For the third time in as many seasons, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will face off in the NBA Finals. The seven-game series starts on Friday, June 2 at 11am (AEST) and this is your complete guide to the finals.
The Warriors are yet to drop a game during the post-season, taking three clean sweeps against the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs.
The Cavs were tracking for a similar playoff run but hit a roadblock against the Boston Celtics, a series which they won 4-1. Before that, they got the better of the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors after finishing with the second seed in the East.
Below is the full series schedule. All times are in AEST.
Date | Time (AEST) | Game | Home | Away | Venue |
Fri Jun 2 | 11:00 AM | 1 | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | Oracle Arena |
Mon Jun 5 | 10:00 AM | 2 | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | Oracle Arena |
Thu Jun 8 | 11:00 AM | 3 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | Quicken Loans Arena |
Sat Jun 10 | 11:00 AM | 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | Quicken Loans Arena |
Tue Jun 13 | 11:00 AM | 5* | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | Oracle Arena |
Sat Jun 17 | 11:00 AM | 6* | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | Quicken Loans Arena |
Mon Jun 19 | 10:00 AM | 7* | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | Oracle Arena |
* – if required
The NBA finals will be broadcast in Australia on ESPN, which means you will need a valid Foxtel subscription. Every game will be live, with a half-hour pre-game show generally leading into the matches.
This means you will also be able to stream the NBA Finals on the Foxtel Play or Foxtel Go apps through your tablet, smartphone or TV.
Foxtel Go requires an active subscription to the Foxtel sports pack, with the streaming service included. Foxtel Play, on the other hand, is better if you only want to live stream sport. Subscriptions which include the sports package start from $39 a month.
The alternative is the NBA League Pass. This gives you the option to watch every game of the playoffs live, plus plenty of extra content. It will set you back $40.99 a month or $67.99 for 12 months worth of access.
Of course, The Roar will carry live scores and blogs of each match.
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, Matt Barnes, Andre Igoudala, James McGee, Shaun Livingston, Ian Clark, David West, James McAdoo, Damian Jones
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving, JR Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert, Derrick Williams, Channing Frye, Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, Dahntay Jones, James Jones