It's Finally Over

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors finally settled the NBA finals last night. The game lived up to all the hype surrounding it and basketball fans witnessed probably one of the best finals games in history. So many story lines were being talked about going into last night. Will Cleveland win its first championship since 1964? Will the Warriors cap off the best regular season in history with a championship? Would LeBron fulfill the promise he gave Cleveland fans two years ago? And would LeBron and Curry show up?

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Well after 48 minutes of lead changes and spectacular plays the Cleveland Cavaliers finally brought the championship back to Cleveland. So much happened in the final two minutes, but two plays stand out that made a huge difference for Cleveland. The first play is a break away layup that Andre Iguodala seemed to have. Iguodala got out on the break made a move to avoid J.R. Smith, but when he went back up LeBron swooped in just in time for a chase down block keeping the game tied at 89 with 1:51 left in the game. The next great play of this game and basically the seal on the game was Kyrie Irving's three point shot over Steph Curry with 53 seconds left. Kyrie went right at Curry with no hesitation and then did a step back pull up for three right in the eye of Curry. It was an unbelievable shot that gave Cleveland the win.

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Kyrie Irving had a good game scroing 26 points and grabbing 6 rebounds for the game. He also hit the biggest shot. LeBron James had a spectacular game. With 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists; James became only the third player in NBA history to have a triple double in a finals game 7. James also became the only player in NBA history to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks for a series. These stats were enough to earn him the Finals MVP giving him his third Finals MVP.

From the Warriors side of things the splash brothers did not play well. Klay Thompson had 14 points and Curry had 17 points. The only player to show up was Dryamond Green. He played very well last night scoring 32 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, and racking up 9 assists. The only thing is the Warriors did not go back to the hot hand of Green in the fourth quarter and it really cost the Warriors.

Overall this game was such a treat to basketball fans because it is not very often that we see a Game 7 in the NBA finals. Let alone the Cavs were the only the third team to push a 3-1 deficit to seven games. And they became the first team ever to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals. We all witnessed history last night and hopefully next season can provide us with the same level of excitement.

Did you say 82?

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With the Cavaliers facing elimination all hopes of a championship were riding on the star players of the squad. And last night two of the three delivered. LeBron James was finally aggressive and looking for his own shot rather than passing. He also shot the ball from the perimeter with the cushion that the Warriors were giving him on defense. Kyrie has played well in the last two games for Cleveland and he played probably one of the best games of his career last night. Kyrie scored 41 points on 17-24 shooting. That is 70% from the field! He also had 6 assists. He was not the only one in the game with 40 points. LeBron James also had 41 points on 16-30 shooting. He also had 7 assists and a monstrous 16 rebounds! He played a lot like he did during last years finals and that is what he has needs to continue to do. Irving and James were the first teammates in Finals history to score 40+ points in the same game.

Many people are going to speculate about whether or not these two would have combined for 82 points had Draymond Green played last night. I think the Warriors defense would have been better at the hoop, but it would not have stopped LeBron and Kyrie from making all the threes that they did. Cleveland should feel very good about returning home after how they played last night. They know they are capable of beating this Warriors team and the role players for Cleveland should be much more energized and ready to go feeding off the home crowd. The two problems for the Cavs are will LeBron shoot this well from beyond 5 feet again? And two, can Kevin Love impact the game in any way? Kevin Love was a no show last night scoring 2 points and grabbing 3 rebounds. Granted he only took 5 shots, but he is not doing what the Cavs brought him there to do. As of right now Love would probably be better served playing with the second unit and Jefferson should start. This would give the Cavs a much better offensive punch off the bench and allow them to match the Warriors small ball line up for next game.

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Speaking of which. Last night Bogut went down late in the game with a knee injury. If he is out for next game Green might get the start at center. Bogut does not play too much, but he a good cutter and passer. This allows the guards to free themselves on the perimeter or keep the opposing teams center from cheating over to help. What Bogut contributes most to the Warriors is his defense. He is a big body that can alter shots. Him paired with Green makes it hard for any team to finish around the hoop. If Bogut is out he will be missed, but it will not be devastating blow.

