Why do I find this more entertaining than the actual game?

[Edited 6/11/17 21:42pm]

The NBA Finals

Game 5

Cleveland Cavaliers 120 Golden State Warriors 129

The Golden State Warriors came into this game disappointed that they were unable to complete the sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers en route to their second NBA title in three years, but they also knew they were coming home in front of their devoted fans who did not experience winning an NBA title on their home court. The Cavs were just simply trying to win this game and force a game 6 back in Cleveland. Coach Steve Kerr implored his players in the locker room prior to the start of the game to come out strong and dominate the floor.

The Cavs had other plans, however, as they managed to crash the boards and even played opportunistic defense to score 37 points in the first quarter and lead by four. But after a couple of dunks from Lebron James to start the second quarter, Golden State went on a 28-4 run that decided the outcome of this game. The Cavs would continue to claw back into the Warriors lead several times in this game, but they simply didn't have enough firepower to close the gap Their bench only scored a total of seven points in this game, but in fairness both teams ran their starters almost all the way through. Stephen Curry scored 34 points for the Warriors while dishing out 10 assists, grabbing six rebounds, and making three steals. After Zaza Pachulia got into early foul trouble, the Warriors went small and inserted Andre Iguodala into the game, where he played 38 minutes and scored 20 points.

As mentioned earlier the Cavs would try to keep this game close, with Lebron James scoring a game high 41 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out eight assists. J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson both had soild games, with Smith scoring 25 points including seven 3-pointers and Thompson scoing 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. But Kevin Love struggled, scoring just six points though he did grab 10 rebounds.

But in the end the Warriors would play some stilfing defense in the fourth quarter and would pull away on the shooting of the Most Valuable Player of this series, Kevin Durant, who scored 39 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out five assists. Draymond Green scored 10 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out five assists, and made two steals. Klay Thompson added 11 points for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Golden State wins series 4-1.

728huey said:

The NBA Finals

Game 5

Cleveland Cavaliers 120 Golden State Warriors 129

The Golden State Warriors came into this game disappointed that they were unable to complete the sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers en route to their second NBA title in three years, but they also knew they were coming home in front of their devoted fans who did not experience winning an NBA title on their home court. The Cavs were just simply trying to win this game and force a game 6 back in Cleveland. Coach Steve Kerr implored his players in the locker room prior to the start of the game to come out strong and dominate the floor.

The Cavs had other plans, however, as they managed to crash the boards and even played opportunistic defense to score 37 points in the first quarter and lead by four. But after a couple of dunks from Lebron James to start the second quarter, Golden State went on a 28-4 run that decided the outcome of this game. The Cavs would continue to claw back into the Warriors lead several times in this game, but they simply didn't have enough firepower to close the gap Their bench only scored a total of seven points in this game, but in fairness both teams ran their starters almost all the way through. Stephen Curry scored 34 points for the Warriors while dishing out 10 assists, grabbing six rebounds, and making three steals. After Zaza Pachulia got into early foul trouble, the Warriors went small and inserted Andre Iguodala into the game, where he played 38 minutes and scored 20 points.

As mentioned earlier the Cavs would try to keep this game close, with Lebron James scoring a game high 41 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out eight assists. J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson both had soild games, with Smith scoring 25 points including seven 3-pointers and Thompson scoing 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. But Kevin Love struggled, scoring just six points though he did grab 10 rebounds.

But in the end the Warriors would play some stilfing defense in the fourth quarter and would pull away on the shooting of the Most Valuable Player of this series, Kevin Durant, who scored 39 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out five assists. Draymond Green scored 10 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out five assists, and made two steals. Klay Thompson added 11 points for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Golden State wins series 4-1.

Good work, this post-season, Huey.

Congratulations to the Warriors, who had to crew up in order to beat LeBron, who will now
have to crew up too. He needs another MVP-caliber player on his squad or else . . .

I think I'm getting Stephen A. Smith's point now about all of this.

Dasein said:

Congratulations to the Warriors, who had to crew up in order to beat LeBron, who will now
have to crew up too. He needs another MVP-caliber player on his squad or else . . .

I think I'm getting Stephen A. Smith's point now about all of this.

