Just as "NBA 2K18" predicted before the season and throughout the playoffs, the 2018 NBA Finals will feature a fourth-straight battle between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Needless to say making a call of Warriors-Cavs isn't exactly going out on a limb, but it's worth recognizing that the video game has proven its simulation engine prophetic in many other instances. This year's game already deserves credit for being right on six of the eight first-round series (including correctly predicting the surprise of the Pelicans over the Trail Blazers), nailing exactly how the Thunder's season would turn out post-Carmelo Anthony trade, and being on the mark with the final three games in the Conference Finals where it got the margin of victory dead on in two of them.
NBA FINALS 2018: 5 storylines to follow for Cavs-Warriors
Oddsmakers have set this as the most lopsided NBA Finals since 2002 when theLakers swept the Nets, with the Warriors getting an implied 90% chance of winning the series.
The NBA Finals was simulated over 60 times in "NBA 2K18," with accurate rosters and updated distribution of playing time with anticipated rotations. Andre Iguodala was sat out for the entirety of the series due to the uncertainty of whether he will make it back from injury.
Warriors over Cavaliers — 94 percent (expected outcome 4-1)
Despite a clear (and justifiably so) bias from "NBA 2K" towards LeBron James, who on his own has been determined to be stronger than a handful of complete team rosters in the league, the Warriors were just too much even without Iguodala. LeBron managed a near triple-double average and was able to drag the Cavs to a decent number of individual wins along the way, but he just couldn't manage doing so four times in a series.
LeBron averaged 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Kevin Love was shown to be the only other consistent contributor for Cleveland with 17 points and eight rebounds. One or another role player on the team would occasionally step up, and that was about the only time the Cavs had a chance to win. They needed the Warriors to miss an abnormal number of 3-pointers while topping them in bench points and holding an advantage in rebounds, second chance points, and turnovers.
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Unfortunately, for the Cavs, that formula's occurrence was a rarity. When the Warriors shot well they were basically unbeatable. When they protected the ball by turning it over fewer times than Cleveland they were basically unbeatable. Golden State just has far more room for error given the advantage in talent. It wasn't good enough for Cleveland to play well they also needed the Warriors to play poorly.
Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry played like the superstars they are in the series. Durant averaged 26 points, eight rebounds, and six assists while Curry put up 27 points and seven assists. Draymond Green averaged a near triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. Klay Thompson contributed 21 points per game.
Golden State won the series in a sweep 23 percent of the time but the most common result was a finish in five games. Cleveland did manage to extend the series to a Game 7 12 percent of the time.
NBA Finals MVP: Kevin Durant
"NBA 2K18" sees Kevin Durant winning a second consecutive NBA Finals MVP. He took home the award 61% of the time. The only other player to win the award was Steph Curry.
Curry was more likely to win MVP in a short series where his scoring average was up above 30. The longer a series went the more likely Durant would get come out on top with a more complete and consistent stat line.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is co-founder of the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the "Press Row Podcast" and can be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre .