this too:

Recent history is kind to the Warriors as well. They’ve gone 50-4 in 2015-16 at Oracle Arena where Game 7 will be played, and one of those losses came in Game 5 of this series — a game played without Draymond Green.

Green has to be pissed after failing to have a big game following his costly suspension. Klay should be pissed about another mediocre shooting performance and dropping back-to-back games.

Most of all, the league MVP should be pissed about the way his Game 6 was cut short, not to mention the $25,000 fine and LeBron’s tone-setting block that clearly left an impact.

The Dubs were handed just their second losing streak of the 2015-16 campaign in Game 6, and they haven’t lost three consecutive games since Mark Jackson was in charge. The chips are down, and none of that history matters if LeBron comes out and drops another 40-bomb on the Dubs.

But we have literally never seen a team win 73 games before, and we have never seen a Finals team regroup from a 3-1 deficit. There’s a reason for that: It’s really effing hard to do.

Dating back to 1950, the team that won fewer regular season games than its Finals opponent has won the title only 16 times. The largest discrepancy between regular season wins that’s ever been overcome in the Finals was 12 games — ironically enough, a feat achieved by the 1975 Golden State Warriors, who won 48 games and beat a 60-win Washington Bullets team.

During the regular season, the 2015-16 Warriors won 73 games, given them a 16-game separation from the Cavs in the win column, which would be the largest discrepancy ever surmounted in NBA history.

Anything can happen in a do-or-die Game 7, but if you asked any Warriors fan before the season if they’d put the season on the line in one game at Oracle Arena, where they’d be 50-4 heading into that contest, they’d take that in a heartbeat.

That being said, the Cavs have plenty of reason to be confident as well. They’ve won three out of the last four games against the Dubs, and with Tyronn Lue‘s shortened rotation, the Cavs have found sure footing for the first time in the last two years against this team.

LeBron’s superlative play obviously has a lot to do with that, but Kyrie Irving has been excellent as well, somehow beating the Warriors’ top-five defense with iso-ball and averaging 32.0 points and 5.3 assists per game on .526/.480/.941 shooting splits over the last four games.

Tristan Thompson’s dominance on the glass can’t be ignored, nor can the contributions of Richard Jefferson, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love‘s Game 6 foul trouble. The Cavs have done a terrific job turning Warriors misses — looking at you, Harry B — into transition opportunities, and again, LeBron James is a damn locomotive right now.

The Cavs have all the momentum as the team that seems to have figured its opponent out, especially with the Splash Brothers struggling to deliver their normal torrential downpour. Andre Iguodala‘s stiff back/Kyrie Irving’s foot injury could very well be significant factors. No matter who takes Game 7, would it be a surprise to see either team win by double figures?

The Warriors have history, home-court advantage and an overwhelmingly large sample size on their side that tells us they should be favored. The Cavaliers have momentum and a LeBron James.

More hoops habit: Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 6

No one knows what to expect in Game 7, but whether it’s the completion of an all-time great season or the greatest upset in Finals history that brings the first championship to the Land, Sunday’s outcome will provide us with one hell of a storybook ending. Sit back, strap in, and enjoy.