Lebron fans are so salty this morning that its hilarious!!!! Bron played great, and ALSO hand picked his players for his team....its just that the pieces that the Warriors put in place had better performances and better chemistry. A win is a win, no matter how its put. No more excuses. No one was injured on either team so both teams played to full strength and the better team won. I love it. Until next season!!!!!

Thoughts:

- The Warriors play a fully realized style of basketball. They are a joy to watch. The franchise built the team perfectly for the New Rules era. And KD is going to keep them entertaining and on top for a while. They really remind me of the 80's Lakers and could match that squad's title count over the next 3-5 years.

- LeBron's greatness may be defined more by his losses to the Warriors than his titles. He remains the best player on the planet, and we should appreciate everything we see of him.

- missfee is right, as in years past, LBJ hand-picked his supporting cast. And it cost him. Thompson underperformed. Korver actually had to play defense which must have affected his shooting touch. Smith was off and on. One still wonders if he'd love to have the Wiggins trade back. Though Love has had his moments, I say yes.

- The Warriors' execution in the last minutes of Games 3 and 5 only reinforce my opinion: without a handful of talented permieter defenders and 3 elite scorers, neither the Cavs nor anyone else will beat the Warriors 4 of 7.

- I'm starting to believe that the league may respond by saying, "if you can't beat'em, beat'em . . . up." And I think the officiating may follow suit. That would sacrifice the quality of the game for competitve balance's sake. Don't be suprised if it happens.

Fans complaining about "super-teams" need to study their NBA history - the 60s Celtics, the best Wilt teams, Magic's Lakers, Bird's Celtics, Jordan's Bulls - those teams were stacked like the Warriors. Shit, the 80s was great BECAUSE of the Lakers & Celtics playing in so many Finals. I love dynasties - it gives other teams something to shoot for. If you want to beat them, then these owners need to step up their game and run their franchises better (are you listening James Dolan & Phil Jackson)?

Warriors built their team the right way, but I do agree Durant took the easy way out. He left a contender that should have beaten GS last year to join an already stacked team. That was disappointing. I wanted to see another Warrior-Thunder conference finals.

What do the Cavs need to beat the Warriors next season? At least 2 more TWO-WAY wing players. The cats they have now are useless on defense.

I don't have the link, but Samuel L. Jackson was roasting Deron Williams on Twitter.

[Edited 6/13/17 15:35pm]

[Edited 6/13/17 15:41pm]

uPtoWnNY said:

Fans complaining about "super-teams" need to study their NBA history - the 60s Celtics, the best Wilt teams, Magic's Lakers, Bird's Celtics, Jordan's Bulls - those teams were stacked like the Warriors. Shit, the 80s was great BECAUSE of the Lakers & Celtics playing in so many Finals. I love dynasties - it gives other teams something to shoot for. If you want to beat them, then these owners need to step up their game and run their franchises better (are you listening James Dolan & Phil Jackson)?

As a Lakers fan, I love one dynasty.

But you're right -- 2 teams have split half of the NBA titles. Since 1980, about 6 franchises (Lakers (10), Bulls (6), Spurs (5), Celtics (4), Heat(3), Pistons(3)) have won virtually all of the titles. Dynastic teams/powerhouses fueled the NBA's modern era.

The difference in the '17 season is that each of those teams had formidable rivals (each other) or credible opponents, and the balance of power (distribution of superstars) was a little more even. Due in some part to injuries, GS had no credible opponent until the Finals, and even that opponent was overmatched. '18 could be different.

Warriors built their team the right way, but I do agree Durant took the easy way out. He left a contender that should have beaten GS last year to join an already stacked team. That was disappointing. I wanted to see another Warrior-Thunder conference finals.

His signing (a) shifted the balance of power in the league, and (b) destroyed GS' most formidable opponent in OKC. I'd have loved to have seen OKC-GS II as well.

What do the Cavs need to beat the Warriors next season? At least 2 more TWO-WAY wing players. The cats they have now are useless on defense.

Preach.

A win is a win, as Missfee claims. And the history books will not be compelled to asterisk the Warriors'
2016-2017 championship as the result of crewing up. But, not all victories are the colored the same,
and the way the Warriors responded to being defeated last year by the Cavaliers: I'm not impressed.

Depending upon what moves the Cavaliers make (and LBJ appeared to be indicating that he was not
in too much of a rush to crew up as well), next season will be even more interesting. Yet, I do wonder
how Klay Thompson is feeling about this win . . .

