NBA Finals 2017 Schedule: Dates, Start Times, TV Channels For Warriors vs. Cavaliers

It’s a matchup that many have assumed would happen for the past year, but the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are finally officially set to meet in the 2017 NBA Finals. It’s the rubber match of their two previous series, which saw Golden State win the championship in 2015 and the Cavs take the rematch last season.

As long as basketball fans waited to see the two teams reach the finals, they will have to wait just a little bit longer for the series to begin. Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday, June 1, and the NBA Finals will span 18 days if it goes the full seven games. Every game will be on the same TV channel, and only Game 2 and Game 7 have a different start time than the rest of the series.

The Cavs will have a week off after their 33-point drubbing of the Boston Celtics to end the Eastern Conference Finals, but that’s nothing compared to the layoff that the Warriors will have. They clinched their sweep of the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals Monday, which means they’ll go 240 hours in between playing meaningful basketball.

Both teams have dealt with long periods of rest in the 2017 NBA Playoffs, and neither one has been affected negatively. After sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, Golden State had eight days off before their sweep of the Utah Jazz. The Warriors had another six days of rest before playing the Spurs, and they are the only team in league history to go 12-0 before the start of the NBA Finals.

Cleveland had even more rest in the postseason. The Cavs had eight days off in between their sweeps of the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors, and they waited 10 days to play the Celtics. LeBron James even sat out the final two games of the regular season, giving him six days off before the start of the playoffs.

The Warriors have home-court advantage, and they were nearly unbeatable at Oracle Arena in the regular season. Golden State went 36-5 at home, while Cleveland was actually under .500 on the road in the regular season.

Home-court advantage, however, hasn’t meant a whole lot when these two teams have met in the finals. The home team went just 3-3 in 2016, and the Warriors clinched the title at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won Game 7 last year in Golden State.

This is the first time in history that two teams have met in the NBA Finals in three straight years.

2017 NBA Finals Schedule

Game 1 at Golden State: Thursday, June 1, 9 p.m. EDT, ESPN

Game 2 at Golden State: Sunday, June 4, 8 p.m. EDT, ESPN

Game 3 at Cleveland: Wednesday, June 7, 9 p.m. EDT, ESPN

Game 4 at Cleveland, Friday, June 9, 9 p.m. EDT, ESPN

Game 5: at Golden State, Monday, June 12, 9 p.m. EDT, ESPN

Game 6: at Cleveland, Thursday, June 15, 9 p.m. EDT, ESPN

Game 7: at Golden State, Sunday, June 18, 8 p.m. EDT, ESPN