The Re-re-rematch: Fourth Consecutive Meeting

Since the 2014-2015 season, the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals has turned in to a rivalry between two teams. For the fourth consecutive season, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will compete for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

This year, many people thought that the the two teams will not have re-re-rematch because there were other strong and young teams like the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets who each finished the season as the 1st seed in their conference. Many were anticipating new teams showing up in the finals because the Golden State Warriors finished their season as the 2nd seed in the Western Conference while the Cleveland Cavaliers entered the playoffs as the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. The result of the regular season made people think that the two teams were not the two strongest teams in the league anymore. However, after the playoffs ended, the finals fixture for this year seems to be no different from that of last year, two years ago and three years ago.

The 2018 playoffs was a struggle for the two teams as they were unable to cruise through their games. Throughout the playoffs, both teams were even at the brink of elimination in the Conference Finals as both of the conference finals reached a Game 7 for the first time in 39 years. However, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers turned out to be the victors of the two intense Game 7s even when they both had to face the away court disadvantage.

Yiu Wei Yuen, a senior who very recently graduated, is fascinated by how “these two teams manage to be the two best teams for four consecutive years in the most competitive basketball league in the world”. As a NBA fan, he has never seen this happen and he simply cannot imagine “the amount of effort and time they put in as a team to consistently stay at the top of the league”.

This re-re-rematch between the two teams is a historic one as it is first time in four major American sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) where two teams compete in the finals for four straight years. For LeBron James, the superstar of the Cleveland Cavaliers, this year’s final marks his eighth NBA final out of his fifteen years in the league. Will the Golden State Warriors win the championship for the fourth time in their franchise history or will the Cleveland Cavaliers balance the finals record of this rivalry by taking the championship trophy home this year?

The schedule attached below is the schedule of upcoming finals adjusted to China Time.

Game 1 from Oakland: Friday, June 1, 9 a.m.

Game 2 from Oakland: Monday, June 4, 8 a.m.

Game 3 from Cleveland: Thursday, June 7, 9 a.m.

Game 4 from Cleveland: Saturday, June 9, 9 a.m.

Game 5* from Oakland: Tuesday, June 12, 9 a.m.

Game 6* from Cleveland: Friday, June 15, 9 a.m.

Game 7* from Oakland: Monday, June 18, 8 a.m.
* — if necessary

For playoff brackets and NBA Finals schedule, please visit CBS Sports.