The Cleveland Cavaliers will start their quest to defend their NBA Championship on opening night as they face the rejuvenated New York Knicks. So, here's a personal prediction of the outcome of the game.
Before the tip-off
Before the tip-off, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have their championship banner raised in front of the Quicken Loans Arena crowd. There will also be a championship rings presentation during the pregame ceremony, according to Cavaliers.
Who's going win?
The Cleveland Cavaliers will win in this game.
Based on the prediction by Fear The Sword, the score would be 108-97 in favor of the Cavs. But my guess is that they will score around 110 points. And they will win around 20 points over the New York Knicks.
I just think that the Cavaliers will be so overwhelmed by the championship banner raising and the rings presentation. They will be so inspired that they will annihilate the New York Knicks even if the Knicks have big time acquisition from last offseason like former MVP Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Brandon Jennings.
The Starters
The projected starting line-up for the New York Knicks is Kristaps Porzingis, Joakim Noah, Carmelo Anthony, Courtney Lee and Derrick Rose. While the Cavaliers have a projected starting line-up of Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving.
By looking at the starting line-up, it is clear that the Cavs have the advantage. But in my own opinion, the Knicks have already close the gap between them and the Cavs when they added Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose in their starting line-up.
But in this game, I expect that LeBron James and company will dominate the Knicks' starters. Aside from the fact that they have the homecourt advantage, they will surely be so inspired and motivated because of the pregame ceremony.
Home Court Advantage
Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a record of 33-8 win-loss column inside the Quicken Loans Arena. That's means that they've won 80% of the time here last season.
The New York Knicks, on the other hand, have a record of 14-27 on the road. That means that they only won 41% of the time when they're in the opposition's arena.
With the first game of the regular season for the Cavs and especially after the pregame presentation wherein the Cavs nation will look back at their championship journey last season, expect that the Quicken Loans arena should be extra loud and the fans will go crazy over their championship team.
Who will score big?
It was LeBron's heroics that put the Cavs on top. I expect that he will be more determined to defend their championship trophy and repeat as NBA champs. Given this fact, he will show the world that he is far from satisfied and dominate this game for the Cavs.
He might post 25+points, 8+ assists and 6+ rebounds. Kyrie Irving will probably score around 20-25 points. I also anticipate that Love will be more eager to prove to the Cavs fans that he belong in the Cavaliers. That's why I expect him to have a double-double in this game.
For the Knicks, I still think that Carmelo Anthony will be the leading scorer for his team in this game with around 30-32 points. Derrick Rose might score around 15-20 points. I also expect that Kristaps Porzingis will have a double-double in this game. Brandon Jennings might score around 15 point to off the bench.
