NBA Finals: Cleveland Cavs VS Golden State Warriors

[Black Adam]

Well....outside of game 3, they haven't been doing it together. Only reason the Cavs are in the situation they're in now is Kyrie and Lebron both had beyond amazing games in game 5.

that'd be the REAL...

think we'd hear these "amazing stories" if those 2 didn't play outta their minds...?

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

View attachment 128549

That's fucked up...lol

After tonight, he will have won 2 titles in Ohio and will be tied for the winningest Akronite in Professional Basketball!

 

[trojanfan12]

They are likely going to bring in Gasol for the midlevel exception as instant low post offense.

It's scary to think how well Pau will fit into what the Spurs do offensively.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Well....outside of game 3, they haven't been doing it together. Only reason the Cavs are in the situation they're in now is Kyrie and Lebron both had beyond amazing games in game 5.

Well I can say that it wasn't two guys that got this team to the Finals. It was more of how they were a team off the court and then that chemistry formed on the court near the end of the season.

 

[Black Adam]

View attachment 128549

oh look, everybody. Wiggy's back to normal...

well, if we're talkin' shit...

 

[True Lakers Fan]

I believe weeks back he said it was his 88 year old grandfather who was ill.
While any death is a tragic loss, it can't be that unexpected.

My father is that exact age, and I tell him all the time, don't buy green bananas.

I know what you're saying and you are partly right, but you also haven't been there yet and as a result you don't understand. I took care of my mother for the last twenty years and watching a parent slide down hill gradually is tough. It's even tougher when you realize that they are close to the end and yes you begin to brace yourself and expect the worse. You're happy and thankful when they survive, but then there is the one day when it happens and I got to tell you man - to treasure every day your father is alive and talking to you. Treasure it like hell and record videos and pictures because no matter how much you expect it, no matter how much you think you are prepared - nothing is going to hurt more and you're going to feel like shit.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

this off of CBSSports.com...

Welcome to the last stand in Cleveland. The Cavs have one chance to push the NBA Finals to a Game 7 in the Bay vs. the Golden State Warriors. It took a super-human effort in Game 5 from LeBron James and an otherworldly scoring binge from Kyrie Irving, with Draymond Green out, just to force this series back to the Midwest.

The Warriors closed out the Finals last year in the Q and can repeat the celebration with a victory Thursday while the Cavaliers hope to do something no team in NBA history has done: come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals.

Here's a look at everything there is to know about Game 6.

THE BIG PICTURE
We have a series ... kind of?

So the Cavaliers won and forced Game 6. They've now won as many games as they won last year in the Finals, so at least they didn't take a step backward in that department. After Game 4, it looked like a complete blowout domination by Golden State. The Cavaliers seemed to have no counters for what the Warriors could do.

The problem is that after Game 5, the same things remain true.

The Cavaliers didn't make adjustments to win Game 5. They didn't find lineups that suddenly gave the Warriors issues or find a strategy that gave Golden State fits. They won the game, and did so behind heroic efforts, but this is how they won it:

• The Warriors missed 19 of 22 3-pointers in the second half. The best shooting team by effective field goal percentage of all time missed 19 3-pointers in the second half alone.
• Kyrie Irving scored 41 points, mostly off contested isolation shots that defied the imagination.
• LeBron James put together arguably his best playoff game ever, probably his best Finals game ever.
• Draymond Green was out with suspension, unable to impact James defensively or wreak havoc with energy and effort.

That's really it. We can credit the Cavs, and really James and Irving, for what they did, for their defense and execution, but those elements are really what Game 5 came down to.

If the Warriors win Game 6, then it was a blip on what was an inevitable march over the Cavs to the title. If Cleveland wins, however, it's going to be a matter of a remarkable effort to overcome so much disadvantage in talent and execution. The series has gone six, but I'm not ready to call it a series yet. We have to see if the Cavs can pull one more rabbit out of their hat.

The Kyrie Slot Machine

Irving took 14 shots in Game 5 considered "contested" by NBA.com's SportVU data. He made 10 of those shots. Monday was a reminder of exactly how incredible he is as a tough shot maker. Irving may be the second-best tough shot maker in the league behind Stephen Curry.

However, the thing about tough, contested iso shots isn't the ability of a player like Curry or Irving to make them, it's the ability to replicate the performance. In Game 5, the slot machine came up triple cherries for Irving and the result was a performance LeBron called the best he has ever seen.

Can he do it again?

That's what most of this series comes down to. Last year, James carried the Cavaliers despite the odds and his individual brilliance helped the Cavs win two games. This year, the Cavs have to hope the same happens with James and Irving. They need Irving to put together mind-boggling games four times in a row vs. the tightest defense. It's not that it's impossible.

It's just not probable.

Pretty sound summation of the situation.

Too many things have to go right for the Cavs to win.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

I know what you're saying and you are partly right, but you also haven't been there yet and as a result you don't understand. I took care of my mother for the last twenty years and watching a parent slide down hill gradually is tough. It's even tougher when you realize that they are close to the end and yes you begin to brace yourself and expect the worse. You're happy and thankful when they survive, but then there is the one day when it happens and I got to tell you man - to treasure every day your father is alive and talking to you. Treasure it like hell and record videos and pictures because no matter how much you expect it, no matter how much you think you are prepared - nothing is going to hurt more and you're going to feel like shit.

Out of respect for you, Wiggy and others who have lost someone....I'm not going to comment on this again.

