Image courtesy of Erik Drost's Flickr page - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrost88/18712418510/in/photolist-uvy36m-uKQ6xG-tRgUTP-uvtpVm-uKQmv7-uvGFwB-uMFFeG-uNpE1e-tBehBy-uN3P3D-tR2Qho-HUSfr-4Taf5q-uvASzv-7vAzf2-qHUK2k-r52g6V-6K6Fki-bgddQ6-4G4nGd-r4UoZy-7NjrkD-9nssXS-rmt3kn-JgQiv-uoEiQf-djFciv-rmokYq-r4Ujq3-7hGokn-4iSMB3-bgdChx-47g67u-qKt9Fn-qKuV8z-qKt9yP-qKt9Ea-3pYanc-4C12US-uvyAju-uvyCCs-buWvMB-3q3GXA-eedDRY-7NopXJ-6r3FD-6r3uV-3pYaeB-dZTukn-dZTkBK
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
The Golden State Warriors know full well that a good team can overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the playoffs, because they did precisely that in the Western Conference Finals, which propelled them into these NBA Finals to begin with.
So, you knew that they were not going to simply write Cleveland off after taking a seemingly decisive 3-1 series lead.
However, this is the NBA Finals, and if it is difficult to overcome a 3-1 series lead in the regular playoffs, it has proven basically impossible prior to last night for any teams to overcome that much in the NBA Finals. In each of the previous NBA Finals series where teams have fallen behind 3-1, the teams that found themselves trailing by that much have won a grand total of zero NBA titles.
That's right: heading into last night's decisive Game 7, not one team had overcome a 3-1 series lead in the Finals to actually win the championship. In fact, only two teams have gone on to force a Game 7, and both of those teams wound up losing anyway.
Still, each year is different. And this is the Cleveland Cavaliers, with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. This is a different team, a different season, and different circumstances. So, it was not a huge surprise that they were able to rebound from a disappointing Game 4 home loss by pulling off a huge win on the road in Game 5, forcing a Game 6 that took the series back to Cleveland. Then, they managed to win convincingly at home to force Game 7 in Oakland.
It allowed fans of "Believeland" to keep their hopes alive that one of their beloved teams could actually win a championship for the city that has been starving for a championship - any championship, really - for more than half a century now.
And they got it. LeBron James, to his credit, was dominant, particularly down the stretch, when it mattered the most. Kyrie Irving hit some clutch shots, and he continued his containment of Stephen Curry, who not only had a subpar game, but a subpar series overall.
Suddenly, the Warriors saw their dream season completely unravel. What a season of smashing records it had been! A perfect, historical 24-0 start, culminating in a record 73-9 regular season. The first team in NBA history not to drop two games in a row during a regular season. More three-pointers than any other team in NBA history. They dared to strive not just for greatness, but for sports immortality, which they certainly would have achieved with a second straight NBA title following such a standout season. And the first two rounds looked routine, as they swept the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trailblazers away according to script, 4-1 in each series.
But then came Oklahoma City, and the Thunder had the Warriors number, seemingly putting them on the ropes for the first time all season, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. For the first time all season, Golden State dropped two games in a row. But then the Warriors showed what they were made of, that they were the stuff of champions. They pulled off three straight wins to eke out a narrow victory and earn their second straight trip to the NBA Finals.
Once there, they looked dominant once again, easily dispatching the Cavs in the first two games.
The Warriors lost Game 3 in Cleveland, but when they took Game 4 for a commanding 3-1 series lead, this one looked to be over. Golden State had their date with destiny.
Only, they did not, as it turned out. Something happened following their Game 4 win, and the Warriors never looked the same. The team just seemed to run out of gas. They lost Game 5 at home, which probably should have been the clincher, if they were indeed destined to win. Not surprisingly, they did not have any more success in Game 6 at Cleveland, and so it came down to last night's Game 7.
Golden State played better than they had in either Game 5 or Game 6, but in the end, they fell short. Stephen Curry did not have a good game. Klay Thompson did not have a good game. Yet, the Warriors are loaded enough that they remained in the game. At some points, they had a decent lead. They closed the first half with a seven point lead, and had an eight point lead in the third. They even had a four point lead in the final quarter.
But all of that was washed away in the final minutes, when the Warriors went scoreless exactly when it counted the most.
Golden State had been an offensive machine all season, but they could not get a bucket - any bucket - when it counted the most. As a result, they had to endure watching the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrating a championship on their home floor. There was the visiting team hoisting a championship trophy before all of those home fans, who had grown used to watching their team dominate.
For Cleveland, this will famously go down as the magic moment when 52 years of sports futility, of failures, of curses, finally got washed away in the purifying waters of a championship. For the first time since the 1964 Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship, the city of Cleveland finally can celebrate a full title, as the Cavaliers win their first ever NBA championship. The long suffering fans of the Cleveland area can and should enjoy this for weeks, months, and yes, even years to come.
