NBA Playoff Update
How We Got Here: Game 7
That was a tough ride.
LeBron is damn near a cyborg. In his 15th NBA season, after playing all 82 regular season games, LeBron played the entire Game 7 against the Celtics. It was literally go big or go home.
LeBron responded in his usual way, a greatness that has become almost boring from him. 35 Points, 15 Rebounds, and 9 assists in a game seven while missing your #2 player. Jeff Green filled in Admirably for the missing Kevin Love, ending with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Tristan Thompson and JR Smith both dropped in double digit points, but nobody else on the Cavs did much else. They instead relied on their defense, something that has been absent for most of the year, and the pressure got to the young Celtics team.
By Erik Drost from United States (Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia CommonsRozier was red hot for the Celtics in Game 6, but was 0-10 on 3 point shots and just 2-14 overall. Jayson Tatum kept the Celtics in this game with 24 points and 7 rebounds, and he will be a great young player to watch as he expands his game. It just wasn't enough though, as LeBron again dominated down the stretch and lead his team to his 8th consecutive Finals appearance. Think about it, the last time LeBron wasn't in the finals, the iPad was a new thing, and Justin Bieber was just mildly annoying.
NBA Finals Preview
The Cavs come into their 4th straight Finals matchup with the Warriors as the biggest underdogs in the last 16 Finals. The Warriors are currently 12 point favorites in Game 1, the highest since 2001. For the Cavs to have any shot at winning, they are going to need max production from everyone. No more 0 point games from JR Smith. A healthy Kevin Love. An engaged George Hill. The Warriors haven't lived up to their lofty standards this season for one reason or another, but they are still a stacked team that usually has the refs on their side. Houston did throw them off quite a bit though, and it took a Chris Paul injury, terrible officiating, and 27-straight missed 3-pointers from a great shooting team for them to get a Game 7 win the the West Finals.
Still, they have 3 of the best 3 point shooters on the planet, and even when their system isn't working, any one of them can pull up from 30 feet with a hand in their face. As on old-school guy, I think it's terrible basketball, but they do it frequently enough that it's hard to argue with the results. If they are without Iguodala, they are going to have a lot tougher time with LeBron, however. James always puts up big numbers in the Finals, but at least Iguodala made him work a bit more for them. It's going to be interesting to see how the match-ups are set if this is the case. I wouldn't be surprised to see some more Larry Nance and maybe even a Rodney Hood sighting due to his length. Any way this shakes out, it's hard to see the Cavs winning this one. I am just going to enjoy it because it may well be the last series I get to watch LeBron in a Cavaliers jersey.
Cover photo credits: By Erik Drost (Cleveland Cavaliers) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons>via Wikimedia Commons
Author: @jaymesbawned
Editor: @bacchist
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