We are all entitled to our opinion...Shaq Daddy, Bks, Chief, DJ, Myself.....et al.

But, I'm going to back away.

Sorry if this opened any wounds for you or if I offended anyone..INCLUDING the people I was disagreeing with.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Well I can say that it wasn't two guys that got this team to the Finals. It was more of how they were a team off the court and then that chemistry formed on the court near the end of the season.

Sadly, it's been a 2 man band...along with Tristan.....outside of game 3.

Frye has just disappeared.

I want to see Mo get some burn.

 

[trojanfan12]

This is my opinion on all of this stuff with Wiggy:

Calling him out over whether or not his grandpa really died is bullshit. If it is truly being done to garner sympathy, that's on him.

He has provided plenty of reason/ammunition for folks on here to to rip him to shreds over what appears to be an inevitable finals loss for the Cavs. I don't think there's a poster on here who he hasn't gotten into an e-fight with and/or insulted at one point or another. From what I've seen, even fellow Cavs fans don't particularly care for him. At the least, they don't care for the extra negative attention that he brings to their team and fan base.

I guess what I'm saying is that with so many other things available to bash him for and rub his face in...we can probably cut him some slack on his grandpa dying.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Out of respect for you, Wiggy and others who have lost someone....I'm not going to comment on this again.

We are all entitled to our opinion...Shaq Daddy, Bks, Chief, DJ, Myself.....et al.

But, I'm going to back away.

Sorry if this opened any wounds for you or if I offended anyone..INCLUDING the people I was disagreeing with.

For me - part of the healing process is to remember the good times and tell people about them - When I was 18 or 19 years old I started taking my mother out to dinner on Sundays and never missed a beat. Now I think about those 40 years of dinners at Sizzlers and I cherish those memories.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

It's scary to think how well Pau will fit into what the Spurs do offensively.

Hey, do you think the Lakers are keeping the pick?

Are they just doing due diligence bringing in guys like Brown and Skal?

Would you be open to Jimmy and #14 for #2?

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

For me - part of the healing process is to remember the good times and tell people about them - When I was 18 or 19 years old I started taking my mother out to dinner on Sundays and never missed a beat. Now I think about those 40 years of dinners at Sizzlers and I cherish those memories.

Oh my goodness...

My kids and I go to sizzlers for lunch every other Friday..lol

They go nuts for the salad bar.

That's a great memory.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

View attachment 128549

That's fucked up...lol

After tonight, he will have won 2 titles in Ohio and will be tied for the winningest Akronite in Professional Basketball!

Would be awesome if Curry picked up the tab to buy a DQ ice cream cone for everyone in Chicken Bones arena after the Dubs win tonight...

*Or..after they win on Sunday back in Oakland......provided they don't win it tonight.

 

[tlance]

ESPN just said that Ezeli is likely to start tonight. That's right, instead of starting their best defender on the man who just lit you up for 41, they appear to be going with Ezeli who has given the Cavs more than he has contributed to the Warriors in this series.

Why the F is Kerr fighting small ball? It was the answer last year, and the small lineups have been much more effective than any lineup with any big against the Cavs. Now that Bogut is out, I want to see it for 48 minutes.

The Warriors D works best against Cleveland when they can switch everything. They can't do that with Ezeli.

 

[bksballer89]

ESPN just said that Ezeli is likely to start tonight. That's right, instead of starting their best defender on the man who just lit you up for 41, they appear to be going with Ezeli who has given the Cavs more than he has contributed to the Warriors in this series.

Why the F is Kerr fighting small ball? It was the answer last year, and the small lineups have been much more effective than any lineup with any big against the Cavs. Now that Bogut is out, I want to see it for 48 minutes.

The Warriors D works best against Cleveland when they can switch everything. They can't do that with Ezeli.

Add this on to the list of reasons why the Warriors been winning in spite of Steve Kerr....not because of him.

 

[Kold]

I hope all those people that praised Kyrie, don't go right to throwing him under the bus(they will) if he starts missing those same tough shots...

 

[darken65]

Warriors win at home in a 7 game series I hope.

 

[gordontrue]

ESPN just said that Ezeli is likely to start tonight. That's right, instead of starting their best defender on the man who just lit you up for 41, they appear to be going with Ezeli who has given the Cavs more than he has contributed to the Warriors in this series.

Why the F is Kerr fighting small ball? It was the answer last year, and the small lineups have been much more effective than any lineup with any big against the Cavs. Now that Bogut is out, I want to see it for 48 minutes.

The Warriors D works best against Cleveland when they can switch everything. They can't do that with Ezeli.

From a couple interviews I've heard of Kerr and Curry they seem to believe that switching up their lineup is what gives their small ball success. That it wouldn't be effective if they ran in constantly. It's like their changeup pitch.

I'm not going to pretend to know why they think that but they've both said that during these finals.

 

[tlance]

From a couple interviews I've heard of Kerr and Curry they seem to believe that switching up their lineup is what gives their small ball success. That it wouldn't be effective if they ran in constantly. It's like their changeup pitch.

I'm not going to pretend to know why they think that but they've both said that during these finals.

After watching how bad their big men have played in this series, I can't imagine why they would believe that. Now, without Bogut, there is even less reason to believe in the bigs.

I agree that the small lineup will not be as effective if they used it all game, but it is still better than anything Cleveland can put on the floor. As bad as the big lineups have been, a less effective change up is still far superior to a lousy fastball.