I disagree with the super team comments, though NY and NP: in the years the Lakers lost in the finals
to the Celtics, and vice versa, I don't remember either team recruiting a former league MVP, who was
in his prime, in direct response to the championship defeat the year previous. The Bulls had a stacked
team of excellent role players; the Warriors have two MVPs on their squad and again, recruited one of
those MVPs after being defeated in the finals, something the Bulls never did in response to being de-
feated in a playoff series. So, it's not that NBA fans are complaining about stacked teams. Instead,
the complaint is about who you're stacking your team with and the context in which the stacking is
taking place!

The Warriors picking up Durant last summer after getting embarrassed in the Finals would be like the
1997 Utah Jazz recruiting and then successfully signing Michael Jordan in that offseason.

[Edited 6/14/17 11:53am]

namepeace said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Fans complaining about "super-teams" need to study their NBA history - the 60s Celtics, the best Wilt teams, Magic's Lakers, Bird's Celtics, Jordan's Bulls - those teams were stacked like the Warriors. Shit, the 80s was great BECAUSE of the Lakers & Celtics playing in so many Finals. I love dynasties - it gives other teams something to shoot for. If you want to beat them, then these owners need to step up their game and run their franchises better (are you listening James Dolan & Phil Jackson)?

As a Lakers fan, I love one dynasty.

But you're right -- 2 teams have split half of the NBA titles. Since 1980, about 6 franchises (Lakers (10), Bulls (6), Spurs (5), Celtics (4), Heat(3), Pistons(3)) have won virtually all of the titles. Dynastic teams/powerhouses fueled the NBA's modern era.

The difference in the '17 season is that each of those teams had formidable rivals (each other) or credible opponents, and the balance of power (distribution of superstars) was a little more even. Due in some part to injuries, GS had no credible opponent until the Finals, and even that opponent was overmatched. '18 could be different.

Warriors built their team the right way, but I do agree Durant took the easy way out. He left a contender that should have beaten GS last year to join an already stacked team. That was disappointing. I wanted to see another Warrior-Thunder conference finals.

His signing (a) shifted the balance of power in the league, and (b) destroyed GS' most formidable opponent in OKC. I'd have loved to have seen OKC-GS II as well.

What do the Cavs need to beat the Warriors next season? At least 2 more TWO-WAY wing players. The cats they have now are useless on defense.

Preach.

In Game 5, Warriors bench outscored the Cavs bench 35-7....absolutely pathetic. But these are the guys LeBron picked.

Most of this generation of NBA stars is soft. I'm watching ESPN's 30 for 30 about the Lakers/Celtics battles during the 80s - that's the kind of basketball I'm talking about. It was intense, nasty & physical. So was Celtics/Sixers, Celtics/Pistons, Pistons/Bulls - they were old-fashioned blood feuds. And it continued in the 90s when my Knicks battled the Bulls, Pacers & Heat. Give me an 87-84 NY-Miami defensive slugfest over a 130-125 three point shootout any day. The league has become too nice.

Draymond may be a nut, but he'd fit in with the 90s Knicks.

As a person who hadn't really followed basketball in the past 20 years, the last three years of watching Warriors vs. Cavs was really engaging! Great championship trilogy featuring arguably the best player of this generation (James) vs the most fun team I've seen in a long time (Curry & the Warriors).

Would like to see the Warriors become a dynasty, but I have a feeling Lebron will retool and be ready.

uPtoWnNY said:

namepeace said:

In Game 5, Warriors bench outscored the Cavs bench 35-7....absolutely pathetic. But these are the guys LeBron picked.

Igouodala (20) had the bulk of those bench points. LeBron wanted shooters, but he forgot those shooters had to defend. One legit knock on LBJ is that he's asked for a lot of the supporting players he got in both stints in CLE, and so many of them came up short.

He needs to trust the FO to do its job. By most accounts, Griffin is pretty good at what he does. The "over-the-hill" gang approach won't work vs. GSW. As you said, Griffin will need to find younger 2-way players and trust that they will produce under LBJ.

BOY I bet LBJ wishes he had that Wiggins trade back.

Dasein said:

A win is a win, as Missfee claims. And the history books will not be compelled to asterisk the Warriors' 2016-2017 championship as the result of crewing up. But, not all victories are the colored the same, and the way the Warriors responded to being defeated last year by the Cavaliers: I'm not impressed.

On paper, they dethroned the defending champs headed by 2 All-Stars and a top-10 all-time player. But I get it.

Depending upon what moves the Cavaliers make (and LBJ appeared to be indicating that he was not in too much of a rush to crew up as well), next season will be even more interesting. Yet, I do wonder how Klay Thompson is feeling about this win . . .

He'd be the first one to bolt, is my guess.

I disagree with the super team comments, though NY and NP: in the years the Lakers lost in the finals to the Celtics, and vice versa, I don't remember either team recruiting a former league MVP, who was in his prime, in direct response to the championship defeat the year previous. The Bulls had a stacked
team of excellent role players; the Warriors have two MVPs on their squad and again, recruited one of those MVPs after being defeated in the finals, something the Bulls never did in response to being defeated in a playoff series. So, it's not that NBA fans are complaining about stacked teams. Instead, the complaint is about who you're stacking your team with and the context in which the stacking is taking place!

Fair points, but not really my point. The LA and BOS teams built their teams via the draft and free agency. They made key bench moves to counter the other (perhaps the most significant was LA acquiring Klay's dad to defend McHale in key stretches in '87). Of course, neither added a Dominique or Jordan to their rosters to "crew up," they were already crewed up.

But I think NBA fans are complaining because, unlike in the 80's, all but one team lacked the firepower or depth to even take a game in a series v. the best team. The Rockets, Sixers, Pistons, and heck even the Hawks gave BOS and LA fits in the 80's. MJ had to deal with the Knicks and Pacers in the 90's and all but one of his Finals series went to 6 (with numerous games going down to the last 2 minutes). LA and SA had to deal with each other and teams like SAC and DAL in the 00's. And MIA had its hands full with DAL, IND, BOS and SA in the 10's.

Perhaps it's because much of the emerging superstar talent (Giannis, Davis, Wiggins) are still young and/or languishing on bad teams. Or injuries (Kawhi in SA, Blake in LAC). But the '16-'17 season was uneventful and GS has no real challengers. Yet. That's why people are complaining about KD's move. There's no suspense.

The Warriors picking up Durant last summer after getting embarrassed in the Finals would be like the 1997 Utah Jazz recruiting and then successfully signing Michael Jordan in that offseason.

Maybe even better: The Bulls recruiting and signing Malone after the '97 Finals.

[Edited 6/15/17 10:07am]

uPtoWnNY said:

Most of this generation of NBA stars is soft. I'm watching ESPN's 30 for 30 about the Lakers/Celtics battles during the 80s - that's the kind of basketball I'm talking about. It was intense, nasty & physical. So was Celtics/Sixers, Celtics/Pistons, Pistons/Bulls - they were old-fashioned blood feuds. And it continued in the 90s when my Knicks battled the Bulls, Pacers & Heat. Give me an 87-84 NY-Miami defensive slugfest over a 130-125 three point shootout any day. The league has become too nice.

Draymond may be a nut, but he'd fit in with the 90s Knicks.

In the 80's, the play was physical, and the scores WERE STILL high. The Lakers and Celtics both scored 100 in EACH of the games in the '84 Finals. The C's were able to beat on the Lakers in that series and still score with them. That's because they played team ball. The Lakers had to prove they could match the C's physicality, and when they did, they beat them the next year, and again, in '87.

The 90's turned into slugfests, with iso ball and physical play. That lowered scores, and ratings because we were getting the physical play but no scoring. Most teams weren't moving the ball around.

I actually love the fact that we're getting to see fast-paced, exciting basketball. But as I said in Reply #9, I think the league is going to get more physical, because right now, that's the only way to challenge GS and make them work harder.

Dray would be more like an X-Man or Mason, but he wouldn't be able to get away with some of the kicking he does now in the 90's and would be challenged more physically. He's talented but he benefits as much from the New Rules as his teammates. In the 90's he'd have been beaten on like all of the other tweeners of that era.