As for the Warriors, however, this is a very different story. Like with the 2007 New England Patriots, all of the earlier records that the team managed to shatter will serve to haunt them precisely because they did not get the job done at the end, when it mattered the most. Those memories of incredible success and accomplishments never before seen will simply serve to highlight their failure at the end that much more. Like the 2007 Patriots, the Warriors were a great team, and quite possibly the greatest team in the NBA Finals history not to have won it. But in the end, they did not win it.
Now, Golden State's lasting legacy from this very memorable season will be a mixed bag. The memories will be bittersweet, as the team that smashed so many records will also be remembered as the first team to allow a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals to be overcome. They played 82 games during the regular season, and lost only nine, which was the fewest that any team had ever lost. But in these playoffs, they also lost nine, and their 15 wins was one short of what would have been a historical second straight title. The memories of this year's Warriors team will always be one of what might have been, and this also means that the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls remain the standard bearers of excellence in NBA history.
And they got it. LeBron James, to his credit, was dominant, particularly down the stretch, when it mattered the most. Kyrie Irving hit some clutch shots, and he continued his containment of Stephen Curry, who not only had a subpar game, but a subpar series overall.
Suddenly, the Warriors saw their dream season completely unravel. What a season of smashing records it had been! A perfect, historical 24-0 start, culminating in a record 73-9 regular season. The first team in NBA history not to drop two games in a row during a regular season. More three-pointers than any other team in NBA history. They dared to strive not just for greatness, but for sports immortality, which they certainly would have achieved with a second straight NBA title following such a standout season. And the first two rounds looked routine, as they swept the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trailblazers away according to script, 4-1 in each series.
But then came Oklahoma City, and the Thunder had the Warriors number, seemingly putting them on the ropes for the first time all season, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. For the first time all season, Golden State dropped two games in a row. But then the Warriors showed what they were made of, that they were the stuff of champions. They pulled off three straight wins to eke out a narrow victory and earn their second straight trip to the NBA Finals.
Once there, they looked dominant once again, easily dispatching the Cavs in the first two games.
The Warriors lost Game 3 in Cleveland, but when they took Game 4 for a commanding 3-1 series lead, this one looked to be over. Golden State had their date with destiny.
Only, they did not, as it turned out. Something happened following their Game 4 win, and the Warriors never looked the same. The team just seemed to run out of gas. They lost Game 5 at home, which probably should have been the clincher, if they were indeed destined to win. Not surprisingly, they did not have any more success in Game 6 at Cleveland, and so it came down to last night's Game 7.
Golden State played better than they had in either Game 5 or Game 6, but in the end, they fell short. Stephen Curry did not have a good game. Klay Thompson did not have a good game. Yet, the Warriors are loaded enough that they remained in the game. At some points, they had a decent lead. They closed the first half with a seven point lead, and had an eight point lead in the third. They even had a four point lead in the final quarter.
But all of that was washed away in the final minutes, when the Warriors went scoreless exactly when it counted the most.
Golden State had been an offensive machine all season, but they could not get a bucket - any bucket - when it counted the most. As a result, they had to endure watching the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrating a championship on their home floor. There was the visiting team hoisting a championship trophy before all of those home fans, who had grown used to watching their team dominate.
For Cleveland, this will famously go down as the magic moment when 52 years of sports futility, of failures, of curses, finally got washed away in the purifying waters of a championship. For the first time since the 1964 Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship, the city of Cleveland finally can celebrate a full title, as the Cavaliers win their first ever NBA championship. The long suffering fans of the Cleveland area can and should enjoy this for weeks, months, and yes, even years to come.
As for the Warriors, however, this is a very different story. Like with the 2007 New England Patriots, all of the earlier records that the team managed to shatter will serve to haunt them precisely because they did not get the job done at the end, when it mattered the most. Those memories of incredible success and accomplishments never before seen will simply serve to highlight their failure at the end that much more. Like the 2007 Patriots, the Warriors were a great team, and quite possibly the greatest team in the NBA Finals history not to have won it. But in the end, they did not win it.
Now, Golden State's lasting legacy from this very memorable season will be a mixed bag. The memories will be bittersweet, as the team that smashed so many records will also be remembered as the first team to allow a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals to be overcome. They played 82 games during the regular season, and lost only nine, which was the fewest that any team had ever lost. But in these playoffs, they also lost nine, and their 15 wins was one short of what would have been a historical second straight title. The memories of this year's Warriors team will always be one of what might have been, and this also means that the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls remain the standard bearers of excellence in NBA history.
No comments:
Post a Comment