For the second time in these NBA Finals, there is an extra day off between games. The first time was between Games 1 and 2. LeBron James has noted that each of the extra days has come while the series is out west, where the Warriors sleep in their own beds while the Cavaliers are subjected to the squalor of the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. But the Cavs won Game 2 to grab homecourt advantage. After looking spent in a
“Tonight was the third game in five days, including the trip back from the West Coast, and it seemed to have an impact on us, yes,” Coach David Blatt responded to a question on whether the team was fatigued following a 21-point loss Thursday to the Golden State Warriors. With forward LeBron James averaging 45-plus minutes a game and guard Matthew Dellavedova playing just north of 38 minutes per contest since Game 2, many of the Cavaliers players looked tired and
CLEVELAND – This baby was all but in the books as LeBron James, scoreless in the fourth quarter, dribbled upcourt halfheartedly with 4:10 remaining and his team trailing by 14 points. There was only the slightest of chances that the Cavaliers could pull off a comeback to match the one the Warriors had engineered in Game 2, but James’ heart and head were not in it – and Iggy pounced. With a somewhat casual swipe, Andre Iguodala knocked the ball away
The Golden State Warriors had plenty of questions heading into Game 4, and answered just about all of it with the most convincing win of the NBA Finals, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 to tie the series at 2-2. With LeBron James utterly dominating the first three games, Steve Kerr decided to throw a healthy dose of double teams this time. With James being all about making the right play and playing for his teammates, he naturally passed out of most of
CLEVELAND – Steve Kerr has been very good at one thing in the NBA Finals – telling it like it is. Everyone watching this series can see the problem with Stephen Curry’s body language, and Kerr called out the MVP for it in his postgame interview Tuesday night. When your best player if lifeless and docile, you have to find a way to get through to him. Whether calling him out publicly was the right move is open to debate, but
It’s certainly not a stretch to say that the winner of Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night likely will the championship. If the Cleveland Cavaliers win, they will have a 3-1 lead and have three chances for LeBron James to snag one more victory for the city’s first pro sports title since 1964. If the Golden State Warriors win, they will have evened the series at 2-2 while reclaiming home court advantage, They also will have reclaimed some of
CLEVELAND — When your coach says you are lacking in energy, playing with very little life … Well, there really aren’t that many harsher words that can be used, are there? But those were the phrases Steve Kerr was uttering Tuesday night to describe the NBA’s reigning MVP, Stephen Curry, who came to life in the fourth quarter of Game 3 at the NBA Finals but again made too many untimely mistakes as the Golden State Warriors fell into a 2-1 hole
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have split the first two games of the NBA Finals, with both winning in overtime. Hoops junkies are drooling over the idea that this could be a long, hard-fought exciting series. Keep in mind, however, that the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat split the first two games a year ago on the heels of a seven-game classic in 2013. That series quickly turned as Kawhi Leonard caught fire and was over a week