[Edited 6/15/17 10:19am]

Jerry West is leaving the Warriors to be a special consultant to the Clippers. Actually, it'a a big loss for Golden State. Everything West touches turns to gold. From ESPN:

"West has been widely cited for his role in advising the Warriors when they were weighing whether to trade Klay Thompson for Kevin Love. West strongly discouraged the trade, insisting the Warriors needed Thompson's shooting and defense to complement the skill set of Stephen Curry."

uPtoWnNY said:

Jerry West is leaving the Warriors to be a special consultant to the Clippers. Actually, it'a a big loss for Golden State. Everything West touches turns to gold. From ESPN:

"West has been widely cited for his role in advising the Warriors when they were weighing whether to trade Klay Thompson for Kevin Love. West strongly discouraged the trade, insisting the Warriors needed Thompson's shooting and defense to complement the skill set of Stephen Curry."

People forget that he built the Grizzlies into a perennial playoff team DESPITE being moved to the Western Conference in the 00's.

He's the greatest general manager in modern professional sports history.

He may shift the balance of power again if he keeps CP3, and lures LBJ and/or Melo/George to help.

He strongly hinted he would have returned to the Lakers had they asked, which makes me sick.

But I love him.

namepeace said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Jerry West is leaving the Warriors to be a special consultant to the Clippers. Actually, it'a a big loss for Golden State. Everything West touches turns to gold. From ESPN:

"West has been widely cited for his role in advising the Warriors when they were weighing whether to trade Klay Thompson for Kevin Love. West strongly discouraged the trade, insisting the Warriors needed Thompson's shooting and defense to complement the skill set of Stephen Curry."

People forget that he built the Grizzlies into a perennial playoff team DESPITE being moved to the Western Conference in the 00's.

He's the greatest general manager in modern professional sports history.

He may shift the balance of power again if he keeps CP3, and lures LBJ and/or Melo/George to help.

He strongly hinted he would have returned to the Lakers had they asked, which makes me sick.

But I love him.

Love Jerry West.

35 years ago I was looking for an accounting gig in the NBA.

Jerry West was the only GM who returned my inquiry.

I still can't believe he stole Kobe for Valde.

Graycap23 said:

namepeace said:

People forget that he built the Grizzlies into a perennial playoff team DESPITE being moved to the Western Conference in the 00's.

He's the greatest general manager in modern professional sports history.

He may shift the balance of power again if he keeps CP3, and lures LBJ and/or Melo/George to help.

He strongly hinted he would have returned to the Lakers had they asked, which makes me sick.

But I love him.

Love Jerry West.

35 years ago I was looking for an accounting gig in the NBA.

Jerry West was the only GM who returned my inquiry.

I still can't believe he stole Kobe for Valde.

Mr. West has always been a class act.

Graycap23 said:

namepeace said:

People forget that he built the Grizzlies into a perennial playoff team DESPITE being moved to the Western Conference in the 00's.

He's the greatest general manager in modern professional sports history.

He may shift the balance of power again if he keeps CP3, and lures LBJ and/or Melo/George to help.

He strongly hinted he would have returned to the Lakers had they asked, which makes me sick.

But I love him.

Love Jerry West.

35 years ago I was looking for an accounting gig in the NBA.

Jerry West was the only GM who returned my inquiry.

I still can't believe he stole Kobe for Valde.

I wrote him a letter years ago expressing my (horribly wrong) opinion about the Lakers' future.

His guy wrote me back a nice long letter that gave me every indication he'd read my letter.

It enclosed a Lakers hat.

I love that man.

Supposedly Celtics are talking to the Sixers about trading their number 1 pick. Stay tuned.....

Good Golden State won, they should have won last year too. Aint nobody thinking about these sorry ass Lebron James fans.

mjscarousal said:

Good Golden State won, they should have won last year too. Aint nobody thinking about these sorry ass Lebron James fans.

Yep, they won because Kevin "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" Durant did the same thing he (and others) accused LeBron James of doing in 2010.

If I'm Cleveland, I go after Paul George now that he told the Pacers he'll test the free agent market in 2018.

phunkdaddy said:

I'm not sure I like this move. The Sixers have the Lakers number 1 next season and they are talking about giving them that pick as a part of the deal for the number one pick. Deal a number one pick to your hated rivals the Celtics? Who does that? The Sixers better be damn sure Markelle Futz is worth this move. We Sixers fans have suffered long enough.

They robbed the 6er's blind. The 6er's gm must be related to the Bears GM.