Jeff Van Gundy, perhaps getting ahead of himself, said the Warriors are capable of reaching 10 straight NBA Finals — and the rest of the Western Conference may want to close shop.
Van Gundy, who will broadcast his 11th NBA Finals for ABC, agrees with the Las Vegas oddsmakers the Warriors should be “prohibitive favorites’’ to beat the Cavaliers in their trilogy showdown that starts Thursday. The Warriors are 5-13 favorites at Vegas’ Westgate Sports Book.
“I think they’re the prohibitive favorite,’’ Van Gundy said. “I think when you’re the prohibitive favorite against LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, that means you’re a heck of a team, and they sure are. Just the combination of offense and defense, the talent that they’ve been able to amass, it puts them in position where this is a dynasty to me. They have their youth, their health. I see nothing preventing them from going to eight to 10 straight Finals. It will be a massive upset if they’re not there each and every year.”
But eight to 10 straight? That’s at least five more after this season with a core of Stephen Curry, 29; Kevin Durant, 28; Klay Thompson, 27, and Draymond Green, 27.
The Warriors added Durant, the former MVP, to a club that choked on a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers last June, though since they have lost small forward Harrison Barnes, center Andrew Bogut and seemingly have less depth. Nevertheless, the Warriors stormed through the Western Conference playoffs on a 12-0 tear — winning in the playoffs by an average of 16.3 points, on track as the best mark ever.
“Golden State has more margin of error, so they can have guys maybe not shooting the ball particularly well,’’ Van Gundy said. “But Curry and Durant are on such a roll that it may not matter. I think Cleveland in this series, they’re going to have to have all their guys shooting the ball well, playing efficiently.”
It’s not as if the Cavaliers aren’t better than last year’s finalists either, having made in-season additions of sharpshooter Kyle Korver and former All-Star point guard Deron Williams. Moreover, Kevin Love is playing at a very high level after a tepid Finals last year.
Van Gundy said Love is the X-factor for the Cavaliers, while saying defensive reserve forward Andre Igoudala is the same for the Warriors.
“His ability to play effectively offensively and be efficient, because if you’re Cleveland, you’re going to have to try to help off of [Igoudala] and Draymond,’’ Van Gundy said.
James, speaking Sunday, didn’t sound as if he thought his club was the underdog.
“How do I feel about my club going into the Finals?’’ James said. “I feel good about our chances. Real good. I do know both teams are better than last year. We’re a better Cavs team. They’re a better Warriors team. What does that mean? We don’t know yet.”
According to Van Gundy, Thompson’s playoff struggles (he’s shooting 39 percent) is not cause for panic.
“I thought the harder adjustment was going to be for Klay Thompson,’’ Van Gundy said, referring to Durant’s addition. “Because he’s going from being the guy with the ball in his hands, second or third most, depending on how you view it with Draymond Green, to being, at times, an afterthought in their offense.”
The Warriors and Cavaliers have been saluted in some circles for showing wise judgement in resting some key players during the regular season.
Nevertheless, Van Gundy said “cause and effect’’ is still inconclusive, but that misses the point of the “rest’’ issue anyhow. He seemed to take a swipe at NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
“I still think it’s wrong,’’ Van Gundy said. “We market our star players. We ask our fans to watch games, to buy tickets to games, to pay astronomical sums of money to come and watch, and then we bait and switch them without any notice, and we expect it to be OK. I’ve read that many, including the commissioner, have said it’s not a big problem. I’ve always been of the thought, when you get ripped off or when somebody gets ripped off, if it’s not you, it’s not a big problem. But if it’s you, it’s a big problem.
“So I think how the fans are treated since they drive this whole business, and they generate these vast sums of money that our players earn, that we should be more judicious in how we treat them. Because right now, I think we’re treating them very poorly when it comes to taking nights off that have nothing to do with injury.”