A competitive series nears the end. The Golden State Warriors are looking to win their second consecutive NBA title and the Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to win their first-ever title. Game 7 of the NBA Finals (8 p.m. ET, ABC) could be the most exciting game of the series.
The USA TODAY staffers covering the series make their picks:
Sam Amick: Warriors 115, Cavaliers 97: There's a reason a team has never come back from a 3-1 Finals deficit before: it's pretty damn hard. Add on the fact that the Warriors had the luxury of having two of the final three games at home, and you start to see why they survive this scare in the title defense. LeBron James and his Cavs, feisty though they've been, can't tackle this near-impossible task.
Jeff Zillgitt: Warriors 113, Cavaliers 108: Before the Finals started, I picked Warriors over the Cavaliers in seven. And here we are, though I feel less confident about that prediction today than I did on June 1. Yet, I’m sticking with that pick. It’s the Warriors at home in Game 7 of the Finals with a second consecutive NBA championship on the line. It’s hard not seeing Golden State putting the finishing touch on a 73-win regular season. It’s hard seeing the Warriors lose three consecutive games, something they haven’t done this season under Coach Steve Kerr in the past two seasons. And yet, the way LeBron James is playing – his will that has forced a Game 7 after falling behind 3-1 in the series has been amazing to watch – makes me seriously reconsider what will happen. I can talk myself into any prediction and feel good about it. Warriors in seven. Maybe. I don't know. No one does.
Kevin Spain: Warriors 135, Cavaliers 133: OK, so maybe that's just the type of score and game I'm hoping for. Dream scenario is that the Splash Brothers, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are all fantastic, all score 30 or more points and the game is a shootout until the final seconds. More likely, in this series of constant adjustments and changes, shots start falling for Steph Curry and James is a doing everything for the Cavs. It will be the best game of the series, but in the end the home team pulls it out.
Jarrett Bell: Cavaliers 110, Warriors 107: LeBron James has another MVP performance to ignite the biggest celebration back home in Cleveland since 1964 – and somewhere, Jim Brown will be smiling. The Warriors simply run out of gas and rue the crotch shot that sparked the momentum shift that changed history.
Alex Ptachick: Warriors 120, Cavaliers 111: For a team that was so incredible at home during the regular season, it’s hard to count them out when it matters most. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson will steal the thunder of the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving duo and the Cleveland title drought will live on, unless of course you count the Lake Erie Monsters winning the 2016 Calder Cup.
Michael Singer: Cavaliers 104, Warriors 102: A tortured, 50-plus year title drought could only end in unprecedented fashion. Only three teams have ever forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 in the NBA Finals, and no team has ever come all the way back ... until Sunday. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have rattled the record-setting Warriors to their core, unnerving Steph Curry to the point of a Game 6 ejection. Who would've thought that the entire complexion of the series would've flipped on a mindless crotch-shot? James has a chance to erase the sting of his 2010 departure and forever endear himself to his hometown.
A.J. Neuharth-Keusch: Warriors 111, Cavaliers 104: Think LeBron James and the Cavaliers are going to end the 52-year title drought in Cleveland? Think again. James played some of the best – if not the best – basketball of his career in Games 5 and 6, but the other multi-MVP Stephen Curry is long overdue for the type of otherworldly performance that earned him back-to-back MVP awards in the first place. Not only that, but do you really see the winningest regular-season team in NBA history – a team that only lost nine of 82 games – losing three in a row (two at home) when it matters most? The stage is set, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and in the end, the Warriors’ near-perfect season can’t wrap-up any other way than with a confetti-filled celebration at Oracle Arena.
