Storyline: The Warriors have more talent and health on their side, but the Cavs still have LeBron.
If history tells us anything about the NBA Finals it’s that talent definitely wins out. The best team will, for the most part, always win a seven-game series.
Courtesy: linemakers.sportingnews.com
But what happens when the biggest, baddest, and most talented player on the planet faces off against a team with the deepest pool of talent? It appears we will have to wait another week for the answer. Golden State tied up the series with LeBron James (aka King Biggest & Baddest) and his Cleveland mates at two games apiece. It was the Warriors with a dominating 103-82 win in Game Four.
Thursday night in Cleveland seemed like a thumping reminder that Golden State has been the best and deepest team in the league since season’s start. Andre Iguodala was the star of the game (and the Warriors’ MVP after the first four games) with his surprise first start of the season. Iggy pushed tempo, hit bigtime outside shots, pulled down 8 rebounds and was also the best defender against LeBron. This former Philly All-Star, All-NBA choice, and Olympian usually comes off the bench for Golden State. Talk about a luxury for Coach Steve Kerr.
David Lee, another former All-NBA choice, replaced some of Iggy’s punch off the bench. Lee continued his two-game renaissance with 9 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. Shaun Livingston also helped off the pine. He seemed to extend the lead every time he appeared on the court. Livingston finished with a +25 while on the court. That’s mind-blowing.
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Also mind-blowing is the fact that Klay Thompson had a subpar scoring night and Steph Curry was only average by his standards. Yet the Warriors cruised to a 21-point win in Cleveland. Most experts saw this as the swing game of the series: whomever won Game 4 would take the title. The Warriors responded to adversity in dominating fashion and they’ll back as championship favorites. The Warriors are just more talented.
However, I’m not ready to call it … yet. Why? The King still lives.
We’ve seen that LeBron has to be dominant if the Cavs are to keep pace with the Warriors. On Thursday night James could only muster a prince-like effort. His shots in the paint wouldn’t seem to fall and his free throws fell short for much of the game. He didn’t show quite the aggressiveness that he had shown previously in the record-breaking, three-game Finals stretch. It may have been sheer exhaustion or the Warriors’ game plan of pressuring and double teaming frequently. It was probably a little of both.
The bottom line? The Cavs need LeBron to be KING JAMES if they are to be crowned champs next week.
It may be asking for the impossible, but I do think LeBron can regain his play as dominant force again. If so, he’ll be a three-time champ AND deliver Cleveland its first, major sport’s championship in 50-plus years. I agree with Magic Johnson: a championship delivered by James would go down in history as the greatest, individual championship performance in NBA history.
Courtesy – Basket4us.com
If you doubt that statement consider this: it’s the Cavs starting backcourt. Right now the starting guards are Matthew Dellavedova and a freaking Knicks cast-off, Iman Shumpert. I know he has played out of his mind at times, but c’mon Delly? Let me repeat that…Delly!
Another factor is just how awful the shooting and guard play was for Cleveland on Thursday night. The Cavs were 6-45 from outside the paint in Game 4. That’s a putrid 13%, including a 4-27 effort from 3-point range. It seems inconceivable to me that the Cavs will repeat those horrific numbers. But, because J.R. Smith is in the mix, you never know how bad it can get. I believe the entire Cavs team can play better to support their King and, yes, even the Knick scraps and…wait for it…Delly! (Yes, that was a blatant Barney Stinson rip-off.)
Maybe I am only fooling myself into hopefulness. I want to witness greatness! In the beginning I just wanted to see the Cavs keep it close and, maybe, steal a game or two to extend the series. Then LeBron dominated the first three games. The hope of an upset and history-making series suckered me in.
Courtesy: allbasketball.org
I was an outsider rooting for Cleveland. And I never root for Cleveland sports teams. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I do believe the Cavs can still win this series. Maybe that’s said more with my heart than with my head. But the first four games give us a blueprint of how it can be done.
Sure, the Warriors have more talent and health on their side, but the Cavs still have LeBron.
If he can dominate two more games … then maybe .. that just may be enough to stifle NBA history.
