Sunday, June 19, 2016

NBA Update

OK, so you will recall that the first three games of the Big Showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Caveliers weren't all that exciting:

6/2:  Golden St. 104, Cleveland 89
6/5:  Golden St. 110, Cleveland 77
6/8:  Cleveland 120, Golden St. 90

But I had a feeling that both sides would play for keeps in Game Four, and I was right.  It was a real thriller all the way.  Going into the last quarter, Golden State led 79-77, and they led by 88-83 with eight minutes to go.  Down the stretch, the Warriors just kept making shot after shot from three-point range -- they went 17 of 36 from the game, for a shooting percentage of 47.2 percent -- and they won 108-97.  They were the first team to beat Cleveland at home in the playoffs all year.  Having taken a 3-1 lead, it seemed certain that they would wrap up the title in Game Five.  I felt that they were worthy champions, and I was glad I had watched this game.

However, the season wasn't nearly as over as I thought.  Draymond Green had played a huge role in Golden State's Game Four win -- he had 12 rebounds and 9 points, and had been a dominant defensive player.  But after reviewing the footage of a late-game scrap between Green and LeBron, the NBA decided that Green would not be eligible for Game Five.  The Cavs also decided to junk the more team-oriented style of offense they had been playing, as well as the pokey Eastern Conference pace of play, and let Lebron and Kyrie Irving do their thing.  The result was old school, racehorse basketball -- after 40 minutes, Cleveland led 99-92, and when was the last time you saw a score like that in college hoops?  But in the end, the shots were not falling for Golden State -- the Warriors went 14-43 from behind the arc, a shooting percentage of only 32.6 percent.  Meanwhile, Lebron and Irving put on a show for the ages:

LeBron:  12-22 on 2-point shots, 4-8 on 3-point shots, 5-8 from the line, 41 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists

Irving:  12-17 on 2-point shots, 5-7 on 3-point shots, 2-2 from the line, 41 points, 6 assists

So the Cavs won 112-97, and sent the series back to Cleveland.

Now I never thought the Cavaliers were going to lose the last game of the year in Cleveland, and they did not.  Stephen Curry only played 35 minutes due to foul trouble, and he actually fouled out of the game with four minutes to go.  Cleveland took a somewhat slower pace this time -- the Cavs led 86-79 after 40 minutes -- but the Warriors still had no answer for LeBron and Irving:

LeBron:  13-21 on 2-point shots, 3-6 on 3-point shots, 6-8 from the line, 41 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists

Irving:  5-13 on 2-point shots, 2-5 on 3-point shots, 7-7 from the line, 23 points, 3 assists.

So the Cavs won 115-101, and we were all tied up.

(By the way, let me just say here that in this series, Irving's play has been absolutely spectacular.  In Games Three through Six, Irving has averaged 32 points per game.  In that stretch, he has made 12-25 three-pointers (48 percent), 38-70 two-pointers (54.3 percent), and 16-17 free throws (94.1 percent).  And yet he also made room for LeBron to score 41 points in both Game Five and Game Six.  As far as I can tell, Irving may actually be what Russell Westbrook thinks he is.)

So tonight, in Oakland, the Warriors and the Cavaliers will play one of the most important games in League History.  The reputations of LeBron, Curry, Irving, Klay Thompson, Steve Kerr, the Warriors, the Cavaliers, and even the city of Cleveland, are all on the line.  Years from now, when people look back on LeBron, will they remember him as the guy who drove Cleveland to a come-from-behind victory, or the guy who lost to Golden State in back-to-back years?  Will they remember this Warriors team, which went 73-9 in the regular season, as one of the greatest teams ever, or as the team that blew a 3-1 lead in the finals?

I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen.  Vegas has made the Warriors a five-point favorite in a game where the over/under is 207 points.  That would work out to a 106-101 Warrior victory, which does sound about right.  Game Four was the only game so far in which both teams were at full strength and equally motivated, and the Warriors won that game even though it was in Cleveland.  On the other hand, the Warriors had all kinds of trouble with Oklahoma City in Game Seven, even though they were at home -- and LeBron and Irving are better than Durant and Westbrook.  In any event, if you were only going to watch one NBA game in this decade, I would suggest that tonight is the one to watch.

75 comments:

  1. Golden St. 8 - 8 Cleveland (7:04 left in the 1st)

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  2. Golden St. 618 - 618 Cleveland (total score through six games, four minutes and 56 seconds of the NBA Finals)

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  3. As usual in Game Sevens, we have a low-scoring contest. After one, the Cavs lead 23-22.

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  4. 8:48 left in the 2d quarter:
    Golden St. 29 - 27 Cleveland

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  5. 5:43 left in 2d quarter:

    Golden St. 35 - 33 Cleveland

    This is a fantastic game so far. Draymond Green leads the Warriors with 13 points.

