By Will McFarlane, Staff Writer

This year’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers was one that most people could have predicted, as this will be the fourth consecutive year these two teams will play each other for the championship. However, this does not make it any less exciting.

This year, Cleveland star LeBron James is playing in his eighth straight (yes… EIGHTH) NBA Finals series. The run to the championship ring has been easy for James in the past, but this year he had his work cut out for him.

Last year after losing to Golden State in the finals, Cleveland’s co-star, Kyrie Irving, said he wanted to be traded from the Cavs. This came as a huge surprise to everyone, especially James. Despite losing Irving, James still carried his team all through the regular season, finishing with a record of 50-32.

Going into the playoffs this year was very different for James. Usually, he’s used to being on the best team in the division. This year, two teams in the East finished with better records than the Cavs. One was a young Philadelphia team and the other was an almighty Boston Celtics team led by none other than James’ former teammate, Irving.

Throughout the playoffs, both the Cavaliers and the Warriors were expected to easily blow through teams. Both teams basically did just that until their respective Conference Finals.

For Cleveland, it went down 2-0 in the series to Boston. After some rough spots for the team, the Cavs ended up beating the Celtics in Game 7 thanks to a superstar performance from James.

In the Western Conference Finals, Golden State and the Houston Rockets were neck and neck, both winning games one after another. The Rockets were looking like early favorites as they were seeming to shut down the superteam that is Golden State. This series also went to Game 7, but the Rockets were easily defeated.

This year’s finals has another dynamic that makes it exciting, and that is that Golden State is returning with essentially the same roster that beat the Cavaliers in previous years, while the Cavs have only been losing talent to trades and cuts.

There is no doubt that the NBA is being controlled by these two teams, but instead of complaining about it, fans should all sit back and watch the two best teams in the league battle it out. If Thursday’s Game 1 thriller was any indication, we’re all in for a fun ride. Game 2 is set for Sunday. Learn more about the series at NBA.com.

Junior Will McFarlane can be reached at [email protected]