That the league is talking about these things now – and putting out the officiating reports – is an improvement over the Soviet-style denial and lack of information that had been the NBA’s modus operandi for many years.
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Most-Watched NBA Game Ever on WatchESPNIn addition to the television audience on ABC, last night’s Game 1 was the most-watched NBA game ever on WatchESPN.
Livingston and last year’s Finals MVP Andre Iguodala did most of the heavy lifting.
“A strong second half from last year’s Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, who scored 10 of his 12 points after the break”. Kyrie Irving had 26 points, 11 on free throws.
“We want Kyrie to be aggressive, but it has to be sharp, quick attacks”, Lue said.
“Even the best players in the world have bad nights”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, referring to Curry and Thompson’s collective poor-shooting efforts.
“He was very aggressive”.
As for Iguodala? He often defended LeBron James, made plays like a point guard, read his opponents like a book, and both calmed and ignited his teammates on cue, and right on time. “Give up 45 points off the bench and 25 points off turnovers on the road, it’s not a good ingredient to win”.
Like Iguodala, who was magnificent.
“That’s our motto. That’s what we believe in”, Livingston said. “So that’s kind of who he is for us”. Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut added a combined output of 39 marks. Irving averages 24.3 points and 5.1 assists, and Love is contributes 17.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
The Warriors led by nine points (52-43) at halftime before the Cavs briefly took the lead in the third quarter.
For much of this one, Thursday’s opener at ear-splitting Oracle Arena was a heavyweight bout between two excellent squads. Early in the third quarter, with the Warriors looking lethargic and sloppy on offense, the second-year coach used his fist to shatter the clipboard he uses to draw up plays during timeouts. James’ shooting touch probably won’t completely vanish. The Warriors’ 35-point bench advantage is the largest by any team in the Finals in at least the past 50 years, according to Elias Sports. We were able to get where we wanted to go.
Cleveland missed a golden opportunity with Curry and Thompson shooting poorly.
Home teams that win Game 1 are 41-11.
The Cavs will need to find a way to keep the Big 3 going, get Smith involved, and play some defense against anyone in a white jersey in Game 2.
But that was the offensive high point.
“We’re not a team to lose our composure over anything”, James told reporters.
Overall, the Warriors’ reserves outscored the Cavs’ by a 45-10 count. Sure, the Eastern Conference remains far less challenging on a night-to-night basis than the West.
The Cavs were always going to have a problem stopping the Warriors when they rolled out Irving and Kevin Love, but man, if Livingston and Barbosa are going to eat like this while Steph spend most of his time acting as a decoy, I don’t know what the Cavs do.
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The re-run of 2015 Finals, which the Warriors won 4-2, continues in Oakland on Sunday.
