NBA Finals preview They're a combined 24-1 in the playoffs. Their rosters include 11 players who have appeared in an All-Star Game. And they've been on a collision course to a third straight NBA Finals matchup. The Warriors and Cavaliers are set to do battle, but who has the edge by the numbers? BY LUKE KNOX

Starter RPM rankings

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors both have star power, but which players can be counted on to make a big offensive or defensive play in the Finals? Let's rank the 10 starters by both offensive and defensive Real Plus/Minus , a stat measuring a player's net point differential per 100 possessions. Also included: league percentiles in Points Per Play for all plays, to see strengths and weaknesses.

Offense Defense

Excellent Good Below Avg N/A

Offensive RPM

▼ Off. percentiles

▼ 1 Stephen

Curry 7.05 Transition 69 Isolation 93 P&R, ball handler 78 P&R, roll man 85 Post-up Spot up 97 Handoff 86 Cut 39 Off screen 91 Putbacks 45 Misc. 77 2 LeBron

James 6.18 Transition 71 Isolation 77 P&R, ball handler 84 P&R, roll man 96 Post-up 72 Spot up 66 Handoff 30 Cut 94 Off screen 20 Putbacks 85 Misc. 40 3 Kevin

Durant 4.25 Transition 91 Isolation 89 P&R, ball handler 85 P&R, roll man 57 Post-up 55 Spot up 95 Handoff 88 Cut 91 Off screen 84 Putbacks 99 Misc. 83 4 Kyrie

Irving 4.15 Transition 59 Isolation 95 P&R, ball handler 83 P&R, roll man 7 Post-up 78 Spot up 85 Handoff 73 Cut 96 Off screen 85 Putbacks 6 Misc. 70 5 Klay

Thompson 2.92 Transition 71 Isolation 95 P&R, ball handler 75 P&R, roll man Post-up 19 Spot up 88 Handoff 27 Cut 72 Off screen 70 Putbacks 30 Misc. 98 6 Kevin

Love 2.70 Transition 55 Isolation 51 P&R, ball handler P&R, roll man 22 Post-up 45 Spot up 90 Handoff Cut 75 Off screen 83 Putbacks 36 Misc. 85 7 Draymond

Green 1.57 Transition 22 Isolation 5 P&R, ball handler 16 P&R, roll man 15 Post-up 9 Spot up 47 Handoff Cut 57 Off screen 22 Putbacks 12 Misc. 8 8 Zaza

Pachulia -0.28 Transition 92 Isolation 14 P&R, ball handler P&R, roll man 72 Post-up 18 Spot up 17 Handoff Cut 39 Off screen Putbacks 21 Misc. 10 9 J.R.

Smith -0.60 Transition 52 Isolation 28 P&R, ball handler 1 P&R, roll man 1 Post-up Spot up 41 Handoff 6 Cut Off screen 84 Putbacks Misc. 74 10 Tristan

Thompson -1.52 Transition 73 Isolation P&R, ball handler P&R, roll man 79 Post-up Spot up Handoff Cut 33 Off screen Putbacks 43 Misc. 41

Defensive RPM

▼ Def. percentiles

▼ 1 Draymond

Green 5.12 Transition Isolation 72 P&R, ball handler 82 P&R, roll man 86 Post-up 82 Spot up 89 Handoff 51 Cut Off screen 69 Putbacks Misc. 2 Zaza

Pachulia 3.68 Transition Isolation 23 P&R, ball handler 54 P&R, roll man 18 Post-up 42 Spot up 79 Handoff Cut Off screen 14 Putbacks Misc. 3 Kevin

Love 2.01 Transition Isolation 46 P&R, ball handler 55 P&R, roll man 28 Post-up 64 Spot up 79 Handoff 69 Cut Off screen 48 Putbacks Misc. 4 LeBron

James 1.69 Transition Isolation 52 P&R, ball handler 66 P&R, roll man 76 Post-up 84 Spot up 93 Handoff 26 Cut Off screen 72 Putbacks Misc. 5 Tristan

Thompson 1.65 Transition Isolation 68 P&R, ball handler 27 P&R, roll man 62 Post-up 56 Spot up 67 Handoff 15 Cut Off screen 17 Putbacks Misc. 6 Kevin

Durant 1.19 Transition Isolation 78 P&R, ball handler 50 P&R, roll man 89 Post-up 64 Spot up 89 Handoff 26 Cut Off screen 59 Putbacks Misc. 7 Stephen

Curry 0.42 Transition Isolation 50 P&R, ball handler 38 P&R, roll man 67 Post-up 81 Spot up 59 Handoff 87 Cut Off screen 42 Putbacks Misc. 8 Klay

Thompson -0.44 Transition Isolation 34 P&R, ball handler 59 P&R, roll man 1 Post-up 77 Spot up 80 Handoff 70 Cut Off screen 74 Putbacks Misc. 9 J.R.

Smith -0.91 Transition Isolation 51 P&R, ball handler 25 P&R, roll man Post-up 0 Spot up 86 Handoff 11 Cut Off screen 19 Putbacks Misc. 10 Kyrie

Irving -2.24 Transition Isolation 12 P&R, ball handler 19 P&R, roll man 20 Post-up 62 Spot up 18 Handoff 14 Cut Off screen 89 Putbacks Misc.

