Jarrod’s Corner by Jarrod Peterson

The NBA Finals finally begins today.

The matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors is the third volume between the two teams. Both have met in the last two Finals and each won once, so this will be the tiebreaker.

Personally, I hope it turns out to be the best Finals in my lifetime.

For the first time in my life, I’ll be rooting for LeBron James to win, not lose.

When Kevin Durant joined the Warriors last summer, it rubbed a lot of basketball fans the wrong way. Perhaps the only people who were happy were the fans in the Bay Area. Why it rubbed people the wrong way was because Durant is a superstar and he joined a team that won 73 games during the 2015-16 season.

This series will have many fascinating matchups.

At the guard position, Kyrie Irving torched Steph Curry, a two-time MVP, in last year’s Finals and was a main reason why Cleveland won the championship.

James is the best player on the planet and he will be looking to hand Durant his second loss in the Finals. James has a lot riding in this series.

If he wins, not only would it be his fourth championship, but he would have beaten arguably a better team than Michael Jordan ever played against in the Finals for the second time.

I still think he will rank behind Jordan as the greatest player ever for many reasons, but he would move into the top five greatest players of all time in my mind.

The matchup between Draymond Green and Kevin Love might be the most pivotal.

Love has been on fire from 3 the last two rounds of the playoffs, but Green can guard a variety of positions and has the ability to make life difficult for Love.

I think Klay Thompson will have a huge role in this series. Since Durant joined the roster, Thompson has been kind of the forgotten guy. He is a great player and if he plays well, the Warriors will win the series.

It would be a joy to see the series go seven games, but as long as Cleveland wins, I’ll be happy.

Harper slugs it out

Bryce Harper has been slugging the ball around the park this season. The 24-year-old outfielder has the fifth-best slugging percentage (.644) in the league, but he was busy throwing punches on Monday.

After being hit by a pitch by San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland, Harper charged the mound and an all-out brawl was ignited during the game on Memorial Day.

The fight saw Harper draw a three-game suspension while Strickland earned six games.

Harper is a spirited player, but to start a fight in a meaningless game in late May is a little absurd.

Bullpen? More like pig pen

It looks like the Minnesota Twins bullpen is starting to crumble and the team is showing signs of becoming what we thought it was going to be like this season.

Losing leads late in games is becoming something that is happening far too often.

After winning four games in a row last week, the Twins started Memorial Day weekend off with a loss to Tampa Bay. Chris Archer stymied the Twins in a win for the Rays.

The next day, Brian Dozier hit a late-inning homer to give Minnesota a 5-3 win.

On Sunday, Brandon Kintzler was unable to shut the door for a save and what followed was a 15-inning game that saw the Twins fall.

On Monday, Minnesota was up 8-2 when Ervin Santana, the best pitcher in baseball so far, exited the game after seven innings. Minnesota’s bullpen gave up 14 runs in two innings, and then gave up three runs on Tuesday.

Wednesday was more of the same. Tyler Duffey and the rest of the ’pen gave up 10 runs.

How is a team supposed to stay in a game when the bullpen is filled with weak arms?

It may just be a phase the team is going through, but I think this is what the Twins might become — a team with a hit-or-miss offense and weak pitching.

NBA draft

The NBA draft is a little less than a month away and the Minnesota Timberwolves have the No. 7 pick. The team has a significant need to add more shooting, but adding depth up front would be just as valuable. One guy I have had an interest in is Zach Collins (freshman, Gonzaga). Collins is 7-feet tall and blocked 1.8 shots per game in only 17.2 minutes. He averaged 10 points per game as a freshman on a team that went 37-2 and was the national runner-up. Collins adds length and, at 19, he could develop into an above-average two-way player for Minnesota.

Jarrod Peterson is the sports editor at the Albert Lea Tribune. He can be reached at jarrod.peterson@albertleatribune.com.