With the hype and expectations of the NBA finals, we were off to an unusual start. Between high stakes, emotions and unexpected moves of the night, they were flopping, falling across the floor, touching the jewels sort to speak, and having the most intense strips of the season.
What we all saw on June 1 was a redefining of #DubNation’s #StrengthInNumbers mantra. The Golden State Warriors took home a victory for the first game against Cleveland Cavaliers with a huge lead of 104-89. I repeat the Golden State Warriors took home the victory, not Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. (No shade)
In actuality, it was a truly humbling, eye-opening experience to see the hype literally shift from Klay Thompson(9 points) and Stephen Curry (11 points), to other key players Shaun Livingston (20 points), Leandro Barbosa (11 points), and Andre Iguodala (12 points). They were strategic and timely and never lost their focus.
What’s more is our sudden unexpected shooter taking the bulk of the points for the game: Shaun Livingston. Someone who filled in for Curry while he was injured and normally rides the bench is now showing off his skills in the most intense game of the season. As a matter of fact, this is actually the most points Livingston has made in his entire career, let alone the season.
With these combination of points ironically taken from their bench players, The Warriors did not fall behind throughout this entire game. Besides the one point lead of the Cavs in the third quarter, the Warriors were here to play the game and win the game.
What’s so much better is the fact that the Cavs were actually focusing on blocking Thompson and Curry, and their defense became relatively weak in comparison to the Warriors, who received 15 turnovers through Curry and others. The Warriors defense became a gate of terror for the Cavs who began to only score when the Warriors wanted them too. Conversely, the Cavs put too much defense on the key players, failing to realize that everyone on the Warriors team is a key player.
When Warriors played the OKC Thunders, their defense was really weak and they had their normal strong offense. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals however, the Warriors out-shined their opponent as a collective.
There was no major deficit from the Warriors and they were rightfully deserving of this win.
Let’s not cue the fireworks quite yet because we have six more games that will be a milestone for BOTH of these teams. Let’s play.