I, like many others, hope we get a 7 game series. I also hope that the Cavs play this well again because it is exciting watching LeBron James and Kyrie Irving playing at their best. For now Game 6 awaits. Will the Warriors win back to back championships or will the Cavaliers be just the third team in Finals history to push a 3-1 series deficit to 7 games? That will be decided Thurday night at 9.

Cavaliers on the Brink

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Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers came out swinging by leading for a majority of the first half. Their defense was on point and they stuck to their game plan. But it was a tale of two halves. Even though the Cavaliers played very well in the first half something happened at half time that would cost them the game. After being on point with their defense and executing the Cavaliers started to have communication break downs. Examples are players were switching when they weren't supposed to; staying with their man when they were supposed to switch; not keep an eye on their man when one of them went back door. It was just awful to watch after they succeeded in the first half.

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From the Warriors perspective they did exactly what they needed to do on defense. They forced LeBron to make quick decisions on whether to pass or shoot. And LeBron being who he is he looked to pass just about every time. When he went up to pass all the Warriors players tried to cover the passing lanes to make LeBron make a tough pass or have him force a tough shot out of the double team. Honestly even though the first half did not go well for the Warriors they should not change a thing. Ultimately the Cavaliers collapsed and the Warriors got lose for open jump shots. If the Cavaliers figure out how to attack and defend the Warriors, that's when Kerr might have to make some changes.

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Here's what the Cavaliers must do in order to stay alive. LeBron needs to assert himself and be selfish. Too many times he passed the ball or was looking to pass rather than shoot. A few times he was open and waited to long to make a decision and the defense was able to get to him. Also he needs to take more mid range jump shots. The Warriors are baiting him to take threes or even those mid range shots, but that's because they don't believe he will make them. Right now the Warriors are just waiting for him to get so far into the paint that they can double and even triple team him, making it impossible for him to breath. If he is going to drive that deep into the lane he needs to just go up, because he will not be able to stop and make a pass or take a shot. Also he needs to stop running the play where he stands at the top of the key looking to pass. It is fine to do it once in a blue moon, but he does it multiple times a game and more often than not it is a turnover. He needs to put the ball on the floor to draw other defenders to him and make sure that the Warriors watch the ball for help defense. This will make it much easier for his teammates to get open. Basically LeBron has to do what he did in last years finals. He may have more help this year, but he is what makes this team go and function. If LeBron asserts himself he get more looks at the hoop and score more. It may even force the Warriors to alter their defensive strategy. Either way it will help the Cavs break down the Warriors defense.

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 Game 5 is Monday night at 9. Hopefully I will be writing about Game 6 on Tuesday because no basketball fan wants to see such a short Finals series.

The Cavs are in Trouble

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After last nights blowout win for the Warriors they have to feel good about going to Cleveland later this week. The Cavs seem to be very overwhelmed by this Warriors team and rightfully so. They just made a 3-1 comeback in the Western Conference Finals to a very good Oklahoma City Thunder team. The Cavaliers could play much better though. Kyrie Irving did not contribute much in Game 2 scoring only 10 points in 33 minutes. He also only shot 35% from the field. The team's leader LeBron James was not much better. He had 19 points on 7-17 shooting. He helped his team in other ways by grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists. However those stats would be overshadowed by his 7 turnovers on the night. To sum everything up the Warriors just look like the more complete team thus justifying the 110-77 win.

For the Cavaliers they should not get too down yet. They are heading home for two games and LeBron James and Kyrie Irving will both step up their games at home. The only concern this team should have is the possibility of Kevin Love being out. As of right now there is no update on Love, but he had to take himself out of the game early in the third quarter after he was hit in the back of the head by Harrison Barnes late in the second quarter. It is said that he had no concussion like symptoms when he came out and he showed none at halftime. In the third it was then obvious something was wrong. If Love is out for a Game 3 it won't only hurt the Cavaliers chances at winning Game 3, but it may even hurt their chances at winning the title. Let's see if the Cavs can turn the corner in Game 3 or if the Warriors will continue their dominance.

