The highly anticipated series opener finished with the Cavs subbing in James Jones, Timofey Mozgov, Dahntay Jones, Mo Williams and Channing Frye with 2:24 remaining in the fourth, essentially conceding the game.
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By 15 … in a game in which they led by as many as 20.
Thompson responded with “not really” when asked if he can ever recall hearing an opponent saying they desired to run with the Warriors.
All three players were among the top 5 highest rated players in terms of Player ROI.
Livingston, who- standing at 6-7 – usually has at least a couple of inches on opposing point guards, is toughest to guard when he gets near the paint and elevates over his defender. All of their ROI scores improved.
“I don’t think it will be a problem”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Green (16 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists) turned it over three times, but with how he defended, rebounded and made plays, that number didn’t matter.
The Warriors have returned the finals even better than the team that throttled the league a year ago. Game 2 is on Sunday in Oakland, and the Splash Brothers will be frothing at the mouth after a tepid Game 1. Kyrie Irving had 26 points, Kevin Love had 17 and 10 rebounds and James, playing like he’s got a Ferrari engine and a Hummer chassis, added 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. His performance helped secure him a spot at #8 on the ROI list. So his ROI placed him at #15.
But the scoring duo got plenty of support from Shaun Livingston (34 point) and the bench to give the defending champs a Game 1 victory, 104-89. I feel good about how we played.
Perhaps the one point of the game where the Cavs bench was front and center came in the third quarter, when Dellavedova tried to strip the ball from behind on Andre Iguodala and wound up hitting the Warrior in the groin.
At times they appeared more like last year’s injury-depleted team, which was forced to try to slow the pace against the Warriors, rather than one now loaded with a healthy Irving and Kevin Love.
“When you get outscored 45-10 on the bench and give up 25 points off 17 turnovers, no matter what someone does or doesn’t do, it’s going to be hard to win, especially on the road”, James said.
The Warriors’ bench made the rowdy and raucous Golden State faithful crowd forget about Curry and Thompson’s night.
But Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue emphasized the need to play faster repeatedly during his media session Friday, highlighting how Golden State’s ability to switch on defense was forcing Cleveland to be stagnant in its half-court offense.
The Cavs threw everything they had at the two-time MVP, just as Lue said they would.
“I’ll be able to find some adjustments for Game 2”, Curry assured reporters. “We’ve got to push the tempo a little bit more offensively, see if we can get down, get some easy baskets and get to the flow of our game”.
True, but the Warriors taking Game 1 with their All-Star guards combining for just 20 points isn’t an outcome anyone would have predicted, either.
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“You guys” is presumably “the media”, but it’s not just pundits and talk show hosts that consider James’ perceived Finals shortcomings a disappointment.
