Best of 25: The many ways Cavs-Warriors is a rivalry for the ages

— -- Deck the halls with Cavs and Warriors!

For the third straight Christmas, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will face off on the NBA's most festive day of the season. The Dec. 25 matchup (ABC, 3 ET) will mark the 25th meeting between the two teams since LeBron returned to Cleveland. (The Warriors hold a 15-9 edge.)

In honor of this momentous occasion, here are 25 reasons Cavs-Warriors is the most entertaining rivalry in sports.

1. LeBron vs. Steph: Game of thrones

LeBron's arrival in the NBA was forecasted, telegraphed from Akron before he even reached high school. Steph sneaked to the top in the middle of the night when nobody was looking. Now every year is another opportunity for them to reaffirm their mutual dominance over the NBA's new golden age.

Lest you forget, LeBron was the original modern unicorn -- a physical force of Russell's height, a savant with the vision of Cousy, and a rim-attacker who can fly like Erving. Yet as we were watching LeBron master all skills, we became infatuated with one: the smooth, silky, 3-point shot. And nobody fired it with greater spontaneity, speed and joy than Curry.

While James perfected the game, Curry defined it, and masters don't take kindly to those who mess with their trade. As Steph stepped into the spotlight a couple of years back, LeBron intimated that specialists don't warrant MVPs, and the two jawed at one another in the 2016 NBA Finals, when LeBron exacted revenge.

Basketball has enough love to go around, but LeBron and Steph will forever battle over influence, over whose handprint left the most indelible impression over the game they both love.

25. Cavs-Warriors IV?

So how rare is this rivalry and where does it go from here?

Since 1980, teams that reach the NBA Finals have gone back the following year about 42 percent of the time (31 of 74). Square that and you get a 17.5 percent chance of a Finals rematch, or about one in every six years. (Indeed, there have been seven rematches in the past 37 years.)

Based on those percentages, you'd expect the same Finals matchup three years in a row about once every 32 years. It's a little surprising it had never happened before the Cavs and Warriors the past three years.

We'd expect teams to meet four consecutive times in the Finals only once every 185 years. But with Cleveland and Golden State both favored to win their respective conferences, they might make history again.

-- Kevin Pelton