Tip-off: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Warriors will be looking to get revenge for last year’s NBA Finals loss when they face the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Christmas Day.

Golden State is once again on pace to win 70 or more games this season, but that doesn’t matter at all to this Warriors team. This group is driven to right last year’s wrong by winning the NBA Championship, but Golden State will also be amped up for this game. The Warriors don’t put much into the regular season anymore, but they will definitely be out for blood against the Cavaliers on Friday. Cleveland will also feel like it has something to prove in this one. Despite beating Golden State to win the championship last year, nobody seems to care much about Cleveland. Many felt that it was more about the Warriors losing the title than the Cavaliers winning, and Cleveland wants to show that it was no fluke. That will, however, be tough if PF Kevin Love is unable to play on Sunday. Love is dealing with a banged up knee, and he missed Cleveland’s home-and-home against the Bucks this week. It’s possible that the Cavaliers opt to rest him in this game, but he’ll definitely do everything in his power to get out there.

The Warriors are going to be ready to go on Sunday, and PG Steph Curry is the guy that will have the most to prove in this game. Curry was miserable in last year’s NBA Finals, but he also wasn’t playing at 100%. He injured his knee earlier in the postseason and never was able to move quite right after that. He’s healthy now and will be hoping to shoot better on Sunday than he did when he shot only 40.3% from the field against Cleveland in the Finals. PF Draymond Green, meanwhile, will be hoping to repeat the success he had in that series. Green averaged 16.5 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.7 SPG and 1.0 BPG in six games against the Cavs in the Finals last year. He almost single-handedly won Game 7 for Golden State, pouring in 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the floor and 6-for-8 shooting from downtown. His defense will be the key to this one, as he needs to hold his own against LeBron James. SG Klay Thompson will also need to be ready to play good defense. He could see a lot of time guarding Kyrie Irving, and he can’t afford to let Irving dominate him. The biggest difference in this game will, however, be the presence of SF Kevin Durant. Durant was with the Thunder last season, and the Warriors might have won the series if they had him a year ago. He should be able to put up 30 or more points in this one, as he’ll be excited to face LeBron.

If PF Kevin Love is unable to go against the Warriors then SF LeBron James will see most of his time at the power forward position. That might actually be what’s best for Cleveland in a matchup with a Golden State team that loves to play small-ball. James feasted on this Warriors team in the Finals a year ago, averaging 29.7 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 8.9 APG, 2.6 SPG and 2.3 BPG in 42.0 MPG. He was on a mission and nobody had an answer for him on either end of the floor. It’s likely that will remain the case on Sunday, as James is probably still the best player on the court whenever he plays. Even in a star-studded affair like this one. PG Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, should be brimming with confidence coming into this gigantic Sunday afternoon game. Irving shined bright in last year’s Finals, and he actually hit the game-winning three in Game 7. Irving is pretty much impossible to guard once he gets his defender in isolation, and it should be expected that the Cavaliers try to bring that situation up as much as possible.