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  6. 3:59 left in the 2d quarter:

    Golden St. 38 - 38 Cleveland

    So that's your score after 20 minutes -- you can see that we are looking at a low-scoring game. But the quality of play is amazing.

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  7. 2:27 left in the 2d quarter:

    Golden St. 43 - 40 Cleveland

    Draymond Green is on fire. He is 5-5 from three point range, and he leads all scorers with 21 points.

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  8. Halftime:

    Golden St. 49 - 42 Cleveland

    Warriors pull away a bit at the end of the half. Warriors are 10-21 on three's; Cleveland is 1-14.

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  9. Lebron: 5-11, 12 points
    Irving: 4-9, 9 points

    Curry: 3-8, 9 points
    Thompson: 2-9, 5 points
    Green: 8-10, 22 points

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  10. I am looking forward to watching most of the second half of this game, but I'm finishing Father's Day with a program on KET, Secret Life of the Cat, with the wife and daughter. Some scientists in the UK put GPS devices and cameras on 50 cats to find out what they do in the course of a day. One of the interesting facts revealed so far is that male cats tend to roam about 100 meters from their homes in various directions over the course of the day (females, about half that distance).

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  11. 9:11 left in the 3d quarter:

    Golden St. 54 - 54 Cleveland

    The Cavs are on an 8-0 run, sparked by two three-pointers from J.R. Smith.

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  12. I don't remember the last time two teams this good met in the finals. You'd probably have to go back to the Pistons/Lakers finals of the late 1980's.

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  13. 7:39 left in the 3d quarter:

    Golden St. 59 - 54 Cleveland

    Stephen Curry breaks up a 3 on 1 break, scores a layup, and then later makes a 3-pointer. He now has 14 points. The Cavs call time.

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  14. 4:33 left in the 3d quarter:

    Golden St. 59 - 65 Cleveland

    Cleveland comes out of the timeout and goes on an 11-0 run. This one is sparked by Kyrie Irving, who suddenly has 18 points. He is just incredible.

    Something terrible has happened to the Warriors' offense; they only have 10 points in this quarter.

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  15. I think Kerr should have called a timeout to break up that 11-0 run.

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  16. Golden State scores out of the timeout, but Irving responds with a 3-pointer. He's scored 10 points in a row for Cleveland, and the Cavs lead 68-61 with 4 minutes left in the third.

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  17. 1:56 left in the third quarter:

    Golden St. 71 - 71 Cleveland

    The Cavs had an 8-point lead, and then Green made three free throws (he got LeBron up in the air). Then Green hit a three. Then Green got a loose ball and started a fast break. That's an 8-0 run, and so the Cavs call time again.

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  18. Green now has 28 points. What a game!

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  19. End of third quarter:

    Golden St. 76 - 75 Cleveland

    Now both teams are just trading haymakers, going back and forth on every possession. Just amazing stuff.

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  20. I saw all those great NBA games in the 1980's, and this game is as good as any of them.

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    1. I think the whole playoffs have been been excellent. I wish some of these Finals game had been closer, but, whatever, we've got a great Game 7. Here we are.

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  21. LeBron: 6-16, 16 points
    Irving: 8-17, 21 points

    Green: 9-12, 28 points
    Curry: 5-13, 14 points
    Thompson: 4-13, 10 points

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  22. Irving has been super a lot of this series, but, probably because the games until tonight have been so lopsided, it seems to me that most everyone has been really good or barely noticeable.

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  23. 9:04 left in the season:

    Golden St. 78 - 81 Cleveland

    The Warriors get off to a shaky start in the 4th quarter with Curry on the bench. Timeout, Warriors.

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  24. Curry and Klay Thompson have combined to go 5-19 on three-pointers in this game. I saw this happen to Travis Ford in the 1993 Final Four.

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  25. Green hits a layup to make the score 81-80, Cleveland.

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  26. Love misses a three for Cleveland.

    Barnes misses a three for Golden State.

    Cleveland leads 81-80 with 8 minutes left.

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  27. Irving misses a jump shot. Iguadala is fouled at the other end, and misses two free throws. Cleveland ball with 7:40 left.

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  28. LeBron makes a tough shot in traffic. Cleveland leads 83-80.

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  29. Golden St. 693 - 693 Cleveland (total score through six games, three quarters and seven minutes of the NBA Finals)

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  30. Curry and Thompson ... wow ... such fun to watch.

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  31. But Curry hits a long 3 to tie the game! 83-83 with 6:59 left.

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  32. Cleveland misses a 3-pointer, and then Klay Thompson hits a long 2-pointer (his foot was on the line). Golden State leads 85-83 with 6:12 to go. Cleveland calls time.

