OAKLAND — If Game 5 of the NBA Finals was to be the final home game for the Golden State Warriors in this magical season of theirs, then they left the sellout crowd at Oracle Arena with memories that would last a lifetime. The fans will remember their chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” and “War-riors! War-riors!” in the final seconds of the 104-91 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, which moved their team within one victory of an elusive NBA title. Years from now,
Stephen Curry has been less than stellar – at least by his standards – in the NBA Finals heading into Game 5, to the point where people have started to wonder if Andre Iguodala should be the Finals MVP. Curry put a silence to that talk on Sunday night in the Oracle Arena, putting up 37 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, including 7-of-13 from the arc, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. The point guard was absolutely spectacular
Drafted No. 4 overall in the 2004 NBA draft and suffering a potential career-ending knee injury in 2007, Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston believes playing in the NBA finals is “a special moment”, especially for him. In 2007, Livingston, in his third season with the Los Angeles Clippers, tore his ACL, MCL, PCL, a lateral meniscus and had a dislocated kneecap all in one knee. Even the Clippers’ team physician hadn’t “seen a lot of these” happen in one knee.
During a wonderfully entertaining NBA Finals, it is a bit of a challenge to exercise restraint, which, of course, doesn’t exist in TwitterWorld, anyway. After Game 3, it was obvious that no matter what happened the rest of the series, LeBron James would be the MVP. Even if the Cavs lost three straight and the series. James had been sufficiently brilliant – to borrow from the esteemed pundit Moses Malone, LeBron had taken four guys from Australia, Russia, Canada and the
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