NBA Finals 2016: Schedule, Format and Predictions for Championship Matchup

For much of the 2016 NBA postseason, it seemed that the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers were on a collision course, destined to meet in the NBA Finals. The Warriors went 73-9 in the regular season. Surely, they were going to navigate their way through the Western Conference, even if their best player in Stephen Curry missed a few games and looked less than 100 percent in others. The Eastern Conference could only throw cupcake opponents at the Cavaliers, who are much healthier this time around than they were last season (when they reached the last round of the postseason anyway). However, some truly spirited play has made the prospect of an Oklahoma City Thunder-Toronto Raptors final a distinct possibility. 

The Thunder are up 3-1 on one of the best teams of all time, while the Raptors are down 3-2 to the Cavs after an embarrassing 116-78 loss on Wednesday evening but are at least heading back to Toronto for a Game 6. A win there, and all bets are off in Game 7. The NBA Finals are tantalizingly close for all four teams and their fans, so here’s a reminder of the schedule and format for the championship round. Schedule, Format

While the exact locations are obviously yet to be decided, we do know the series will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the team sporting a better regular-season winning percentage getting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 at home. This will be the third year in a row the NBA uses this format. Previously, a 2-3-2 format was the standard for decades.Championship PredictionsOK, so the Raptors are still in this series, but they have a psychological mountain to climb after the shellacking they took in Game 5 on Wednesday. 

The Cavaliers drummed up a 61-35 lead by halftime, which ESPN Stats & Info pointed out was the largest of its kind:

31-point halftime lead for Cavaliers is the largest halftime lead in a conference finals game in NBA history

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 26, 2016

After combining for 67 points in Game 4, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan managed just 27 together in Game 5. Their shooting has been mostly horrid this postseason, making them an unreliable pair to count on when it comes to taking on a team featuring the great LeBron James and a host of other talented players. 

The Raptors might force a Game 7, but they have been outscored 337-251 in three games in …

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