The game started with an idea from the Cavs : counter the small ball squad of the Warriors by put the ball in the paint, where Mozgov and Thompson had the edge against Green. James was the maestro and dished out some assists to his big men, but quickly, GSW adjusted and forced the Cavs to late shot selection and even shot clock violation, as they grabbed early leads thanks to outside success for Curry, Iguodala and Thompson, who had early fouls trouble. With James on the bench at the end of the 1st, Steve Kerr’s team took advantage and extend their lead to 13, as the team from California leaded 28-15 after 12 minutes.
3 free throws by James Jones and a 3 by James were the beginning of a nice comeback for the home team, as Mozgov started his show both on defense with huge blocks on Iguodala and Barnes, and on offense where he had the advantage against the small squad of Golden State. Some outside buckets kept this one a 8, 9 points game during the quarter, but with 2 minutes to go before halftime, the Cavs went on a run and reduced the lead to 2, as GSW leaded 45-43 with 24 minutes to go.
Cleveland started well the second half, with good plays by Mozgov inside, but the Warriors came back strong, thanks to clean shots by Barnes and good plays by the two swiss knife of the Western champs, Iguodala and Green. Then, Steve Kerr opened his bench and well, this option resulted very well, as Livingston and Ezeli were huge at the end of the 3rd. Livingston was great for Thompson who had fouls troubles, but Ezeli was a beast inside, with 6 quick points with authority on the Cavs big guys. With 12 minutes from the title, GSW leaded by 12. Thanks to a 7-0 to open the quarter, Cleveland stormed back and the Q started to roar again. Difficult outside shots by J.R. Smith were the only way to score for the Cavs, who lost to much balls and they were just killed by Golden State, who drained 3’s in a hurry with Curry, Green, Iguodala and Thompson. The lead extended at 14, but the Cavs fought back and they reduced the lead at 4, but GSW holded on and won this game and by so, the NBA Finals.
40 years after, the Warriors are once again NBA champs. After a total domination in the regular season, Steph Curry and his mates were good enough in the postseason to win it all. Even down at the beginning of the series, where the Cavs could take Game 1 and lead by 2 before going to Cleveland, the Warriors keep fighting and they were leaded by a great coach. Of course he had an amazing roster, but the adjustment that Kerr made before Game 4 was the key, as the small ball option was great to run the pick and pop option and drained the threes. The effort from California was a total team one, with Curry as the late game option, Thompson who was huge in the beginning of the series, Green and Barnes who were clean as a whistle and of course Iguodala, the MVP, who after a disappointing year of the bench, came up big and was the key on defense on the best player in the world, LeBron James. Even the bench got involved, as Livingston, Barbosa and Ezeli were up to the task, opposite to the Cavs, who counter to much on LBJ, and for different reasons. The Irving injury in Game 1 was the turnaround point, as James were too alone in the next 5 games. To win 2 games is already a great performance, as James was alone with some role players, like the teams of Iverson or T-Mac in the early 2000’s, but the collective of GSW was better at the end.
In collaboration with Alan Guillou
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