OT: NBA Finals

[traitor71]

Well, this is about how you would expect it to play out, right? Lebron goes crazy, but GS is just better, period. Remember, Houston gave them hell in the first two games before GS really found themselves and crushed them. It wouldn't surprise me if the same thing happens here.

 

[tzznandrew]

This is the game in San Fran the Cavs needed to win. They had good D on Curry and Thompson, they had LeBron feeling it, yet they still lost.

Let's see with Irving how bad his knee is. I'm hoping he's alright, but if he's out, they'll be lucky to get back to San Francisco.

 

[TasteofUConn]

The past about the Cavs mailing it in - that is dumb.

Give it a game or two. If Irving is out or ineffective, which is probably the case, then the GSW may open up a 20 point lead in the remaining games, and, when that happens, I can see the Cavs mailing it in, knowing there is no way they're coming back. LeBron is the GOAT, in my opinion, but here's what you have:

GOAT/May be Greatest Shooter in Curry.
INJURED Irving, MARGINAL NBA PLAYER Delavedova/Great shooter in Clay.
Great Rebounder/Pick next guy, very good.
2 or 3 role players who were picked up at midseason and are decent/2 or 3 role players who are solid.
NO BENCH/EXCELLENT BENCH (Lee was a DNP coach's decision - he'd have minutes if he was on the Cavs).
QUESTIONABLE COACH/EXCELLENT COACH

The fact that the Cavs outplayed the GSWs in regulation and had a shot to win it is incredible by itself, and is a testament to how great LeBron is.
Sad part about all of this is that people will use this to discredit LeBron, when the fact that the Cavs are here at all is a testament to how great he is. Jordan lost 3 playoffs in the 1st round. LeBron carries inferior teams deep into the playoffs.
All that said, if Irving is out this is going to get ugly, because if you're down 20 on GS at the end of the 3rd, you're not coming back, and so the tendency will be to mail it in.
I'm not a Cavs fan. I wasn't a Heat fan. I am, however, a LeBron fan. Guy is the best player I have ever seen, and I saw Bird, Magic, Kobe, and Jordan's entire careers.
If LeBron carries this team to a title this year, the debate over greatest ever would be resolved, in my view.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Not sure how Game 1 could have possibly gone any better for Cleveland. The Warriors were out of sync on offense for most of the game, LeBron was a monster, Kyrie was terrific, Mosgov was very good, Thompson did what Thompson does - and they still lost. Smith and Shumpert didn't do much but by not doubling LeBron, Golden State is turning them into spot up shooters who are never open.

It's hard to see Kyrie playing that well again - if he even plays at all. LeBron might be good enough to average 40 for the series, but they just don't have enough to beat this Golden State team.

 

[gtcam]

Yeah, no. It was good D. LeBron took a tough shot, even without a man on him. And he wasn't "getting away" with anything more than what happens every day in the NBA. If anything, people constantly hammer him because of his size and it doesn't get whistled as much as it would for other players. You're clearly a die-hard GSW fan, and this looks like your year, so enjoy it, but your analysis of your own team is like Dick Vitale assessing Duke.

LBJ doesn't need to get away with anything - its given to him. For someone with all the ability and physical attributes, he has turned into an incessant whiner. I am not a GSW fan but if LBJ carried himself with a bit of Seth Curry demeanor, I would appreciate him to a higher degree.
He is a great player but becoming, to me, hard to like.
As far as the two teams are concerned, with Irving or not, the Cavs should win on shear athleticism alone BUT the difference is in the head coach. Kerr, despite the lack of experience at the helm, is a guy who really understands the game, especially the NBA game. He knows rotations and match ups. The Cavs coach, albeit a success in Euro ball, I don't feel really knows when to use certain players at the best times. Look at the two team huddles - Kerr talks and the players listen. In the Cavs, huddle LBJ and a few players usually talk and everyone else is either listening or holding private conversations. Kerr was a very smart player, an astute analyst and an even headier coach.

 

[Scoe]

The Cavs are a year away, Lebron is ready but his teammates are not.

