When Do The 2017 NBA Finals Start? Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers Wait For Game 1

It’s been seemingly forever since the Golden State Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers last played a game. Once the 2017 NBA Finals begin, both teams will have had at least a week’s worth of rest to prepare for the best-of-seven series.

When do the 2017 NBA Finals start? The series finally gets underway Thursday night at 9 p.m. EDT at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

READ: Complete 2017 NBA Finals Schedule

Cleveland hasn’t played since they closed out the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics in Game 5 at TD Garden on Thursday, May 25. The Cavs needed just 13 games to get through the first three rounds of the playoffs, never losing once on the road.

Golden State was perfect in the Western Conference playoffs. They haven’t had a game since they completed their sweep of the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, May 22. It’s been more than two weeks since the Warriors last played in front of their home crowd, hosting the Spurs in Game 2 of their series on May 16.

The layoff should ensure that both teams are completely healthy for the start of the series, and that certainly wasn’t the case in their previous two matchups. The Cavs lost to the Warriors in six games in the 2015 NBA Finals, and it was surprising to see them make it that far with the injuries they were dealing with. Kevin Love missed the entire series with a shoulder injury, and Kyrie Irving was gone after Cleveland lost Game 1 with a broken knee cap.

The Warriors were the ones who were banged up last year. Stephen Curry’s knee injury didn’t stop him from playing every game, but it appeared to prevent him from performing like the first-ever unanimous MVP winner. Andrew Bogut missed the final two games of the series as Golden State became the only team in NBA Finals history to blow a 3-1 lead.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is the only key component in the series that is dealing with a health issue. He hasn’t coached since Game 2 of the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, and it’s unknown if he’ll be on the bench at all against Cleveland.

Golden State has been dominant with or without Kerr on the bench in the last two months. Aside from going 12-0 in the postseason, they’ve won 27 of their last 28 games. Klay Thompson didn’t play in that one loss, which was a meaningless regular-season game.

Scoring 118.3 points per game in the postseason, Golden State is outscoring their opponents by an average of 16.3 points per contest. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have combined to averaged 53.8 points on just 34.4 field-goal attempts.

As heavy of a favorite as the Warriors are, the Cavs enter the NBA Finals well-rested after cruising by all three of their opponents. They have a higher postseason offensive efficiency, outscoring their opponents by 13.6 points per contest. LeBron James is averaging 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.4 blocks.