Warriors cruise past LeBron, Cavaliers in Game 1 of NBA Finals
And they didn't even need much from Steph Curry or Klay Thompson.
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1 min read
A year ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were just trying to keep pace with the Golden State Warriors once they lost two-thirds of their Big Three. With a full arsenal, we thought it would be different this year. Well, in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, not so much, as Golden State emphatically took a 1-0 lead with a 104-89 victory, even though Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were relatively invisible for most of the game.
The Warriors' bench picked up the slack for the misfiring All-NBA backcourt, outscoring the Cavs' bench 45-10 behind 20 points from Shaun Livingston and 12 points, seven assists, and six rebounds from Andre Iguodala. That advantage plus the poor game from Kyrie Irving (26 points on 7-of-22 shooting) turned this one into a laugher late. But most of the game, we saw the Cavs trying to figure out the pace and tempo with which they could attack the Warriors.
They moved the ball quickly early and tried to beat the Warriors up the floor, playing into the style that Steve Kerr implores his team to find. LeBron James had a good statistical night with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists, but his defense was poor at times and he only seemed to get his team going when things were slowed down to more of a crawl.
The two best postseason shooting teams of all-time combined to shoot just 33.3 percent from deep (each team made one-third of its 3-pointers) and the Cavs could never find an offensive rhythm. Just 20 combined points from Curry and Thompson on 8-of-27 shooting, and the Warriors take Game 1 at home. The Cavs can't be happy with how they've started another NBA Finals against Golden State.
