NBA Playoff Schedule 2016: Dates, TV Schedule and Storylines for NBA Finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on to the 2016 NBA Finals as they await the winner of the showdown between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Given how routinely LeBron James and the Cavaliers dissected the Eastern Conference, it’s not outlandish to believe the so-called weaker conference could emerge as the victor in the championship round.

After all, Stephen Curry and the Warriors will play host to Kevin Durant and the Thunder on Monday night in Game 7 while LeBron and Co. kick up their feet and watch closely.

Before the matchup gets set, let’s take a look at how folks should set their calendars and outline some things to watch along the way.

NBA Finals Schedule

NBA Finals Storylines  Cleveland’s Do-Over

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Remember last year?

Cleveland limped into the Finals without a guy by the name of Kevin Love (shoulder), and Kyrie Irving suffered a season-ending knee injury in Game 1.

Not this year.

This year, it’s all about the cohesive team the Cleveland front office worked hard to construct. Maybe it didn’t seem like it in the regular season as the Cavaliers chewed through former head coach David Blatt, but the core has the look of a future title-winner—and LeBron isn’t shy about pointing out the year-to-year difference.

He spoke recently with ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin on the topic.

“There’s definitely a different feeling,” James said. “I didn’t appreciate last year myself personally on getting to the Finals. Just so much was going on in my mind, knowing that Kev was out for the rest of the season and knowing that Ky was dealing with injuries all the way from the first round.”

ESPN.com’s Kevin Pelton provided …

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