With Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao (remember him?) out, the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by leBron James, were good but not good enough to handle the best team in the league this season, the Golden State Warriors. Last night in Cleveland the Warriors won the NBA championship in six games. Here’s the Northeast Ohio News Group reporting:
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James put in game-highs of 32 points and 18 rebounds to go with eight assists in 46 minutes. He had to fight and claw for each statistic. He was 13-of-33 from the field. After scoring his 12th point, James became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 5,000 career postseason points.
Andre Iguodala led the Warriors with 25 points. His insertion into the starting lineup in Game 4 changed the dynamic of the series. Stephen Curry registered 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Eight of his points came in the final quarter.
For the vanquished Eastern Conference champs, it was an incredible postseason run considering the loss of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. The Q was electric and sheer pandemonium for two and a half quarters. But the noise subsided when it became clear that Warriors were not going to let up in the Cavaliers’ final home game of the season.
“If we want to play another day and live to fight for the championship, we need to win today,” Cavs coach David Blatt said before the game. “So it’s about survival right now, and that’s what you’re looking for.”
They didn’t play like they were in survival mode early on. Golden State got out to a quick 15-point lead in the opening quarter. The Cavs went with their normal Finals lineup with Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov in the front line, only to see Iguodala take repeated open midrange jumpers off of the pick-and-roll game against the overmatched Mozgov.
