The tactics used in the NBA finals can be likened to principles used in war strategy. Photo: Courtesy of Peak Sport

Basketball fans have been on the edge of their seats for the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals, as the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers go head-to-head for the ultimate title.

The first two games both went into overtime, the first time that's happened in the NBA finals. The Warriors won Game 1 largely owing to the so-called "Splash Brothers," the duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, whose counter attack in the latter half of the game was quick and swift.

In Game 2, with Kyrie Irving out, the Cavaliers played tough defense and forced Curry to miss several shots. LeBron James helped the Cavaliers score a 95-93 victory over the Warriors with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

At the time of going to print, the teams were heading into Game 3 in Cleveland, Ohio tied at 1-1 with hometown advantage for the Cavaliers.

Last week, Chinese sports brand Peak, invited two domestic basketball experts Su Qun and Yang Yi to interpret the final stages of Game 2 using the principles of The Art of War by the renowned Chinese militarist, Sun Tzu.

The text contains a war tactic translated as, "Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest. In raiding and plundering be like fire, be immovable like a mountain." Su and Yang believe that this principle can be used to describe the final clash between the Warriors and the Cavaliers.

From Su's perspective, "let your rapidity be that of the wind" could be used as an analogy for describing the changing speed between the offense and defense in a game.

Su believed the Warriors demonstrated this the best. Their accurate three-point shots were often scored when their opponents were not adequately prepared to defend. The advanced battle formation adopted by the Warriors also contributed to their good performance.

The offensive of the game could be explained through the analogy: "in raiding and plundering be like fire". Su believed that both the Warriors and the Cavaliers were good at displaying this principle.  Warriors Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green are both passionate players, as are J.R.Smith and Iman Shumpert of the Cavaliers.

But it is the Cavaliers who best displayed the concept of "[let] your compactness [be] that of the forest", said Su. Compared with the young and inexperienced core players of the Warriors, the Cavaliers boast sophisticated teammates such as James whose control and leadership contributed immensely to the discipline and cohesion of the team.

The idea of being "immovable like a mountain" is all about battle formation and the defense of a team. In this respect the Warriors' formation was inadequate, especially because of the slow action of centre forward, Andrew Bogut, said Su.

Yang's interpretation of the game is similar to that of Su's. He thought that prior experience of the NBA finals would have been to the advantage of the Cavaliers. James, Kendrick Perkins and Mike Miller have all played in previous finals, and this time round, one would have expected their experience to reduce the pressure. Yang thought that with James in the team, the Cavaliers would have made fewer mistakes and expected him to have been more like the "compactness of the forest" and "immovable like a mountain."