 

[Mots010]

The Cavs looked better than I thought they would, but their second team just killed them. If Irving is done, forget it. I just can't see how this remains competitive. LeBron is freaking awesome, but he's on an island now.

 

[superjohn]

Doesn't look good for the Cavs, Warriors never doubled Lebron and he played right into there hands by iso'ing every trip and dribbling the shot clock and shooting. Cavs are at there best when teams double Lebron, he's so quick to pass to wide open shooters who nail the shots. The strategy almost backfired because Lebron was so on last night but once it hit OT the Cavs were totally out of gas. Game went nearly perfectly for Cavs while Warriors seemed off and yet they still won. Warriors will continue to guard Lebron one on one, using several different players, he's not going to shoot that well from midrange most of the time and somehow Smith and Shumpert are going to have to catch fire but that's tough because GS isn't going to leave them open like the Bulls and Atlanta did. One advantage Cavs have is Mosgov and Thompson playing bully ball. Warriors depth is pretty insane considering David Lee can't get a minute. Warriors depth looks to be too much and if the shots really start falling they could run away with things, not counting out the Cavs though.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Doesn't look good for the Cavs, Warriors never doubled Lebron and he played right into there hands

If "playing right into their hands" means "led his team to have a shot at the end of regulation to win the game," then HECK YES!
You know you are a huge fan when the other team comes into your building, plays you well enough to have the last shot to win, and you describe that scenario as, "playing into our hands." So, your feeling is that the Warriors planned to position them selves to potentially lose on the last shot? And if it goes in, then what? All the GSW fans would be screaming, "why didn't we double him? He killed us!" Lord.

 

[superjohn]

If "playing right into their hands" means "led his team to have a shot at the end of regulation to win the game," then HECK YES!
You know you are a huge fan when the other team comes into your building, plays you well enough to have the last shot to win, and you describe that scenario as, "playing into our hands." So, your feeling is that the Warriors planned to position them selves to potentially lose on the last shot? And if it goes in, then what? All the GSW fans would be screaming, "why didn't we double him? He killed us!" Lord.

Your act is getting a little tired. Warriors didn't expect to shoot poorly and probably didn't expect Lebron to get 44. Guarding Lebron one on one is clearly the best strategy and going small is what won Kerr the game. The point is GS didn't play well and Cavs did, felt like a must win for Cavs.

 

[aceboon]

Hell, just look at the quotes from the Warriors themselves, they were cool with Bron going off.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...e-warriors-stephen-curry-nba-finals/28523131/

OAKLAND — Harrison Barnes didn't look like someone who had been on the wrong end of a basketball beating.

Long after the Golden State Warriors survived all those blows from the game's best player, LeBron James scoring 44 points for naught as his Cleveland Cavaliers dropped the first game of these Finals 108-100, the young Warriors forward who spent so much of the night guarding James made the media rounds with a smile on his face and a clear plan in his mind.

"You've got to look at it and say, 'Look, this is what we wanted to do,'" Barnes told USA TODAY Sports about the unenviable task of slowing James. "We iced out most of his teammates. Obviously Kyrie (Irving) got some things going (23 points, seven rebounds, six assists), but (James) is going to have to have big offensive nights for them. If he beats us doing that, and the other guys don't get going, we'll live with that. But chances are, I think we'll be all right."

 

[HuskyBballFan]

If "playing right into their hands" means "led his team to have a shot at the end of regulation to win the game," then HECK YES!
You know you are a huge fan when the other team comes into your building, plays you well enough to have the last shot to win, and you describe that scenario as, "playing into our hands." So, your feeling is that the Warriors planned to position them selves to potentially lose on the last shot? And if it goes in, then what? All the GSW fans would be screaming, "why didn't we double him? He killed us!" Lord.

If that shot went in, I think a reasonable person would say that it took superhuman games from LeBron and Kyrie (considering his health) for Cleveland to steal a game at the buzzer. I don't know if LeBron will score 44 every night, but I'm pretty confident that we just saw Kyrie's best game of this series. Cleveland really needed to win that game to have a shot at this.