Playoff dominance from LeBron

Any way you slice it, LeBron James has played absurdly well in the playoffs: 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game, not to mention a 30.4 player efficiency rating, 126 offensive rating and .299 Win Shares per 48 minutes (last postseason, he was at .274). Using the Game Score metric , with which 10 is average and 30 is very good, James has ratcheted up the production in a big way -- his playoff rate of games with a 30-plus Game Score eclipses Russell Westbrook's from this season.

Game Score totals (30+ in blue)

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Percentage of games with 30+ Game Score

Green playing his best defense

For the Warriors' defense, everything starts and ends with the versatility and excellence of Draymond Green. His success with controlling traffic and slowing LeBron James are crucial for the Warriors. Comparing all starters' Defensive Win Shares per 48 minutes to the stellar number for Rudy Gobert (the DWS leader this season), it's clear that Green is operating on another level.

Regular season Postseason

Key numbers

47.4

Field goal percentage for the Cavaliers on plays after timeouts, best in the NBA and better than the team's overall percentage of 47 percent. Their PPP (1.01) on such plays are second, behind only Houston (1.017). Golden State is fifth in points per play following timeouts (0.963) and tied for second in field goal percentage (46.9 percent, worse than their overall mark of 49.5 percent).

19.3

Points per game off turnovers for the Warriors, a league high. By comparison, the Warriors had 17.1 points per game off TOs last year en route to 73 wins. Cleveland was tied for 26th this season at 14.6 per game, down from 16.3 last season.

+8.6

Net rating for Cleveland's bench in the playoffs, a huge improvement from their regular-season total of minus-1.3. Deron Williams (+16.4 in playoffs) leads the way. Golden State's bench was plus-7.4 in the regular season, and plus-7.8 in the postseason, spearheaded by JaVale McGee (+26.3).

45.5

Field goal percentage for Draymond Green in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime -- the best for any player from either team with at least 30 attempts. That's better than LeBron James (43.8), Kyrie Irving (43.2), Stephen Curry (42.3) and Kevin Durant (42.2).

How they got here

In their 50-10 start, the Warriors were winning at an .833 clip. Remarkably, since then they are playing even better (29-5, .853 winning percentage). Cleveland had a solid plus-261 point differential in 82 regular-season games, then cruised to a plus-177 in just 13 playoff games. Their running totals:

Point differential Wins

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Transition vs. Iso-ball

The teams are miles apart when comparing points per play against play frequency for various plays. Golden State is all about fast breaks (a league-high 18.5 percent are in transition). Cleveland thrives on isolation, averaging 0.99 points per play while running isolation plays a league-high 11.9 percent of the time. The Warriors screen you to death (13 percent of plays, compared to 5.2 for Cleveland).

Transition Isolation P&R, ball handler P&R, roll man Post-up Spot up Handoff Cut Off screen Putback Miscellaneous

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Curry, Irving leaders in longevity

Stephen Curry endured three losing seasons after being drafted in 2009, but the Warriors grew into a destination for veterans seeking a ring (Durant, West, Pachulia). Irving and Tristan Thompson also suffered three sub-.500 seasons before James returned in 2014 and a handful of trades (Love, Smith, Frye) reconfigured the roster. Here's how each current roster was built:

Warriors Cavaliers

Starter Key reserve

Key reserves are those with at least 10 minutes per game during playoffs.

This season: a thriller and a blowout

Kyrie Irving hit a fadeaway jumper with 3.4 seconds on the clock to cap the comeback. In the The teams met twice this season, with each winning in a different fashion. In the Christmas Day matchup , Cleveland had a 3.4 percent win probability with 8:17 left (trailing 95-82) and 5.9 percent with 46 seconds left. Buthit a fadeaway jumper with 3.4 seconds on the clock to cap the comeback. In the second meeting , Golden State's WP never dipped below 98.4 percent the entire second half in a 35-point rout. The Warriors hit 15 3-pointers and outrebounded the Cavs 58-35.

Dec. 25: Cle, 109-108 Jan. 16: GS, 126-91

Similarities in Four factors

The teams are more evenly matched than you might think offensively -- all their teams' ranks in Dean Oliver's Four Factors are no more than two spots from each other (they rank 1-2 in effective FG pct.). In terms of weaknesses, the Warriors are 29th in defensive rebounding (74.9%, league average is 76.7) and the Cavs are 29th in defensive turnover percentage (11.4%, average is 12.7).

Offensive Defensive

Warriors Cavaliers

Who will win the rematch?

All things considered, the numbers point to the Warriors claiming the NBA Finals rubber match. And those numbers are pretty one-sided -- ESPN's Basketball Power Index sides with Golden State by a huge margin.

93 % BPI chances of the Warriors beat the Cavaliers to win the championship

Photos by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images (Curry) and Brian Spurlock/USA Today Sports (Irving). Stats courtesy of Synergy Sports Tech, Basketball-Reference.com, Inpredictable.com, NBA.com and ESPN Stats & Information.