NBA Finals
Photo courtesy of Keith Allison's Flickr page - Stephen Curry: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/5493668904
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Photo courtesy of Keith Allison's Flickr Page - LeBron James: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/15662939969
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
NBA Finals
It was just a few days ago when a lot of people seemed to be suggesting that the Cleveland Cavaliers were pushing the Golden State Warriors around in these Finals, having narrowly missed in Game 1, and then taken Game 2 at Golden State (a very difficult place to win for a road team), before dominating in Game 3 to take a two games to one lead. A lot of people were saying that if the Cavs won Game 4, they would likely take the series, because it was very hard to imagine Golden State recovering from that.
Well, Golden State recovered in a big way before it reached that point, as they dominated Cleveland in Game 4, and never looked back from that point on. They followed up their dominating Game 4 performance with a solid home stand in Game 5, and had a chance to put the dagger in the hearts of Cleveland last night.
They did not disappoint. Although the game was close at times and lopsided at others, the Warriors forced the issue and took the early lead, and sustained that lead the rest of the way, essentially choking the life out of the Cavs.
Still, right at the end, Cleveland was able to make it exciting, never quitting, and clawing their way back into it. At some point in the final minutes, the Cavs had indeed rallied to within four points, and were beginning to look capable of possibly pulling off what truly would be a stunner.
But in the end, Stephen Curry kept getting the ball, and the Cavs, who were forced to foul, had to put him on the line, then watch as he calmly did what he does best: put the ball through the hoop and score points for his team.
Ultimately, the city of Cleveland, which has not seen a professional sports championship since the Browns were NFL champions back in 1964, had to endure the indignity of watching this exciting Finals series end in disappointment on their home floor.
LeBron James put on one of the best performances in NBA Finals history, even though it was in a losing effort. He averaged 35.8 points, but did so while also averaging 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. He became the first player in history to lead in each of these categories in the NBA Finals.
Yet, it was not enough. The Warriors just kept piling it on, loaded with talent as they are. Too many points, too much stifling defense, too many weapons and strengths for anybody, even LeBron and the Cavaliers, to match, let alone overcome. Some had even believed that LeBron James could win the award, even in a losing effort.
It was Andre Iguodala who surprised some by earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player last night, even though many expected it to be one of the bigger names.
Basically, the Golden State Warriors started the season looking very much like the best team in the NBA. They never let up, either, winning like few teams had done before, en route to a very impressive 67-15 regular season record, including a 39-2 record at home. It was that kind of a year for the Warriors. The kind of magical season when everything goes right. The kind of season when Klay Thompson scored a record 37 points in one quarter against Sacramento. And, of course, there is Stephen Curry, this year's league MVP, and all of the on-court magic that he put on display. Some suggest that he may already be the best sharp shooter in the history of the NBA. Now, he has a ring to go with the already impressive accolades.
In the playoffs, they kept it going. They easily dispatched the New Orleans Pelicans in a four-game sweep in the first round. The first real scare in the playoffs came in the second round, when they lost two games in a row to the Memphis Grizzlies, after taking Game 1. But they recovered enough to win out the rest of the way to move on to the Western Conference Finals. Once there, they beat the Houston Rockets 4 games to 1, although that was a tougher series than maybe that result at first indicates.
And now this NBA Finals series, where they repeated what happened against Memphis, winning Game 1, then dropping the next two games and looking vulnerable to many experts, only to recover in convincing fashion, and storm to the title by winning out the rest of the way.
This really should not come as a surprise by now, since we had all season to get used to the Warriors being in the unfamiliar position of best team in the NBA. This 67-15 championship season will be remembered as one of the finest seasons that any franchise has ever enjoyed before.
One member of the Warriors, however, knows this feeling. That would be head coach Steven Kerr, who went to the NBA Finals four years in a row as a player, winning all four, and winning five championship rings during his illustrious career. He said that this was not a surprise at all, and that despite the reputation that Golden State was all about shooting three's, the Warriors, in fact, were a much tougher and complete team than many believed them to be. This is what he had to say after winning his first championship as head coach last night:
"There's been all this talk this year, especially about the 3-point shot and can you win shooting it," Kerr said.
"But what I think was probably overlooked all year long was that what really wins is the combination of great offense and great defense. We had the No. 1 defense in the league. We had the highest scoring team in the league. We were No. 1 in assists. We were no. 1 in field-goal percentage defense. When you get that combination, then you're going to be pretty good."
And so it is that the Golden State Warriors have secured their place in history with a convincing championship run following one of the most dominant seasons in the sport's history.
The questions now for both teams remain. Can Golden State follow this up by winning more titles? And what about Cleveland? The city is obviously starved for a championship, and this loss was just one more notch in a long line of historical sports disappointments for the city. However, Las Vegas anointed them the favorites to win the title in 2016. That, of course, assumes that LeBron James stays put, as well as Kevin Love. Love said that he intends to stay, and James should stay. He has a good thing going for him here.
Ultimately, this was a great NBA Finals series featuring two franchises that had not enjoyed more than limited success for decades. The Cavs were seeking their first title ever, and the Warriors had not won it in forty years. One team would have to win and break the curse, while the other would be handed yet another stinging defeat.
But it was a great series, with both teams showing the best that they had to offer. And both teams can build from this for the future.
Here is the article that I used for stats and for the quote by Steven Kerr in this blog entry:
Champion Warriors find ways to surprise again by J.A. Adande, ESPN Senior Writer, June 17, 2015:
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