Cleveland’s 4-1 series victory set up a meeting with the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association finals for a third successive year.
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In 2016, it looked like everything was going the Warriors’ way. The Celtics have been one of the league’s most improved teams from last season after earning the first seed in the East this season.
The 51-year-old Kerr underwent a procedure May 5 to fix a spinal fluid leak stemming from complications after a pair of back surgeries in 2015, after the Warriors won their first championship in 40 years during his first season as coach.
But it all evaporated.
The Celtics lost that game by 44 points to fall behind 0-2 in the best-of-seven series, then announced the next day that Thomas was done for the season. James wept on the Warriors home court in Oakland, where he was named unanimous NBA Finals MVP. Reserve Warriors center JaVale McGee was all but out of the National Basketball Association, and now he’s playing impactful minutes in these playoffs.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said though he’s disappointed with how the season ended, he’s encouraged that no one in Boston’s locker room is satisfied just making it to the conference finals.
Yes, the Warriors have two of the premiere scorers in the world and one of the three Defensive Player of the Year finalists on their roster, but as the Spurs just witnessed, the Dubs’ success isn’t exclusively on the shoulders of their star players. I don’t feel like we’re underdogs. But the Cavs’ 12-1 playoff march to the Finals showed once again that LeBron James might be the most dominant athlete in team sports today.
And they’re doing this without their head coach. That would justify all the talk about how the Warriors would’ve/should’ve won the title a year ago if not for this injury or that suspension. Cleveland won by one on Christmas Day, Golden State prevailed by 35 on January 16.
The Cavaliers are being given little chance to defend their title against the vaunted Warriors, who have been winning by an average of 16.3 points per game in the playoffs.
In the first championship meeting in 1952, Layne and Walker ran for TDs to give the Lions a 17-7 win and their first championship since 1935.
I like what Kerr said this season about how it’s in Curry’s job description as this team’s point guard to figure out how to integrate Durant’s talents.
And, on Friday, after a wait of 347 days, we’re getting just that: the third instalment in the best trilogy since The Mighty Ducks. We didn’t talk about championships or anything. Simple as that. It’s good that we’re here now. We know what we’ve got to do. And here they are, for the third time in a row. In 2015, James had to carry an injury-depleted roster and came up short in six games. The Giants won the Series 5-3 in the final best-of-nine matchup as a banged-up Ruth got just one plate appearance during the final three games, all won by the Giants.
Can the Cavs do it again?
For James, the Finals are an annual rite.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS player LeBron James has passed Michael Jordan for first place on the all-time playoffs scoring list with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:40 left in the third quarter of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday (May 25).
James told a press conference, posted by NBA TV on Twitter: “I wear the number because of Mike. Because I think we saw it first hand, especially in these home games”. So I’d never believed I could beat Mike. “I think that helped shape my game”.
“I’ve played against Ray (Allen), KG (Kevin Garnett), Paul (Pierce), (Rajon) Rondo and Doc (Rivers)”.
However, Hall of Famer Jordan still has several prestigious records over James.
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While another NBA Finals loss would certainly hurt LeBron’s legacy, you could certainly argue that a win would mean much more than a loss would hurt. Get the popcorn ready.
