We got here, through meaningless first-round series and embarrassing blowouts and the lamest conference finals ever, and now a lot of people are telling us the hyped endgame will be anticlimactic.
Our own Basketball Power Index gives Golden State, a 67-win super-team that could have sniffed 73 again had it wanted, a 93 percent chance of avenging last season's humiliation. The same system says Golden State has a 64 percent chance of stomping the Cavs in four or five games. The esteemed Kevin Pelton went so far as to calculate the Warriors' odds of completing the first undefeated 16-game postseason in modern NBA history.