(CNN Philippines) — The inevitable is happening.
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will meet for the third consecutive year on basketball’s biggest stage beginning Friday (Manila time).
This is perhaps the most anticipated rivalry in three decades since the Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics had their run in the 1980’s. They had a combined 13 Finals appearance in that decade.
Early forecasts by analysts had one thing in common, and they were proven right: that the Warriors and Cavaliers will clash in this season’s National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.
Let’s take quick recap of their first two meetings in the finals starting in 2015.
2015 NBA FINALS: MAKING A SPLASH
LeBron James, Ohio’s prodigal son, just returned to Cleveland after a four-year stint with the Miami Heat.
The Cavaliers formed the ‘Big 3’ consisting of James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love in the hopes of improving a previous dismal season.
Golden State, meanwhile, replaced Mark Jackson by hiring Steve Kerr.
Kerr was able to steer the Warriors to the best regular season record (67-15) to become the winningest rookie head coach in NBA history.
In the end, Golden State proved to be too much for an undermanned Cleveland squad, who lost Love and Irving to injuries earlier in the post-season, and the series was decided in six matches.
2016 NBA FINALS: OVERCOMING A 3-1 HOLE
The following year, the Warriors rewrote history books after toppling the regular season record of the 1996 Chicago Bulls with a 73-9 win-loss slate.
That momentum extended to the finals as Golden State took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Cavaliers, who had a healthy Irving and Love in the team.
But then the improbable happened.
The Cavs were able to weather the storm and force a deciding Game 7, and snapped a 52-year professional sports championship drought for the city of Cleveland.
2017 NBA FINALS: DUBS-CAVS III
Fast forward to the upcoming finals, the top-seeded Golden State is playing like a well-oiled machine. They swept the first three rounds of the playoffs with ease and a 16.3 points average margin of victory.
While the Cavaliers needed 13 games to advance to the finals.
Good news for Cleveland fans is that LeBron is playing arguably the best basketball in his career surpassing playoff records after records.
James is averaging 32.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in the entire postseason. He is also entering his seventh straight Finals appearance.
Fans are hoping that this series will make up for what has been a lackluster playoffs so far.
And they might be in for a treat as the tension between these two squads has never been higher.
Will the acquisition of Kevin Durant pay dividends for the ‘super team’ Warriors and exact revenge on their Eastern rivals?
Or will Cleveland continue to defy the odds and successfully defend their crown?
The 2017 NBA Finals will commence on June 2 at the Oracle Arena.
