The first two games were in Oakland at the home of the Warriors and they both went to overtime.
The Warriors took the first game 108-100, but the game was close throughout. Lebron James scored 44 points to keep his team in the game against the balanced attack of the Warriors.
He needed to play extra hard because his often injured point guard Kyrie Irving re- injured his knee.He had to leave the game and was in extreme pain as he walked to the locker room. This is a big blow to the Cavs because Kyrie Irving is one of the best point guards in the NBA and his play enabled the Cavs to stick close to the Warriors. Then in overtime, the Warriors clamped down on defense and started to pull away from the Cavs who were handicapped without Kyrie Irving.
Then at some point before game 2, Cleveland found out that Kyrie fractured his kneecap and will be out for the rest of the finals. This is crushing news for Cleveland and everyone immediately thought that they were done because most people didn't believe that Dellovadova could be up to the task of starting at point guard.
Those doubters ended up being wrong as Delavadova played well enough to help the Cavs earn a hard fought overtime win in game 2 at Oracle. The score was 95-93 and the Warriors had many shots at victory down the stretch of the game. However, they couldn't eke out a win as the Cavs played better defense than game 1, were able to overcome their fourth quarter collapse, and ultimately hold off the Warriors in overtime. Lebron also had his 2nd straight outstanding game as he put up a triple double. He scored 39 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out 11 assists.
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Cleveland has been dominating the rebounding in the Finals as their big guys (Mozgov and Thompson) are way better than the Warriors big guys when it comes to crashing the boards
The Cavs also won because Curry had a horrible shooting night either because he was just off or because Delly played good defense on him.
The Warriors were able to keep it close because they had good defense and because Klay Thompson scored 34 points, bailing out his teammates who could not make the shots they normally make.
The Warriors had the ball as the overtime clock was ticking down and they were down by 2. Curry tried to pass the ball up to Klay Thompson so he could shoot and try to win the game, but Shumpert on the Cavs stole the ball and the Cavs won.
Then the setting shifted to Cleveland for games 3 and 4.
Cleveland. fired up by their crazy home crowd, managed to take game 3 at home and gain a 2-1 series advantage. Lebron James totaled 40 more points, 12 more rebounds, and 8 more assists in another fantastic performance. He's willing to do whatever it takes to bring the first title in any major sport to Cleveland since 1964, and it's all on him to play his best since his fellow stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are out injured. Delly helped him a little bit in game 2, but in game 3 Delly really stepped up his game as he scored 20 points and endeared himself to the Cavs faithful fans.
Lebron played almost the whole game for the third straight game and people have got to be wondering if at some point, Lebron will get tired and his play will reflect that.
Just like game 2, Curry had problems shooting the orange throughout the game as he was defended well by Delly which led to the Warriors trailing throughout the game. But, in the 4th quarter,something clicked for Stephan Curry and he found his shooting stroke as he scored 17 points and tried to bring the Warriors back into the game, but couldn't bring them to victory.
Curry also got some help from David Lee who actually got into an important game and made a big impact.
After the game , Dellavadova was taken to the hospital where they treated him for cramps. He cramped up because he's not used to playing as many minutes as he has been.
Game 4 was in Cleveland. The Cavs stadium was sold out and throngs of fans who couldn't get a ticket stood outside watching the game on a big screen.
Most people thought that this game was a must win for the Dubs.
Steve Kerr made a lineup change at the start of the game as he put Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup instead of Andrew Bogut.
Coach Kerr thought that this switch would allow Golden State to get out in transition more and do what they do best as Iguodala is faster then Bogut and can fly down the court while Bogut trots.
Andre Iguodala also is a really good defender so Coach Kerr wants Iguodala to guard James and do his best to slow him down.
The only con of this decision is that it's going to be tougher to get rebounds without Bogut in to bang with Cleveland's trees. Bogut's their only rim protector so without him on the court, it will be easier for the Cavs to get buckets near the rim.
Coach Kerr's gamble worked as Iguodala played 36 minutes, shut Lebron down, and gave the Warriors a big boost offensively by scoring 22 points mostly on threes or dunks in transition.
With Iguodala in, the Warriors played at their usual pace and ended up winning 103-82 , which is the largest margin of victory in the series so far.
Curry kept his refound shooting stroke and scored 22 points, some of them huge baskets.
Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes also stepped it up offensively after a couple of bad games.
Lebron was held to 20 points which is a normal game for most players, but not normal for him. Iguodala played amazing defense,causing Lebron to struggle shooting.
Lebron also got fouled hard by Bogut and banged his head on one of the cameras. This caused his head to start bleeding and Lebron got 2 cuts on the top of his head, but remained in the game.
Lebron didn't look as full of energy in game 4 , and I think that's because of all the minutes he played in the first 3 games.
It didn't help him that his fellow healthy back-court mates Smith, Shumpert, and Delly struggled mightily shooting the basketball.
Lebron did get a great performance from his bigs, but that wasn't enough to beat the Warriors on a night they played exactly like they did in the regular season when they won an NBA best 67 games.
Now there are 3 games left in this series, but if either of the teams wins both games 5, and 6 then there will be no need for a 7th and final game.
I think that the next 3 games will be as exciting as the first 4 and I really hope that the Warriors can win 2 out of 3 and take home the Larry O Brian Trophy for the first time since 1975.
Good luck Dubs!
Game 4 was in Cleveland. The Cavs stadium was sold out and throngs of fans who couldn't get a ticket stood outside watching the game on a big screen.
Most people thought that this game was a must win for the Dubs.
Steve Kerr made a lineup change at the start of the game as he put Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup instead of Andrew Bogut.
Coach Kerr thought that this switch would allow Golden State to get out in transition more and do what they do best as Iguodala is faster then Bogut and can fly down the court while Bogut trots.
Andre Iguodala also is a really good defender so Coach Kerr wants Iguodala to guard James and do his best to slow him down.
The only con of this decision is that it's going to be tougher to get rebounds without Bogut in to bang with Cleveland's trees. Bogut's their only rim protector so without him on the court, it will be easier for the Cavs to get buckets near the rim.
Coach Kerr's gamble worked as Iguodala played 36 minutes, shut Lebron down, and gave the Warriors a big boost offensively by scoring 22 points mostly on threes or dunks in transition.
With Iguodala in, the Warriors played at their usual pace and ended up winning 103-82 , which is the largest margin of victory in the series so far.
Curry kept his refound shooting stroke and scored 22 points, some of them huge baskets.
Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes also stepped it up offensively after a couple of bad games.
Lebron was held to 20 points which is a normal game for most players, but not normal for him. Iguodala played amazing defense,causing Lebron to struggle shooting.
Lebron also got fouled hard by Bogut and banged his head on one of the cameras. This caused his head to start bleeding and Lebron got 2 cuts on the top of his head, but remained in the game.
Lebron didn't look as full of energy in game 4 , and I think that's because of all the minutes he played in the first 3 games.
It didn't help him that his fellow healthy back-court mates Smith, Shumpert, and Delly struggled mightily shooting the basketball.
Lebron did get a great performance from his bigs, but that wasn't enough to beat the Warriors on a night they played exactly like they did in the regular season when they won an NBA best 67 games.
Now there are 3 games left in this series, but if either of the teams wins both games 5, and 6 then there will be no need for a 7th and final game.
I think that the next 3 games will be as exciting as the first 4 and I really hope that the Warriors can win 2 out of 3 and take home the Larry O Brian Trophy for the first time since 1975.
Good luck Dubs!
Hope that Boguts doesn't read this as you were not very kind to him, though perhaps very truthful.
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