Category: Sports

Jonathan Tjarks from theringer.com:

“Game 1 offered a specific reminder of last year’s championship bout: the Finals MVP wasn’t any of the three marquee names on the Warriors roster. On a night when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 20 points on 8-for-27 shooting, the Warriors bench more than made up the difference in Golden State’s 104–89 win over Cleveland. Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, and Leandro Barbosa scored 43 points on 18-for-24 shooting; Barbosa’s net rating for the game was comically high after a perfect 5-for-5, 11-points-in-11-minutes performance; the Warriors were dominant in the 26 minutes that Iguodala and Livingston shared the court — and those gaudy numbers still might understate the bench’s impact on the game.”

The extra effort to stop Curry and Thompson left easy buckets for the role players.  It is looking bleak in Cleveland.

LeBron vs Curry

Michael Lee of The Vertical:

“I don’t get involved in all of that,” James said. “Underdog, overdog, whatever the case may be. It’s stupidity. … We’re better built to start the Finals than we were last year. Doesn’t matter who it’s against.”

If the opponent weren’t Curry, James might’ve sounded believable. James has been denied a rival for most of his career. The difference in age made it hard for it to truly be Paul Pierce and the difference in age and position made it impossible for Tim Duncan, despite three Finals meetings. Curry, nearly three years James’ junior, presents a threat that neither James nor anyone else in the league could’ve foreseen – the uninvited guest looking to crash the party (again) and own the whole house.

Three years removed from his last NBA title and MVP award, James has never had a better opportunity to regain the standing he has yet to fully relinquish. Knocking off James for a second time would give Curry the respect that somehow continues to elude him. The motivations are different, but the quest to cement legacies remains the same.

This series is must see.  I love watching the best two players in sports meet up for the biggest stakes.

Interesting game 7 numbers from Ben Golliver of Si.com:

There are a million factoids to consider when it comes to sizing up where the series stands now. Here are a few worth considering…

• Only nine of the 232 teams that have trailed a series 3-1, as the Warriors did, have gone on to win in seven games.
•  Teams that have led 3-1 in a series, as the Thunder did, are 7-7 (.500) when they play Game 7 on the road.
•  Home teams are 100-24 (.806) overall in Game 7s dating back to 1948. During the three-point era, home teams are 65-16 (.802) in Game 7s.
•  The Warriors are 17-3 (.850) at home during the playoffs under Kerr. Golden State is also 47-3 (.940) at home during the 2015-16 season and 2016 playoffs combined, although one of those three losses came to Oklahoma City in Game 1.
•  The Thunder are 5-3 on the road during the 2016 playoffs under Donovan, with a win over the Warriors, two wins over the Spurs, and two wins over the Mavericks.