Finally, The NBA Finals!

The NBA Finals offer a matchup of two teams that could not be more different.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best player on the planet – LeBron James. If you can name anyone else on the team other than Kyrie Irving, give yourself one bonus point.

The Golden State Warriors have the best team. A couple of stellar shooting guards in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, a sound big man in Andrew Bogut and a versatile defender, rebounder and 3-point shooter in Draymond Green.

Styles make fights. So this should be a well-played series that is great fun to watch. The best-of-seven test begins Thursday night in Oakland.

The satisfaction of winning a title will be great in either city. The Cavaliers have never won a championship, reaching the Finals only once before. No pro team in Cleveland has won a title since the Browns in 1964. The Warriors last won the NBA championship in 1975 and are in their first Finals since.

James can carry a team, but how far? He got the Cavs to this point in 2007 but they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. He and the Miami Heat went to four consecutive championship series and won two, though he had Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh alongside. In the Warriors the Cavs will face the NBA’s best defensive team.

Curry and Thompson can make shots from anywhere and when Curry gets hot, games change quickly. Thompson is recovering from a concussion suffered last week, so his condition is worth watching. And for Cleveland, Irving is talking about “willing’ himself through games despite a knee injury.

Who wins it? We’ll take the Warriors, who refuse to lose at home, in seven.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .