OAKLAND — It was all right there for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fourth quarter. Tie score. Twenty-four seconds on the clock. The Cavaliers had the ball and a gift-wrapped chance to steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals on the road. And they had James, of course, the greatest force in the game, one who already had went off for 42 points, the most he had ever scored in a Finals game. The consensus was that James and the underdog
After a one-week wait, the NBA Finals are here. But that’s nowhere near as long as these teams have been waiting for a championship. For the Golden State Warriors, it has been 40 years since Rick Barry led them to what many believe is the greatest upset in NBA Finals history, a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets in 1975. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, it has been, well, forever. The Cavaliers entered the NBA in 1970 and didn’t even make the Finals
What were you doing on May 25, 1975? If you are younger than 40, you weren’t doing anything because you weren’t born yet. Or at best, you were 9 days old. If your name is Lauryn Hill, you were being born that day. If you were a Democrat, you were a year and a half away from having a peanut farmer from Georgia elected President of the United States. If you were a Republican, you were supporting the only person in U.S.
Stephen Curry has a legitimate chance to go down as the greatest shooter in NBA playoff history. With just two days before the Golden State-Cleveland NBA Finals finally begins, an appreciation of Curry’s shooting stroke — and the changing landscape of how offenses emphasize the three — point to Curry having a chance to at least be part of an elite playoff performance list. The 27-year-old MVP ideally will be playing in many more postseasons over the course of his career and should be
Rule of thumb: Don’t bet against LeBron James. Yes, the Golden State Warriors have three players who can defend him: Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala. Yes, the Golden State Warriors have the reigning MVP in Stephen Curry. Yes, the Warriors are healthier. Yes, the Warriors have home court advantage, having lost only three times all season at Oracle Arena. But does anybody out there really want to state that Stephen Curry is a better all-around player than LeBron James? Does anybody out there have
It wasn’t that long ago when Golden State Warriors fans booed team owner Joe Lacob at Oracle Arena — at a Chris Mullin jersey retirement ceremony, no less. Lacob had failed to deliver on some bold promises at that point, and – coupled with the trade of local favorite Monta Ellis – he made for a convenient target at the time.’ A lot has changed in the Bay Area in the three years since, as anyone at Game 5 of the
Four games of the Western Conference Finals are in the books, and the Warriors lead the Rockets by a 3-1 margin. That overall mark may not feel surprising, but the route the series has taken to get there has been a bit bizarre. [Read more…]
James Harden scored a playoff career-high 45 points to help the Houston Rockets avoid elimination in Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors. During the game, Stephen Curry took a hard and awkward fall resulting in a head contusion as the basketball world held its collective breath. Meanwhile, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from advancing to the NBA Finals without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving limited with a knee injury. On the other hand, the Atlanta