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  33. We are almost halfway through the fourth quarter, and the Warriors have outscored the Cavs 9-8. If I were the Cavs, I would try to speed things up, and I would rely more on Kyrie Irving.

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  34. Jefferson misses a jumper for Cleveland. Green gets the rebound.

    Curry misses at the other end, but GREEN GETS THE REBOUND AND LAY UP. Warriors lead 87-83 with 5:40 left. 8-0 run for the Warriors. 32 points for Green.

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  35. But at the other end, LeBron gets Festus Ezeli into the air, and draws a three-point foul. He makes all three, and the Warriors now lead 87-86 with 5:24 left.

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  36. Curry throws the ball away! A bad behind-the-back pass. Cavs' ball.

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    1. In all seriousness, what was he thinking about here?

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    2. In all seriousness, what was he thinking about here?

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  37. With one second left on the shot clock, LEBRON NAILS A THREE. Caves lead 89-87.

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  38. Klay Thompson makes a layup at the other end, and we're tied at 89 with 4:20 left.

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  39. LeBron misses a long jumper.

    Curry misses a wide open three.

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  40. LeBron posts up Curry, but misses the jump shot. The ball goes out of bounds to Golden State. Warrior ball. Still tied at 89. 3:40 left.

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  41. Klay Thompson misses a long jump shot.

    James's shot is BLOCKED by Iguadala. At the other end, Iguadala misses a three, and then Curry fouls LeBron to prevent a runout. 2:50 left, and LeBron will be going to the line.

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  42. Andre Iguodala, who also has been very good in this series, is hurting. Irving and Love were hurt badly enough last year that they missed Finals games, and the Cavs lost. Iguodala and Curry are hurt mildly enough that they're playing, and ... we'll see.

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    Replies
    1. The NBA season is, and always has been, about 20 games too long.

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  43. Golden St. 699 - 699 Cleveland (total score through six games, three quarters, nine minutes and 30 seconds of the NBA Finals)

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  44. LeBron has a triple double: 26 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.

    I was wrong, that was not a shooting foul. The Cavs do not score. Love misses a hook shot.

    The Warriors come back, and Green (finally) misses a three.

    Still tied at 89. Cavs ball with 2:05 left.

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  45. That James block is as good as any defensive basketball play as has ever been made.

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  46. Irving misses a layup.

    LEBRON HAS A GREAT BLOCK AT THE OTHER END.

    Still tied at 89.

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  47. LeBron misses a hook shot.

    Curry misses a long three.

    Still tied at 89. Cleveland calls time with 1:09 left.

    NEITHER TEAM HAS SCORED IN OVER THREE MINUTES OF PLAY.

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  48. OK, here comes Cleveland with 1:09 to go. IRVING MAKES A LONG THREE TO PUT CLEVELAND UP 92-89. 52 seconds left.

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  49. this is like something out of a movie.

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  50. Golden State needs to score. Curry ends up shooting a long three, which misses. The Cavaliers are going to win the title.

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    1. Kevin Love did a great job defending Curry here, which is what Eric is celebrating above.

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  51. Golden State fouls Cleveland to stop the clock. The Cavs come back, and LeBron is flying down the lane for a game-clenching dunk when he is fouled by Green. LeBron is down with 10.6 seconds to go, and he is hurt. The Cavs lead 92-89, and if they can get one more point, they are going to be the champions.

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  52. Here's LeBron in what will surely be one of the greatest -- probably the greatest moment -- of his career. He misses the first FT, but he makes the second, and the Cavs have a four-point lead: 93-89 with 10.6 seconds to go.

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  53. The key to this game is that down the stretch, Golden State could not score at all. If you're going to be the best team of all time, you can't go scoreless in the last 4 minutes of Game Seven.

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  54. Congratulations, LeBron James! Congratulations, Cleveland! What a game!

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  55. The other key to this game is that LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are two of the greatest players of all time.

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  56. Curry misses one more three, and time expires. The Warriors were shut out in the last 4:20 of the game.

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  57. THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!

    And they REALLY, REALLY DESERVED IT!

    HOORAY FOR LEBRON! HOORAY FOR KYRIE IRVING! AND HOORAY FOR CLEVELAND!!!

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  58. The Irving 3-pointer, the James block, the Kevin Love defense on Curry, the James free throw after being leveled on the dunk attempt and the James defense on Klay Thompson with 10 seconds to go were as clutch as anything you're ever going to see.

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  59. I'm really happy Irving made the key three-pointer. He was the difference in this series.

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  60. Congratulations to former Washington Wizard Tyronn Lue!

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  61. That was a fun evening. Sports is so great.

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