Who Predicted the Golden State Warriors to Win the NBA Finals?
It’s no secret that the Golden State Warriors are one of the best teams in the NBA. But who predicted that they would win the NBA Finals?
Introduction
In the 2015 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors had won the championship in 2014, and many pundits predicted that they would repeat in 2015. However, the Cavaliers had other ideas. Led by superstar LeBron James, they upset the Warriors in six games to win their first ever NBA title.
The Predictions
There were many people that predicted the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Finals. Some people said it was because of their star players, while others said it was because of their strong coaching staff.
ESPN
On Wednesday, ESPN’s NBA panel predicted the Warriors to win the NBA Finals. They also said that the Houston Rockets and the Boston Celtics will be in the Finals.
Sports Illustrated
In their annual NBA preview issue, Sports Illustrated predicted that the Golden State Warriorswould beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. They also predicted that Kevin Loveand Kyrie Irving would be named co-MVPs of the series.
FiveThirtyEight
FiveThirtyEight is a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging. The website, which is owned by ESPN, was founded in 2008 by Nate Silver. In the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election, FiveThirtyEight accurately predicted the senatorial vote total for 49 of the 50 states.
In 2012, the website’s election forecasts again performed very well, correctly predicting the winner of every state except for Indiana and Florida. For the 2016 election cycle, FiveThirtyEight gave Hillary Clinton a 71% chance of winning the Democratic nomination as of April 26, 2016.
The Results
The Warriors were picked by 70 percent of the ESPN Forecast panel to win the 2017 NBA Finals. They were also the unanimous choice to come out of the Western Conference.
In the Finals, Golden State was a slight favorite over Cleveland (51.8 percent), with the Cavaliers getting 48.2 percent of the votes.
Conclusion
The Warriors were predicted by most to make the NBA Finals, but the Cavaliers were not. The Cavaliers were thought to be too injury prone and lacking in talent to make a deep run in the playoffs. The Warriors, on the other hand, were thought to be the best team in the league and were expected to win the championship.
