Game One of the 2018 NBA Finals Was One for the History Books
Game one of the NBA Finals was great last night.
It surprised me very much. I did not see this effort coming from the Cavs. I figured LeBron would be great, as he has been his entire career, and especially in these playoffs, but I did not expect his supporting cast to play as well as they did. Larry Nance provided that spark that he is so good at doing. Kevin Love finally showed up. George Hill was solid. I mean, the players LeBron has surrounded himself stepped up, for the most part.
Before I really dig into the game, LeBron's performance last night was otherworldly. He was absolutely amazing. He was so efficient and played hard and did everything that he could do to push his team to a victory. My problem with LeBron last night, I hate that fake ass tough guy he tries to be when the game is over. He blocked a Steph layup attempt with less than a minute left in overtime, and proceeded to shit talk him. Steph came right back and him, and Klay joined in as well. What I loved is that Steph didn't back down, he held his own, and seeing Klay laugh in his face and shrug his shoulders at him was amazing. LeBron is a sore loser. I get it, I hate losing too, but that fake tough guy bull shit needs to stop. We all know you are the best player in the game right now, but stop it with the fake tough guy attitude. It is tiring and annoying and looks really bad, especially when you let a game slip away that you should have won. LeBron was great, amazing and dominated, but he is a very, very sore loser and fake tough.
The Warriors did last night what they have done all year. They dicked around for the entirety of the game, until it went into overtime. That was when they locked in, and they dominated. But, the first 4 quarters had to be so frustrating for all the Warriors fans out there. They just seem to go out there, disrespect the opponent and expect to win. KD was awful on offense last night. I know he had 28 or so, but it was not at all efficient, and he took way too many jumpers. Steph had a good scoring game, but he was throwing bad passes and dribbling way too much. He was also exposed time and time again on defense. Klay had a rough scoring night and he was hurt early on in the game. You'd never know because he is so even keeled, but he needs to score more. Draymond was probably the only Warrior that really showed up last night, and he had a very solid game, and kept his shit talking to a minimum. The rest of the team, Shaun Livingston, Kevon Looney, Nick Young and Patrick McCaw, were all non factors, as expected.
Now, we have to go to that final minute or so of play last night. First thing, the block/charge call. When I saw it in real time I thought it was a block. LeBron's feet looked to be shuffling over, and KD was not out of control on his drive. The refs initially called it a charge, and I thought, okay, he is a super star, and he has earned those calls. When they overturned it, I was shocked. I never, ever expected that, especially a call to go against LeBron in the Finals. It was very surprising. Even with that call going the Warriors way, the Cavs kept scoring and took a lead very late in the fourth, like under a minute left. Then, Steph hit a floater and was fouled, or maybe not, and made the free throw to grab the lead for the Warriors. I figured that was it, the Warriors were going to close it out in the fourth quarter up 1 point with about 25 seconds left. Well, George Hill made a fantastic cut, and while cutting he got fouled by Klay, and it was definitely a foul. So Hill, who is around an 80 percent free throw shooter went to the line for a chance to win the game with 4 seconds left. He easily sunk the first free throw, and then the second one happened. Hill left the shot very short, but JR Smith, somehow, got the rebound over KD, and instead of shooting or kicking it out to LeBron, he dribbled out the clock.
I have never, ever seen anything like that. It ranks right up there with Webber calling timeout in the title game when Michigan didn't have any timeouts. When pushed, Smith said he thought the Cavs were winning. If he thought that, why was LeBron yelling at him? Why didn't he check the clock or scoreboard? Why did he think everyone was yelling at him? Why would the Warriors not foul him? I have so many questions for JR Smith. This will be one of those infamous plays that will be showed on highlight shows for eternity. And even after the game, Smith tried to say that he knew the game was tied, but we all know that is some bull shit. He blew it.
After Smith's blunder, overtime started, and that was when the Warriors finally woke up. They dominated every second of overtime, scoring the first seven points and eventually winning the game by 8. But, it wasn't without drama. We had the fake tough LeBron show up. Tristan Thompson, who is a scumbag, also became fake tough. Draymond started to yap more. Steph and Klay laughed in LeBron's face. And KD was quiet as usual when it comes to this type of stuff.
For as well as the Cavs played last night, they really blew a golden opportunity, and they are more doomed now than I thought they were at the start of the Finals. The Cavs will not play any better than they did last night, and they still lost. LeBron may have another game or 2 like he had last night, but will Love show up again? Are they really going to count on Nance to give them spark minutes? How will JR Smith react to his horrible end of game blunder? Where was Kyle Korver last night? Are they going to give Clarkson another 20 minute game? Will Ty Lue ever outcoach Steve Kerr again?
My simple answer to all of these questions, no. Hell, the Warriors may still come out and dick around, but they are so, so, so much better than the Cavs, and I think they will want to brutalize them now. And for the Cavs fans blaming the refs today, take that heat and put it towards JR Smith or George Hill. They each had a chance to win that game, and they both blew it big time. Game one was awesome, but I do not think we will see another one like it. The Cavs don't have it in them to play like that once again.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.
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