The Warriors became the 7th NBA franchise to win back-to-back championships, joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, and Miami Heat.

[1] Golden State Warriors small forward Kevin Durant was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second straight year.

Entering the matchup, the Warriors were also noted by various sports media outlets as one of the biggest NBA Finals favorites in recent history.

Golden State also re-signed Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, and David West.

[8] The Warriors finished the 2017–18 regular season with a 58–24 record, winning the Pacific Division and securing the 2nd seed in the Western Conference.

[9] The Warriors entered the series as heavy favorites,[10] aiming to repeat back-to-back titles after losing their quest in 2016.

Although James was against the idea of trading him away, the Cavaliers agreed to Irving's request, trading him to the Boston Celtics in exchange for point guard Isaiah Thomas, small forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Žižić, the first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets in the 2018 NBA draft and the Miami Heat's 2020 second round pick.

[14] On February 8, 2018 – just before the NBA trade deadline – the Cavaliers radically changed their roster in a little more than an hour,[15][16] acquiring George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. in exchange for Thomas, Rose, Crowder, Wade, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert, and their own 2018 first-round pick.

[21] With the score tied at 107 in the last five seconds of regulation, J. R. Smith of the Cavaliers collected an offensive rebound following a missed free throw, but dribbled the ball towards half court rather than taking a final shot.

[24] After Game 1, James punched a whiteboard in the Cavaliers' locker room due to frustration of his team's level of play, suffering a bone contusion in his hand that he kept private for the remainder of the series.

[26] Meanwhile, Golden State's Stephen Curry set an NBA Finals record in Game 2 with nine three-point field goals.

[33] Durant, who reprised his dagger 3-pointer over LeBron James from Game 3 the previous year with 49.8 seconds left to give the Warriors a 106–100 lead,[citation needed] scored a playoff career-high 43 points,[34] while also contributing 13 rebounds and seven assists, in a 110–102 win over the Cavaliers, helping the Warriors take a 3–0 lead.

[35] Golden State withstood poor offensive performances from Curry and Klay Thompson, the Splash Brothers.

[33] The Cavaliers were 3-for-17 (17.6%) on three point shots in the second half, and Durant scored a three-pointer late in the game that ended Cleveland's chances of a comeback.

ESPN Deportes provided exclusive Spanish-language coverage of The Finals, with a commentary team of Álvaro Martín and Carlos Morales.