Draymond Green battled foul trouble in the second half but still managed to be irascible. (Getty Images)
It was a regulation classic, and an overtime bummer.
The Golden State Warriors dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers
in the extra frame during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, taking the contest
by a 108-100 mark after Cleveland completely fell apart in the final
five minutes.
NBA MVP Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 26 points, as the Cavs watched helplessly as point guard Kyrie Irving limped badly to the locker room in overtime with what appears to be the latest in a string of injuries to the All-Star.
Irving had been brilliant throughout the game, keeping the Warriors
on edge with crafty drives and expert passing, and his block of Stephen
Curry late in regulation in what appeared to be an easy and wide open
layup helped secure Cleveland’s chance at an extra frame. LeBron James,
working mostly in Michael Jordan-styled isolation plays in the post,
added a personal career Finals-high with 44 points, but it wasn’t enough
as Golden State pulled away in what was previously a close and
contested affair.
James missed his first three shots in overtime as the Warriors got
back to whipping the ball around offensively, as a miss and turnover by
Irving prior to his departure led to easier scores for Golden State as
they flew back to the other end of the court. By the time James got
around to having to carry the offensive load sans Irving, his team was
playing catch-up as he missed two desperation three-pointers. In the
end, the Cavaliers missed their first nine shots in overtime, with three
turnovers to boot, before James hit a meaningless lay-up to give the
game its final score.
In a way, the game played almost to script.
Golden State has struggled to
start both series’ and contests at home in the first quarter, and while
the team didn’t look especially rattled as the Finals neophytes took to
the stage, they did appear off. The Warriors missed both good looks and
bad shots, somehow managing to both overpass and still finish the first quarter with the lowest assist mark of any quarter in their season’s previous 388 quarters – two dimes.
As the W’s wasted opportunities, the Cavaliers’ road confidence grew.
Cleveland has lost on the road just once in the playoffs in six
opportunities, on a lucky banked-in three
by Chicago’s Derrick Rose in the Eastern semifinals, and LeBron James’
teammates seemed to revel in the chance to play spoiler with all the
pressure on Golden State.
Irving was brilliant, using footwork and smarts to overcome both left
knee tendinitis and a sprained right foot on his way toward 23 points,
six assists, seven rebounds and just one turnover in the face of the
NBA’s best defense. Meanwhile, he and James were finding helpers like
Timofey Mozgov (16 points and seven rebounds) with extra passes as the
Warriors loaded up on Cleveland’s screen and roll and isolation-heavy
attack.
Cleveland, whose defense ranked amongst the realm of the mediocre in
the regular season prior to a massive uptick in the playoffs, also
surprised by tossing out a few minor full court presses, and overplaying
and jumping passing lanes. This forced the Warriors into either turning
the rock over, or hesitating and/or declining to make the passes that
have been typical of Golden State’s knockout offense all season.
Meanwhile, Mozgov and Tristan Thompson (15 rebounds, with six coming on
the offensive glass) were quick to both offensive boards and other loose
balls. After eight days off, the Cavs just looked like the looser team.
Of course, the Warriors received seven days off of their own in
between the Western Conference finals and the NBA Finals, they just
needed to overcome the uncertainty and jitters.
What was a 14-point
Cleveland advantage in the first quarter fell apart as the second
quarter moved along, as the W’s took a lead on a Curry three-pointer
with 3:39 left in the first half. Curry ended up either scoring or
assisting on 18 of Golden State’s final 20 points in the second, as
Cleveland took a slim 51-48 lead into the locker room.
From there, things were matched just about evenly. Golden State
relied on its embarrassment of riches (including center Marreese
Speights, playing for the first time in a month due to a calf injury,
scoring eight points off the pine) to share the ball and keep up
appearances. Supersub Andre Iguodala (15 points on 6-8 shooting) led a fourth quarter charge that saw him hit a three-pointer with just one shoe while making expert passes and giving his all against James defensively. However, there was only so much Iguodala, or any other Warrior, could do.
James gained confidence early in the game by nailing both a 20-footer
and three-pointer, turning the tide after entering the Finals with a
lowly 17.6 three-point percentage in the postseason. He routinely backed
down any number of defenders in the post on his way toward those 44
points, on 18-38 shooting, notching six assists and eight defensive
rebounds along the way.
Though this seemed part of Golden State’s plan – let James shoot
away, because he can’t score 100 points on his own (we think) – it was a
fearful turn. LeBron looked unstoppable at times, with even his misses
turning into scrums that the Cavaliers somehow walked away from with the
ball. When James hit a turnaround jumper to put his Cavs up 86-82
midway through the fourth quarter, it seemed as if there was nothing the
Warriors could do to stop him the Cavs.
Golden State’s offense got back on track behind Curry and a resurgent
Klay Thompson, who emerged from a 1-6 shooting first half to finish
with 21 points on 5-14 shooting. Meanwhile, swingman Harrison Barnes
saved two crucial loose balls in the fourth, while reserve big Festus
Ezili managed five needed defensive rebounds in just 12 minutes of
action. Irving’s desperate block of Curry ...
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