Game 7 In The Making

Well, it appears that the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS and the CLEVELAND CAVALIERS read my previous article and did what I asked, made the series competitive!  For all basketball fans everywhere, both teams came ready to play games 3, 4, 5, & 6 even if most of the games ended in pretty large point differences.

Game 3:  CAVS “Whipped” the WARRIORS in Cleveland, even though the odds makers had only given them the slightest of chances to win the game.  Cavs 120, Warriors 90!

As a result of the “whipping” the WARRIORS received from the Cavs, the game standings at this point are now 2-1, WARRIORS.  The “Big Three” of the starting 5, on the Cavaliers team, in spite of being incomplete, represented the CAVS well!   LeBron James contributed 32 points and 11 rebounds, Kyrie Irving poured in 30points, and Kevin Love, the third man of the “Big Three” didn’t play at all due to a concussion he sustained in game 2 at the hands of Harrison Barnes of the Golden State Warriors.  Tristan Thompson hit 14 points and got 13 rebounds; JR Smith contributed 20 pts. Richard Jefferson, Kevin Love’s replacement contributed 9 points.

On the other side of the coin were the apparent “Weary” WARRIORS!   Of their starting 5, the “Splash Brothers” barely made a ripple in the water.  Stephen Curry contributed 19 points, way below his 30.1 ppg average and Klay Thompson only a measly 10 points, way below his 22.1 ppg average.  Draymond Green struggled to contribute a paltry 6 points, Andre Iguodala contributed 11 points and Harrison Barnes, 2^nd highest scorer on the WARRIORS team, 18 points.  Even though the game was lopsided, due to the CAVS’ resurgence, for us basketball fans, it was a good thing and assured us that the series wouldn’t be a “sweep”!

Game 4: WARRIORS “Curried” the CAVALIERS in Cleveland!  WARRIORS 108, CAVS 97.  Uh oh, we fans were saying; is this the last game we’ll see in Cleveland this season?  Will the WARRIORS close out the series in game 4!  We all knew the next game would be in Oakland and statistics show that the home court is often time the very important and much needed “sixth” man.  During the 4^th quarter of this game, Draymond Green and LeBron James had words and a bit of a scuffle.  Draymond appeared to have hit LeBron in his groin and after review by the NBA officials, it was determined that he had; he was retroactively assessed a flagrant foul 1.  This assessment resulted in Draymond Green being disqualified to play in game 5.

 

Game 5:  Surprise!  CAVS beat WARRIORS IN OAKLAND, 112 to 97!

A historical NBA statistic was made during this game; two teammates in the same finals game each scored 40+ points!  LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were the two teammates who did exactly that; each scored 41 points in the winning game!  Game 5 of the Finals, gave The Golden State WARRIORS their fourth defeat all season and denied them the opportunity to celebrate winning another NBA Championship, this time at home!  Warriors’ Center Andrew Bogut, as a result of a collision with Tristan Thompson, hurt his left knee and had to leave the game.   It has since been determined that he will be out for the rest of the season; Bogut is a key member of the WARRIORS team.  In spite of the many “boos” LeBron James sustained during this game and in addition to his 41 points, he made 16 rebounds and 7 assists; just 3 assists short of a triple double!  Game 5 pulled the Cavaliers to a 3-2 game standing; however, they still found themselves in a “must win” situation; it also made it necessary for the Warriors to return to Cleveland for Game 6.

 

Game 6: Home court advantage proved to be an advantage for the CAVS; they won, 115 to 101, forcing a game 7 in Oakland!  (The odds makers gave the CAVS a 2.5 point favorite over the WARRIORS.)  LeBron did a repeat of his Game 5 point total; he poured in another 41 points to the Game 6 winning effort.  Kyrie Irving added 23, Tristan Thompson 15, JR Smith 14 and Kevin Love 7.  This game brought the Finals Game standings to an even 3 and 3!  If the CAVS win game 7, they will

1. become the first team in history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals  and
2. give Cleveland its first major championship since Dec. 27, 1964; at that time, The Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship.

If the WARRIORS win, they will become back-to-back championship winners.  Steph Curry has already been dubbed MVP of the league for both the 2015 and 2016 NBA seasons.

Due to a sixth personal foul assessed to Steph Curry, he became somewhat belligerent with an official, and accidentally threw his mouthpiece striking a fan, he was assessed $25K as was his coach, Steve Kerr for remarks he made about the officiating.  Uh oh, we fans were saying again, “Will the Warriors close out the series in game 7?”  Since the game will be played in Oakland and the odds are very much in their favor, are the CAVS done?  Statistics show that in Game 7s of the NBA Finals, the road team, has not won the game since 1978; conversely, statistics say the home teams’ odds for winning is 101-24.  Are the CAVS “dead in the water” we asked ourselves!   According to OddsShark.com, the WARRIORS have a 5 point home favorite to win the game.  The WARRIOR fans agree that they will clinch the title to make themselves back-to-back champions at their Oracle Arena; the CAVS fans however, are quite confident that its’ there turn and that the The Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy will come home to Cleveland!   What do you think?  Basketball fans all over are divided about which team will win; however, they are all united, happy and excited that there will be a GAME 7!   Go ??????????? (You fill in the blank)

Tags: Basketball