Bad games by Curry and Klay spell good news for the Warriors.
So we thought this NBA Finals would be a classic, did we? The first game was a dud in so many ways, particularly for Warrior stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who combined for a season-low of 20 points on 8-for-27 shooting and a paltry plus-minus of plus four points while both were on the court.
That’s a formula that should have given LeBron James and Cleveland a big edge in Game 1, but it underscored what I said just two days ago. The Warriors are the better TEAM, even if King James is the best player on the court. Looking at the extended box score, it is easy to see why.
Not a single Cavaliers starter finished the game playing plus minutes. In fact, the only Cavs who were on the court when their team outscored Golden State played a combined 15 minutes. That resulted in dreadful shooting of 38 percent for the 104-89 losers. Besides Golden State’s two “cold” stars, the rest of the Warriors made 35 of their 60 shots, which is nearly 60 percent.
Harrison Barnes set the tone by scoring nine points early while the Cleveland defense concentrated on Curry and Klay. James had the best box score with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists, reaffirming he is one of the best all-around players in the history of the game. He is about to reach a plateau in scoring, rebounding and assists that only Oscar Robertson has reached. Not Jordan, not Magic, not Bird, not Kobe. But the difference is those guys played on better teams that combined for 19 NBA championships. LeBron has two and looks to be holding.
Take Kyrie Irving, the former Dukie who is perhaps the most overrated player in the game. Irving has the worst plus-minus career statistic of any point guard in the NBA, which means he is a really bad defender. And he did not offset that with his offense Thursday night, missing 15 of his 22 shots for the Cavaliers. OVER-RATED, the chant goes.
Golden State plays a brand of basketball that the rest of the NBA is still trying to figure out and catch up with. The Warriors can win in so many ways, including when Stephen Curry shoots 4 of 15 and his gunning mate Klay Thompson goes 4 of 12. And the game wasn’t even close. That’s trouble for LeBron and his team, who have two days to figure it out before going home down 0 and 2.
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