LeBron, Curry face off again in NBA Finals from today

NAGPUR: LeBron versus Steph. King James versus the Baby-faced Assassin. Any way you slice it, it's a dream matchup for the league in the

NBA

Finals. Again.

LeBron James and Cleveland get a chance for revenge against the Stephen Curry-led Golden State in the NBA Finals starting on Friday, but the underdog Cavaliers have the misfortune to face a Warriors team seemingly peaking again at the right time.

Had they met while Curry was nursing an injury several weeks ago, the Cavaliers might have started as favorites for the best-of-seven series but instead they will be big betting underdogs against a rejuvenated and largely healthy Warriors line-up. But at least it will be a fair fight this year.

The Cavs were not quite a one-man team in last year's championship series, but without two of their "Big Three" in injured forward

Kevin Love

and guard Kyrie Irving, they did well in some respects to take the series to six games.

With Love and Irving healthy this time around, many basketball fans are salivating at the prospect of a classic series but the history of sport is replete with examples of events that promised much, only to fail to live up to expectations.

But on paper at least it does have the potential to be a compelling series as James, in his sixth consecutive NBA Finals (including four with the

Miami Heat

) tries to lift the Cavs to their first championship.

And the fact the Cavs are about a 2-1 underdog means nothing to James. "Not my concern," James said. "I don't get involved in all of that — underdog, overdog, whatever the case may be. It's stupidity. We're better built to start the Finals than we were last year."

A second straight championship showdown between LeBron James and Stephen Curry puts the league's two brightest stars on its biggest stage. It could also mark the beginnings of a new rivalry between the long-time face of the league and the shooting supernova threatening to supplant him.

"It's really annoying for me. That's not what I'm playing for, to be the face of the NBA or to be this or that or to take LeBron's throne or whatever,'' Curry said on Thursday, one day before the Warriors host the Cavs in Game 1. "You know, I'm trying to chase rings, and that's what I'm all about. So that's where the conversation stops for me.''

Games One (Friday) and Two (Monday) will be played in Oakland, California, with the next two games shifting to Cleveland (June 9 and 11). If necessary, Game 5 will be back in Oakland on June 14, Game Six in Cleveland on June 17 and Game Seven in Oakland on June 20.

2016 NBA Finals by the numbers
14 – This series marks the 14th time in NBA history that the same teams are meeting in The Finals in consecutive seasons.

6 – Cleveland's LeBron James is set to play in his sixth straight Finals, the first player to do so in 50 years. Other seven players to accomplish the feat played for the Boston Celtics: Bill Russell (10 straight Finals appearances),

Tom Heinsohn

(nine), Sam Jones (nine), K.C. Jones (eight), Frank Ramsey (eight),

Bob Cousy

(seven) and Satch Sanders (six).

1,077 – Golden State made an NBA-record 1,077 three-pointers this season, becoming the first team in league history to reach 1,000.

5 – Cleveland’s

Tyronn Lue

can become the fifth head coach over the last 60 years to win a title in his first season, joining Golden State’s

Steve Kerr

(2015), the Los Angeles Lakers’

Pat Riley

(1982) and Paul Westhead (1980), and the Philadelphia Warriors' George Senesky (1956).

2 – Golden State’s Steve Kerr is looking to become the second head coach in NBA history to win titles in each of his first two seasons. The only coach to do it is

John Kundla

, who won the 1948 and 1949 titles with the Minneapolis Lakers.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving missed the majority of the Cavaliers’ playoff run last season due to injuries but are both healthy going into this year’s Finals. LeBron James enters the 2016 NBA Finals with 127 playoff victories, the 10th most in NBA history. James needs one win to tie

Magic Johnson

for ninth place, two wins to tie Shaquille O'Neal for eighth place and four wins to tie

Tony Parker

for seventh place. Irving has averaged more than 20 points in each playoff series and has scored 30-plus points three times.

Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to the best regular-season record in NBA history (73-9) and won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the second year in a row. He is the first unanimous winner in the award’s 61-season history. Curry, the 11th player to win back-to-back MVP awards, joins Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and

Steve Nash

as the only guards to earn the honor in consecutive seasons. Klay Thompson set an NBA record with 37 points in one quarter breaking former San Antonio Spurs'

George Gervin

's previous record of 33.
(With agency inputs)