There have been marquee finals matchups in the past decade. The 2010 finals between two storied franchises; the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics clearly comes to mind. After all these two teams were meeting in the last dance, for the second time in three seasons. Now you have to take into account how special that 2010 dance was going to be. You had a Lakers team which was severely overmatched by their bitter rivals in green back in 2008 coming into this particular final looking for redemption. You had an aging hall-of-famer in the form of Kobe Bryant, who in his swash-buckling way was looking to cement his legacy as one of the greatest to ever lace them up.

Now some might argue that the game has evolved from the long-gone pounding days to the flawless poetry that the perimeter game has presented today. Is it any different? Have the past 9 years or so been that different competitively? Back in ’08, the Eastern Conference’s Boston Celtics were competing for their first title since 1986 with finals first-timers Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen as their leading cast.

After going through a tumultuous 2006/07 season, Celtics GM Danny Ainge pulled the trigger on a deal that would bring Garnett and Allen to a team that had only won 24 games, led by lone All-Star Paul Pierce. This addition buoyed them to an Eastern Conference best 66 wins. Fast-forward to the 2013/14 season and the current defending champs looked nothing close to the championship team they have today.

The precocious talent that is Kyrie Irving led them to a miserable 33 wins and 10th place in the eastern conference, clearly out of playoff contention. A loss in the finals that same year by the Miami Heat, conversely brought some expedient fortune for the Cavs the next season with LeBron James, from the Heat and Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves making the move to Cleveland for what many saw as the second coming of the ‘Big Three’. Mind you the start was not as seamless as it was projected to be but the Cavs got their act together quickly finishing second in the Eastern Conference with 53 wins under their belt. And just like this postseason, they made easy work of their conference rivals to head into the first of three finals against The Golden State Warriors.

The more things changed, the more things stayed the same. The Cavs big three was not the first time an NBA franchise built their program on a trifecta of stars. You could go back as far as the 1995/96 Chicago Bulls team made up of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. You could argue that the Lakers’ 08 team was built around Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and the 2000s San Antonio Spurs, sans David Robinson, was predicated upon the talents of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Let’s not forget this season’s Warriors with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.

Coming into this season, the Cavs big three is shooting a whooping 47 percent from the field while the Warriors big three is shooting 48 percent in terms of their field goals. Both teams have deadly perimeter players that can stretch the floor unlike in past NBA years where the game was more inside out.

If you look at both teams’ field goal percentages you’d be inclined to think that they’re matched up evenly. Well the answer comes in two parts, yes and no. The Warriors march into this final undefeated and averaging 117 points in the month of May while shooting 51 percent. The Cavs similarly are shooting 51 percent from the field with an average of 118 per game in the month of May as well.

That being said the Cavaliers have not met a team that is as dominant in points differential as the Warriors. This is the third time in three years these two teams are meeting and you’d figure that the Cavs have their number by now.

Cleveland are coming off one of their best offensive seasons in the East, leading the conference in three-pointers made. They’re going to need all that considering they’re meeting the best offensive team in the league during the regular season.

Are super teams the only path to winning it all in the NBA? Do teams lose their identity with too much star power on the court at the same time? When Game 1 of the 2016/17 Finals tipoff on Friday morning, it will only be the third time that seven All-Star players chosen in the same season, will share the court. Round 3 of the Cleveland/Warriors rivalry will see which set of all-Stars will shine brightest.

By Fidel Maithya