OAKLAND-The Golden State Warriors completed their comeback and defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-88 in Monday night’s Game 7 match-up to advance to their second consecutive NBA Finals. They will defend their title against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the same team they faced previous year en route to their title victory.
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The referee crew for Game 2 is Scott Foster, Tony Brothers, and James Capers – not a trio the Warriors is especially fond of.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is in the books, or, more appropriate in today’s day and age, in the cloud. The Warriors’ role players took the bait and did beat them – to the tune of 45-10 in points off the bench. Andre Iguodala had 12 points while Leandro Barbosa added 11. Klay Thompson finished 4-for-12 with 9 points. Seven Warriors scored in double figures.
So the question becomes, which is more sustainable as this series evolves: The Cavs’ defense controlling Curry and Thompson?
The Warriors won an National Basketball Association record 73 games this season but none when Curry and Thompson combined for fewer points.
The Warriors’ versatility allows them to switch pick-and-rolls and rotate on defense better than any team in the league.
He’s now fourth in points with 5,387.
Between Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and Delly, the bench trio combined for just eight points, three rebounds, one assist, two turnovers and a -44 in the plus-minus category.
Still, the Cavs struggled just as much from long-range and recorded the same percentage, failing to look like the same team that lit up the Eastern Conference through the first three rounds of the playoffs. “We remain having a sense of urgency and we’re going to continue to fight”. The Cavs can do their best to slow down the Warriors while also getting into their offense earlier.
LeBron now ranks ninth in wins with 127.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving finds a roadblock in the Warriors’ Andrew Bogut. It seems like stopping Curry and Thompson won’t be enough.
“We want a faster pace so we can get up the floor and get guys open shots in transition”, Lue said. He needs to step up his game on both ends to stem the tide.
The Cavs looked unsure of themselves and out of rythm on offense-maybe a lot of that has to do with their summer vacation-like layoff in between series. LeBron is still chasing the franchise’s first ever title and redemption from the loss in his last trip to the Finals.
CNNMoney’s Player ROI will be live during the game – it’s a tool to determine how your favorite players are performing, relative to how much money they make.
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Yet everything still went so wrong as this highly anticipated NBA Finals rematch kicked off. “We’ve got to keep our focus and our edge and hopefully get two more”.
