Wednesday night the Golden State Warriors appeared to have taken the Cleveland Cavaliers best punch and still came out with a five-point victory 118-113. Kevin Durant who has been the talk of this years NBA Finals put the hurt on the Cavs scoring 31 points and sinking a shot from beyond the arch that put the Warriors ahead to stay with only 45 seconds left in regulation.
Cleveland did not go down without a fight, as Lebron James (just call him Batman) put the team on his shoulders once again and led the way scoring with 39 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing 9 assist.
Now we all know that Batman always has his partner Robin; well Wednesday night Robin did show up in the form of Kyrie Irving. The Cavaliers Point Guard played his best game of the finals so far dropping in 30 points and playing 45 of the 48 minutes of the game. But once again that was not enough as Klay Thompson teamed up with “KD” and scored 30 points of his own.
The Cavs hung in the game with the Warriors, especially since Golden State (the same team that only gave up 4 turnovers in game one ) gave up the ball 18 times. Cleveland also shot 91 percent from the charity stripe and outrebounded the Warriors 44-37. So you would have thought that playing at home and producing those numbers the Cavs would win. Right?
Well, apparently not as James and Irving combined for 77 of the Cavs 113 points, the only help received in the scoring column was the 16 points J.R. Smith produced. Forward Kevin Love was limited to only 9 points, but he pulled down 13 rebounds (nothing to sneeze at). Tristan Thompson the Cavs center was held scoreless and only had 2 rebounds. Not to mention the Cleveland bench scored only 11 points. You can’t beat a team like Golden State with only two players.
As for the Warriors, Durant and Thompson combined for 61 points and got support from Steph Curry and his 26 points. The Warriors also got bench support with 23 points. Golden State was impressive in this one because they held off a Cavalier charge in Cleveland in front of Cavs fans. Many thought that playing at home would be the medicine the Cavaliers needed to overcome the dominant performances Golden State executed against Cleveland in games 1 and 2. That proved not to be the case.
Lebron James, in my opinion, is the best player in the NBA, but basketball is a team sport. Lebron cannot win championships all by himself and the way Cleveland has been playing, James has been the only thing keeping the Cavs in the games. Unfortunately, I think Golden State will now sweep the Cavaliers and win the Championship Friday night in Cleveland. Do you agree?
Trevin A Jones
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