Who has the edge between Warriors and Cavaliers?

THE MAIN MATCHUPS

POINT GUARD

Curry vs. Irving

Stephen Curry missed six games with a knee injury but appeared fully recovered in Game 7 of the Western Conference final, making seven 3-pointers and scoring 36 points. The league MVP had a nearly identical performance in Golden State’s 132-98 thrashing of the Cavs in January, scoring 35 points on seven 3s in just three quarters. Kyrie Irving is averaging 24.3 points in the postseason, leading the Cavs until James edged in front of him late in the East final.

Edge: Warriors

SMALL FORWARD

Barnes or Iguodala vs. James

In his sixth consecutive NBA Finals, it will be hard for LeBron James to play any better than he did last June, when he averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists. But he shouldn’t need to carry as heavy a load with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving available this time. The Warriors moved Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup late in the Western Conference final and the Cavs are well aware of the impact he can make, as he won NBA Finals MVP honors last year after averaging 16.3 points.

Edge: Cavaliers

THE OTHER STARTERS

POWER FORWARD

Green vs. Love

Kevin Love is making his NBA Finals debut and will have to shoot better than he did against the Warriors in the regular season, when he made 28.6 percent from the floor. That will be tough against Draymond Green, the runner-up again for Defensive Player of the Year who averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds against Cleveland this season.

EDGE: Warriors

SHOOTING GUARD

THOMPSON VS. SMITH

Expect plenty of 3-pointers from these two, as Klay Thompson has made 77 in the postseason - including a playoff-record 11 in Game 6 of the West final - and?J.R. Smith has nailed 49 in just 14 games. Thompson is an All-Star and better all-around player, though Smith is a much-improved defender.

Edge: Warriors

CENTER

BOGUT VS. THOMPSON

The Warriors turned around the finals last year once they benched Andrew Bogut and went small, so who knows how much time he gets now after he was needed against Oklahoma City’s big men in the Western Conference final. Tristan Thompson averaged 13 points in the 2015 finals and could excel again against small lineups.

EDGE: Even

THE BENCH

RESERVES

The Cavaliers have upgraded their bench unit since adding the shooting of veterans Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson to the perimeter defensive abilities of Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova. But Golden State, led by 2015 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Andre Iguodala (provided he doesn’t start like he did in Game 7 of the Western Conference final), Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Shaun Livingston and Marreese Speights, may still have more quality reserves, some of whom would start on other teams around the league.

EDGE: Warriors

COACHES

KERR VS. LUE

The experience edge goes to Steve Kerr (left), and he’s only been doing this two years. But from handling the Warriors’ pursuit of the league’s record for wins to his adjustments in bringing them back from 3-1 down against Oklahoma City, it’s clear the Coach of the Year has already mastered the job. Tyronn Lue replaced the fired David Blatt midway through the season and clearly improved the chemistry and culture of a team that led its conference but seemed to have something missing.

Edge: Warriors