Golden State was really thrown off their game to start off game six. Cleveland had a 31-11 lead at the end of the 1st quarter, the lowest scoring output by the Warriors in one quarter this season, a year in which they shattered records. Lebron and company dominated Golden State at the start, the Warriors not really being able to hit from the outside, which is where the team has made its living all season long. Cleveland had the ability to drive the lane, it was available more times then the Warriors should have made it available, and they took full advantage of it to take a twenty point lead after the opening quarter.
As the game wore on, Golden State showed a few signs of life. Yes Stephen Curry did drop 30 points. However he really didn't look like his normal self during this basketball game. The best players in the game really play their best games during the biggest moments. Curry hasn't really done that in this series, especially in game six. He had 30 points, sure, but he was getting frustrated as the game wore on. Here's how you know things were going bad for Curry as the game wore on. With 4:22 left of the 4th quarter, Stephen Curry was so upset that he threw his mouthpiece into the stand after receiving his 6th foul and was fouled out of the game. Curry then received a technical foul and was ejected from the game. He is the 1st MVP to foul out of an NBA Finals game since Shaquille O' Neal in 2000 Finals. Not only did Curry get tossed from the game, he ended up getting fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing his mouth guard in the crowd. That was a sign of the frustration of the team as the night wore on. Golden State had plenty of good looks from deep, but they weren't really falling with the ease that they were during the first few games of the series.
Curry had 30 points in this game, Klay Thompson dropped 25 points and Leandro Barbosa had 14 points, the only three Warriors players to hit double digits in points. A lot of people were critical that not having Draymond Green in game five as one of the reasons why the Warriors aren't NBA champions right now. But he wasn't really much of a factor in this game. In just over 40 minutes he had only eight points (but he did pull down ten rebounds) and ended up fouling out of the game, just like Curry did. Anybody who watched that game, and the series for that matter, can tell you that the Warriors are becoming unraveled as the series has moved along. It really started to show through in what happened here in game six in Cleveland.
Cleveland has had solid outings the last two games, King James is at the top of that list. For the 2nd straight game, he dropped 41 points, becoming just the 5th player in league history to do that, and its a pretty impressive list including Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan Magic Johnson and Jerry West. LeBron has been playing like a man possessed the last few games, just like he did last year. The difference between last year and this is, last year he didn't have much support around him. This year he looks like he has a support staff. JR Smith had 14 points, Kyrie Irving had 23, and Tristian Thompson dropped 15 points as well. Cleveland really had good looks all game. A big sign of how well things were going was with 4:23 left, when LeBron made a HUGE block on Steph Curry. That was LeBron making a statement to Curry that, while Curry has won back to back NBA MVP awards, LeBron is still the best player, and maybe even the best all around player, in the entire league.
Now that we have a game seven on Sunday, this begs the question. Who has more pressure on them to pull out the win, Golden State or Cleveland? It's almost about even. Cleveland has pressure on it to deliver the first championship of any kind to the city of Cleveland since the Browns won an NFL championship (pre Super Bowl era) in 1964. This would also mark the first time ever that the Cavs have won a title. For LeBron, its a personal statement of redemption. It shows that he can win a title in his hometown. For Golden State, they have double pressure. They have to try and stop the bleeding of blowing a 3-1 lead in the finals and lose the title. Plus they just set the single season wins record, which is a pretty big deal. If they can't capture the title for the 2nd year in a row, then that wins record could all be for nothing.
Game Seven takes place at Oracle Arena Sunday night, with tipoff set for 8PM
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