This is how you beat the Warriors: Find players who can match the Dubs on both ends. Easy enough, right? Uh ... no. We rated players based on their projected offensive and defensive ratings in ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM) relative to the average players at their positions. The player's weaker end makes up his two-way rating, and teams with better two-way ratings (the Cavaliers) had more success against Golden State in the 2017 playoffs.

Based on how well two-way rating predicted how a team would over- or under-perform its overall talent against the Warriors, we've adjusted RPM projections to give an idea of how close teams will keep it against Golden State this season. Hint: Not very. -- Kevin Pelton and Tom Haberstroh

2017 projected wins

Real plus-minus (RPM) projections were formed by combining the roster's expected on-court impact with the likely rotation, an ESPN panel of experts voted in the summer forecast, and the Vegas lines come from the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Real plus-minus 62.3

Summer forecast 66.0

Las Vegas 67.5

Title chances On average, the Warriors project to outscore the Cavaliers (in a potential Finals rematch) by 1.7 points per 100 possessions in a single head-to-head matchup on a neutral court. -- Projections by Kevin Pelton and Tom Haberstroh CHANCE TO WIN TITLE 51.0 AVERAGE FINAL SCORE 112 WARRIORS 110 CAVALIERS

Starters and bench

Using ESPN's real-plus minus, a metric that quantifies a player's performance both on offense and defense, we show how your team's five starters and the bench project. -- Jeremias Engelmann

PG Stephen Curry 5.6 25 SG Klay Thompson 1.9 25 SF Kevin Durant 4.3 25 PF Draymond Green 6.0 25 Center Zaza Pachulia 1.4 25 Bench Warriors -0.7 25