Based on performance during the regular season, the 2015 NBA Finals are a mismatch. The Golden State Warriors (67-15) won 14 more games than the Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29), the largest differential since the 67-win Boston Celtics took on the 51-win Houston Rockets in 1986.
So far, however, the postseason has told a different story. It's the Cavaliers, not the favored Warriors, who enter the Finals the hotter team. Cleveland went 10-2 during the Eastern Conference playoffs, tying the 2003 New Jersey Nets and 2013 San Antonio Spurs for the fewest number of games needed to reach the Finals since the opening round went to best-of-seven. And even accounting for the weaker competition in the East, the Cavaliers have still been the better team in the playoffs.
