The NBA Final have begun after a couple of huge game 7’s. Both the Celtics and Rockets failed to move on even with opportunities on their own home court. Therefore, we once again are treated to a championship series pitting the mighty Warriors against the one man band that is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not many experts have given the Cavs even a fighting chance to win a single game. However, after game 1 its clear these two teams, like an object in a car mirror, maybe closer than they appear.
NBA Finals Game 1
Cleveland @ Golden State
Game Summary
Tuesday nights game 1 match up between the Cavs and Warriors came down to two things the histrionics of the world’s best player and the failures of his teammates and the officials in key moments. LeBron James. put on a Herculean effort as he scored a playoff career high 51 points on 19/32 shooting. While James was spectacular he didn’t get much help his biggest contributor was Kevin Love who posted a double double. Furthermore a brain dead play by J.R. Smith in the final seconds of regulation pretty much sealed Cleveland’s fate.
After a George Hill free throw tied the game at 107 a miss on the next attempt was hauled in by smith, who apparently was not aware of the score. He then inexplicably ran almost ran out the reminder of the clock. The bizarre move by Smith is sure to go down in the annals of time as one of the biggest mistakes in NBA history. The Cavs shooting guard would later be quoted as saying he knew the score. And he was just trying to get some room because he expected a time out to be called. This also makes no sense. If they were going to call time out they would have done so immediately after he secured the rebound. This mishap led to overtime where Cleveland simply got ran out of the gym by Golden State.
Warriors Still Lucky
As far as the Warriors are concerned they were the beneficiary of some timely and inconsistent officiating. Not to mention getting hot from behind the arch at just right time. Late in the 4th quarter Kevin Durant drove to the basket and drew contact from James. The initial call was are charge on Durant which was later reviewed and overturned by officials, which is perfectly within the rules. However, the problems lies in the fact they are only allowed to look at whether the defender is in the restricted area. They are not permitted to check wether or not their feet are moving. James was clearly not in the circle and thus Cleveland should have been awarded the call. They were not however and Durant went on to tie the game with two foul shots. Warriors went on to outscore the Cavs 17-7 in overtime after a blistering 10-0 run.
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