As Warriors coach Steve Kerr said afterward, “Even the best players in the world have bad nights”.
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The Cavaliers bench was outscored 45-10, the Warriors scored 25 points off 17 Cleveland turnovers and the Cavs succumbed to a tide they never saw coming.
The Cavaliers missed a golden opportunity to steal homecourt advantage in the first matchup of the series.
The Warriors, just three days removed from a historic comeback in the Western Conference finals, responded to a Cavaliers burst in the third quarter with one of their own, retaking the lead after losing it for the first time since the second minute of the game.
LeBron James’ 2-4 Finals record is, and will be, a huge talking point during these NBA Finals, with the very real prospect of James falling to 2-5 all-time as the Cleveland Cavaliers are already in a precarious spot down 0-1 to the Golden State Warriors, who look like the better team. As a point guard, Livingston is the opposite of Stephen Curry.
Shaun Livingston, their backup point guard who was signed as a free agent two summers ago, in part, because of his ability to defend the Cavs’ LeBron James, had 20 points on eight of 10 shooting. He was finals MVP for a reason past year.
Three veteran players came off the bench to help the Warriors take Game 1. “They really changed the game, and it allowed us to win tonight”. “This has been our team the last couple of years”. It’s just a matter of time and staying confident. Livingston joined elite company as only Tony Parker, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were the other players to score 20 points in a game with no turnovers in the NBA Finals over the past 30 years.
The Cavs threw everything they had at the two-time MVP, just as Lue said they would. “Their bench played well”. “We can kind of get giddy out there and lose it a little bit, so I try to get us back to that even balance”.
It made for a strong start while surrounded by the yellow “Strength in Numbers” shirts that hung on seats throughout the arena.
“We weren’t necessarily playing the basketball we want to play on the offensive end”, said Kevin Love, who had 17 points and 13 rebounds in his finals debut. “We believe in each other, and anybody can step up”. Leandro Barbosa, who signed to a collective yawn in September 2014 when so many believed the shelf life on his career had expired, had 11 points in just 10 minutes. Iguodala didn’t let an aggravating, hard hit to the groin by Matthew Dellavedova derail his focus for the final quarter.
Curry and Thompson went 8-for-27 from the floor, and Golden State’s normally red-hot three-point shooting slipped to 33.3 percent.
But the Cavs still lost by a wide margin and had no answer for the Warriors surge that seemingly comes every game. He shook his head in delight after a two-handed slam off a pass from Curry with 5:44 left.
At the end, what could Curry and Thompson do but laugh a little? But he had seven early points – driving to the rim on the right, when Andrew Bogut found him from the perimeter with a lovely pass while Tristan Thompson and James failed to catch up and Barnes finished the three-point play after he was fouled; in the post, where he went around Irving easily; another drive, this time past J.R. Smith on the right for a 9-7 lead.
While depth was one of the main factors for Golden State’s win, it wasn’t the only one that led them to victory. Livingston always takes great shots that are close to the basket. You know, I’m trying to chase rings, and that’s all I’m about.
NOTES: Kerr has a small cut on his right pinkie from his clipboard chop Thursday, his third broken white board of the season for those counting.
“Destruction tends to ease some of the anger”, the Coach of the Year said. That play seemed to have been ran endlessly by the Warriors, thus leading to Livingston having a career game. “So it’s better that way”. Averaging a playoffs-high 14.4 3s per game, the Cavs shot 7 of 21 from beyond the arc. The Warriors are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 home games and 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games overall. I raved about Livingston earlier in the season, because he’s a player that can nearly always be counted on to get buckets.
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Livingston had a sluggish series against the Thunder – made only 10 shots total in the seven games.
