Revisiting: 2015 Finals and 2016 Finals and the Differences Between Them

[warriorfan]

Perhaps the most critical segment of this series came at the end of the third quarter of Game 4, Cleveland cutting the Warriors lead to three. The Q was rocking. The Finals hung in the balance.

Curry calmly called for the ball, shook a defender and drained a three, pushing Golden State to a six-point lead. In a reversal of roles, a gassed LeBron tried to answer with a three of his own at the buzzer, only to miss badly. When James went to the bench to rest at the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors seized control of the game and the Finals.

Curry finished with 22 that night. He then dropped 37, including 17 in the fourth quarter, in Game 5. On Tuesday, he dropped a couple of massive threes to help stem a fourth-quarter Cleveland surge, then when double-teamed, hit a wide-open Klay Thompson for another.

[quote]
[SIZE="3"][I]Not only did Curry average an MVP-like 26 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 43 minutes per game, but as Kerr told his point guard, sometimes a point guard has to put his own game now in favor of managing the game for his teammates.

That is what Curry relayed when he said in the postgame press conference, "The Finals are not that different from normal NBA games. It's just the spotlight is different, and soar are the expectations. When you have an average game, you find out in the Finals that people were expecting more. But really, that stuff doesn't matter. It's all about winning. That's what I've learned. I just need to impact games, be myself every other night, do other things to help my team win and be OK with that. Manage the game from a point-guard standpoint, find a way to win and that's what we did

[warriorfan]

Kyrie was a huge loss for Cleveland in 2015. However Kevin Love missing in 2015 was not as big of a hindrance as some would think

If you remember, while both teams were at full strength, Cleveland got blown out twice in a row in games 1 and 2. The first turn of the tide was in game 3 where Cleveland secured their first win, without Kevin Love playing a single minute (Game 3 of the 2016 Finals (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201606080CLE.html))

Kevin Love also facilitated the Cavaliers huge lead in the elimination game 6 when he sat on the bench. Kevin Love went out with 11 minutes left in the first quarter and the Warriors were held to their lowest scoring quarter of the entire playoff (Game 6 of the 2016 Finals (http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201606160CLE.html))

At the end of the 2016 Finals, Kevin Love averaged only 8 points a game on 47% True Shooting (Statistics of the 2016 Finals (http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2016-nba-finals-cavaliers-vs-warriors.html)). And these numbers were also boosted due to the fact that Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut were out of commission due to suspension and injury.

Basketball is a game of matchups and Kevin Love has proven himself to not be effective against the matchups that a healthy Golden State team produces.

So due to the ineffectiveness of Kevin Love against Golden State due to matchup problems, Golden State of 2016 was more depleted than the Cleveland team of 2015. (Golden State's best player was compromised. Golden State's best defender missed a crucial close out game. Golden State's rim protector missed 1 and a half games. Golden State's best perimeter defender and previous year's FMVP was extremely disabled for at least one game, more likely two.)

[Dray n Klay]

OP is a Mexican who lives illegally in the States




Think about that for a second...

[Nilocon165]

Mods

[RedBlackAttack]

At what point do we consider this copypasta to be spamming the board? It has now been over a month and OP is still obsessively posting the same thing over and over again.

[Nilocon165]

RBA just ban this piece of shit already...

[ShawkFactory]

It's not even entertaining anymore dude

[LAZERUSS]

How about the similarities?

Chokurry played well in ONE game in each of those Finals. So, in his 13 career Finals games, he was good in TWO of them.

Never played a lick of defense in ANY of them BTW.

[Sportal]

So we're comparing the Cavs team with no Kyrie or Kevin Love....... Versus the 73 win Golden State Warriors team, who then played the same team the next year, with those players..?

Dude, you wouldn't even be posting on this site if the Cavs were healthy in 2015. HELL, you wouldn't even be posting if the Clippers were healthy that year. They beat the Spurs, and then Chris Paul is injured... Talk about the luck that your franchise has had.

[SouBeachTalents]

How about the similarities?

Chokurry played well in ONE game in each of those Finals. So, in his 13 career Finals games, he was good in TWO of them.

Never played a lick of defense in ANY of them BTW.

He also didn't receive a single vote for FMVP either time

[LAZERUSS]

He also didn't receive a single vote for FMVP either time

And well deserved, too.

:cheers:

[warriorfan]

This message is hidden because LAZERUSS is on your ignore list. (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/profile.php?do=editlist)

[Spurs m8]

You still need help...

[TommyGriffin]

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4bYYPLGiZavZr6odQMT2_61HGAc=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3783750/warriorsball.0.gif

http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55785bd86da811a06574389c/draymond%20miss%201.gif

https://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/game-3-4.gif

http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/557856666bb3f7950ef731a9/stephen%20curry%203.gif


Most 4th Quarter Points during the Finals

1995 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5
2000 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5 (61.1% TS)
2015 Stephen Curry 10.8 (75.1% TS)
1997 Michael Jordan 10.7 (55.1% TS)
1998 Michael Jordan 10.6 (50.6% TS)
2011 Dirk Nowitzki 10.3 (68.0% TS)
1993 Michael Jordan 10.3

2015 Steph Curry had one of the most clutch performance in NBA history. The only player to score more 4th Quarter Finals points than Steph Curry was Shaquille Oneal, and he didn't even score one point more than Curry while Curry scored 14% more efficiently than Shaquille


In the 2016 Finals he was not able to play as well as he did in 2015

What happened in 2016 that didn't happen in 2015? The major MCL injury


http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m_8DziMFB8s/0.jpg



Curry had a lack of lateral quickness and ability to change direction because of his MCL injury

Here is a clip of healthy Curry showcasing his excellent lateral quickness and change of direction

https://media.giphy.com/media/vJJxhc46rAsnK/giphy.gif
These types of plays were routine for Curry before the MCL injury

The time table for return of an MCL sprain is 2 to 4 weeks.

(Keep in mind that healing timetable is for every day activity, nothing more strenuous than walking up one flight of stairs, NOT playing professional basketball)

Stephen Curry returned from the injury after only 2 weeks because the Warriors were struggling against Portland without him.

Stephen Curry re-aggravated his knee injury by coming back too early and then playing 40+ minutes of playoff basketball plus overtime in his record setting performance against Portland.


Therefore we can conclude that Curry's MCL injury was the differentiating factor which lowered Curry's production
Man. "The Q was rocking. The Finals hung in the balance. Curry calmly called for the ball, shook a defender and drained a three, pushing Golden State to a six-point lead. In a reversal of roles, a gassed LeBron tried to answer with a three of his own at the buzzer, only to miss badly." So dramatic.