King James, the Real MVP?
They didn’t want the NBA Finals to end in six games. And by “they,” we mean the NBA.
But neither did the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James and company put up the biggest fight of their lives tonight against the Golden State Warriors, when many were predicting Draymond Green‘s comeback would damn near guarantee them another back-to-back championship.
The Cavs set the tone to start the game and they set it early. They commanded the first quarter, leading by 20 points by the end of it.
Things weren’t much different in the second quarter as the Warriors continued fighting, but couldn’t get past the deficit. Halftime cut the lead down to 16 points.
It seemed like Golden State kept sticking around and the third quarter was when they turned it on, coming out from halftime with signs of life and making Cleveland a bit nervous. Klay Thompson started going off and Dub Nation continued crawling and earning every basket. The only problem? Andre Iguodala was playing at half speed because of back spasms.
Iggy went to the locker room several times in the fourth quarter, playing through pain, even at half speed. But the Cavs kept exposing his lack of defending by going right at him.
Every time the Warriors would cut the lead to single digits and give them a scare, King James would rally the troops and ignite the crowd with a ridiculous play.
By the time Steph Curry was called for his sixth foul and ejected because of a technical, this game was a wrap. It was his first ejection from an NBA game since 2013.
The thing that will be talked about for the next few days will be whether the NBA will do anything about Curry throwing the mouth piece (which hit a fan), straight in the direction of the official, when feelings got the best of him. A fine? Suspension, possibly?
Meanwhile, Lebron had another back-to-back 40 point outing in the NBA Finals, something that hasn’t been done since the likes of Michael Jordan and other elite players in the history of the league. Not to mention another 23 points from Kyrie Irving.
The Splash Brothers combined for 55 points between the two, but they didn’t get much help from anyone else. Harrison Barnes were held scoreless. Draymond only had 8 points. Leandro Barbosa scored 14 points, but a good portion of them were in garbage time.
Game 7 of the NBA Finals will be Sunday in Oakland at Oracle Arena.
FINAL: CLE 115 | GS 101