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Once again, the game came down to the final seconds of regulation, and once again it resulted in overtime. What a fantastic NBA Finals we have experienced so far, but now it’s become a best-of-five series. Sure, LeBron James and company lost All-Star Kyrie Irving to a heartbreaking knee injury in Game 1, but it takes far more than the loss of one man to take down a championship-calibre team.
The Golden State Warriors had a big chance to control this series with the unfortunate departure of Irving, but they just blew their chance tonight. We have to give all the credit in the world to the entire Cleveland Cavaliers team, but the Warriors lost this game. Actually, Golden State is incredibly lucky this series is even tied.
The Cavs have shown they are much hungrier in this series, and with the losses they have suffered throughout the entire season, it is pretty amazing to see. After watching this game, I truly believe LeBron James will bring a championship to Cleveland, but again it will take everything. The Cavs are up to the task, though, and the Warriors really seem to have no answer.
Golden State is losing the battle on the boards, getting pounded in the transition game and, most importantly, getting eaten up by this extremely ravenous set of Cavaliers. Draymond Green, other than his great defensive plays on occasion, has been a non-factor in these first two games. Andrew Bogut has been dominated by the play of Timofey Mozgov in the paint, and the Warriors have shown all of us that their incredible perimeter shooting doesn’t always go down.
They have not taken advantage of matchups at all, and coach Steve Kerr has to make several adjustments if they in fact want to win this championship. I honestly can’t tell at times.
In both games, the Cavaliers have had a chance to win the game in regulation, and if you really want to be the best, that simply can’t happen for Golden State. They have the matchups and personnel to do it, but you need effort in order to take advantage. Right now, the Cavaliers have the effort on their side.
Matthew Dellavedova was special tonight, and if he can continue to display that defensive intensity on MVP Stephen Curry, then the Cavaliers will have a great shot at putting this away. Tristan Thompson has easily outshone the efforts of Green, and Mozgov the same when compared to Bogut. If the Cavs can control those matchups, the best player in the world should take care of the rest. LeBron James really is playing the best basketball of his career.
Again, Golden State does control their own destiny, but they need to hurry and get their act together if they wish to hoist the trophy at the end of this now best-of-five. Rookie head coach Steve Kerr needs to pull something out of his hat. Could his name be David Lee, or will he just continue scheming? We’ll find out soon enough.
Samuel Martell is Oklahoma City’s beat writer at www.RantSports.com. To stay connect, ‘follow’ him on Twitter, ‘like’ him on Facebook, or ‘add’ him to your network on Google.