On this Date June 4, 1995

With another gap day between the Game 1 and Game 2 of the 2016 NBA Finals lets take a look back at what happened on this day 21 years ago. The NBA was in a weird place. Michael Jordan had just returned to the NBA after two years off, but his team would not be able to get past Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic. It would set up an Eastern Conference Finals show down between the Orlando Magic and the Indiana Pacers. In the first six games of the series the home team would walk away with the win, but Reggie Miller and company were looking to finally break through and reach the NBA Finals.

In a decisive game 7 the Pacers struggled heavily on offense. The team shot only 37% from the field and 21% from three. Reggie Miller only had 12 points on the night after putting up 36 points in Game 6. His three point shot also wasn't there, making only two threes in Game 7 after having six in Game 6. Ultimately this lead to a blow out win for the Orlando Magic 105-81. An outstanding bounce back after losing Game 6 by 27 points. The last two games of this series proved how much the home team feeds off the energy of the crowd. In the end the Orlando Magic would advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.

Here are some highlights from Game 7 and lets hope that Game 2 of this years NBA Finals is not a blowout like this.

Did We Already See the Best?

With Game 1 coming and going it did not live up to the hype. Last night the Warriors took Game 1 of the NBA Finals 104-89. Many people were excited to see a rematch of last years finals and rightfully so. But Game 1 of this series did not have the same excitement surrounding it as the Western Conference Finals. Is it possible that we already so the most exciting and competitive series of the playoffs so far? Well it is too early to jump to conclusions, but if the rest of the series goes like Game 1 this series will not live up to its expectations.

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As for Game 1, it was messy. The Cavaliers seemed to have trouble finding offense. Cleveland shot 38% from the field. Cleveland's big three shot 23 for 60 from the field. LeBron filled the stat sheet as usual flirting with a triple double. He had 23 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists. But it could not make up for the Cavs poor play. The Cavaliers also struggled on defense. They really need to communicate better on defense. Too many times the Cavaliers tried to switch on screens and someone would not switch leading to open layups.

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As for the Warriors, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson didn't play well either. Steph Curry was 4 for 15 from the field and had 5 turnovers. Klay Thompson shot 4 for 12 from the field and only made 1 three which came in the final minutes of the game. The Warriors saving grace was the play of there bench. In particular Shaun Livingston. Livingston had a big night going 8 of 10 from the field and scoring 20 points in only 26 minutes.

Most likely the Cavs will not play this bad again, but the same can be said for the Splash Brothers. Hopefully Game 2 is much more appealing than Game 1. The Cavs need to figure out how they are going to attack the Warriors collapsed defense and they need to make smarter decisions. They need move the ball more rather than it sticking in one players hands and they need to shoot better. They can not struggle from the field like this because that is what allows the Warriors to collapse their defense and focus on players attacking the paint. Game 2 is Sunday night at eight o'clock on ABC.

NBA Finals Are Upon Us

After an exciting end to the Western Conference Finals the NBA Finals match up is finally confirmed. The Warriors will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game 1 in Oakland tonight and this series should not disappoint. After the Cavs were without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving last year the Cavs managed to push the Warriors to six games behind one of the best finals performances ever by LeBron James. With Cavaliers back at full strength this year and the Warriors being healthy there are no more excuses. This is the rematch everyone wanted and we are lucky that we got it.

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For the Cavaliers they had just about a week off after beating the Toronto Raptors in six. They should be well rested considering they had about a week worth of rest between each series so far in the playoffs. For the Warriors they should still have some momentum due to the fact they played Monday and have won three in a row against a very good Thunder team.

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I think the Cavaliers will come in a surprise everyone and steal Game 1 in Oakland. As for the series the Warriors are given a 75% chance of winning the series. It is understanding why considering what they just did to the Thunder. But I would like to remind people that the Thunder had their problems down the stretch of the final three games. I do not expect the Cavaliers to make these same mistakes. With all that said it is really up in the air what will happen. It is hard to bet against the Warriors after they just proved me wrong in the Western Conference Finals. If Kevin Love and J.R. Smith do not have a good series, the Warriors will win in seven. Either way this series will go seven games as long as the Cavaliers win one of the first two games in Oracle Arena. This should be an awesome NBA Finals to watch. You can catch the game at nine o'clock on ABC.