 

[Kitaman]

When Kareem went down against the Celtics, Magic carried that team to victory.

Would be a great story if Lebron does the same thing. There is now a new story line, and if Lebron can do this, his NBA legacy would be catapulted to the top echelons of players, perhaps 'finally' equalling Jordan. No pressure on that young man.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I think Lebron was clearly out of gas on the last possession. When tired or hurt, people tend to take the first jumper available. He played one of the individual games I have ever seen in the Finals, but the Warriors wore him down.

 

[CTBasketball]

LeBron's also shooting like 25% in the playoffs from outside the paint. But having LeBron score 44 and Kyrie has 23 and you still win is a good sign for GS.

 

[tzznandrew]

If "playing right into their hands" means "led his team to have a shot at the end of regulation to win the game," then HECK YES!
You know you are a huge fan when the other team comes into your building, plays you well enough to have the last shot to win, and you describe that scenario as, "playing into our hands." So, your feeling is that the Warriors planned to position them selves to potentially lose on the last shot? And if it goes in, then what? All the GSW fans would be screaming, "why didn't we double him? He killed us!" Lord.

No they wouldn't. Or, if they did, they are stupid.

Curry was 2-6 from 3, Thompson 3-9 (5-14 overall), Green 0-3 (4-13). Curry shot well overall, but when your three best players combine for 17-47 from the field and 5-18 from 3, you aren't going to win too often.

Meanwhile, LeBron shot very well overall, and while he was only 2-8 from 3, that's been better than par for him this postseason. LeBron is awesome, and he may win them a game or two just by himself. You expect that. This should have been one of those games (I mean, how much better can he play?). That it wasn't bodes well for the Warriors.

 

[deedougie]

The Warriors want LeBron to take a bunch of shot and not get his teammates involved. Worked last night.

 

[deedougie]

This is the game in San Fran the Cavs needed to win. They had good D on Curry and Thompson, they had LeBron feeling it, yet they still lost.

Let's see with Irving how bad his knee is. I'm hoping he's alright, but if he's out, they'll be lucky to get back to San Francisco.

Dude, they play in Oakland not San Francisco!!

 

[tzznandrew]

You are right.

My justification for my wrongness: I've always associated the team with San Fran because of the locale and the absence of a basketball team in the city proper; also, I was just in San Francisco and everyone there is a Dubs fan since Oakland is right across the bay the stadium is right off the BART.

 

[James]

jon barry has reported cavs fear kyrie is done for the series. get out the brooms.

 

[Fishy]

Irving's done - fractured kneecap.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Irving done for the season.

 

[aceboon]

Warriors were the best team this year but they had an incredible draw in the playoffs. OKC already wiped out with injuries from the jump, Conley injured for Game 1, Tony Allen injured after Game 3, didn't have to face either LAC or the Spurs, now Cleveland with no Love and now no Kyrie.

 

[champs99and04]

Fractured kneecap, that sounds painful as hell. This just about caps - no pun intended - one of the worst NBA playoffs of all-time.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Your act is getting a little tired.

Then stop responding.

Warriors didn't expect to shoot poorly and probably didn't expect Lebron to get 44.

Nonsense. Curry shot about how he did when the Cavs beat them in February. It's exactly how I expected him to shoot. The wildcard was the two other guys going 5 for 8 from 3. You're too focused on looking at Curry's numbers when he's shooting against teams like Houston, who couldn't find D if you put them between C and E. Sure, with nobody guarding him, Curry hits everything. With a bigger, just as quick defender in Irving, or a solid defender like Shumpert, his numbers go down. That's expected. But that's expected for everybody - it's the finals. Lebron lit them up in February. They don't have anybody who can guard him. And their plan was to single defend him. Of course they thought he could go for 40.

The point is GS didn't play well and Cavs did, felt like a must win for Cavs.

GS played exactly how they played in February. You're just being Izzo right now, claiming that "they didn't play great D, we just shot poorly." That's silly.