Welcome in to the full recap of game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cavaliers where the Warriors went wire-to-wire to take an early 1-0 lead in these finals with a resounding 90-113 win.
At last, this "3-match" is underway. Well, the first half of this game lived up to the billing as the "rubber match." Both teams were neck and neck, but once the Warriors get going, there's no stopping that well-oiled machine. And a red hot duo of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry spelled doom for the Cavaliers. This was a typical example of the tale of two halves.
Cleveland Cavaliers
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LeBron James, 28 points, 15 rebounds. The 8 turnovers from James is a smear from his performance. He was essentially the Cavs' only offense in the first half of this game. Again, despite the turnovers, it was a typical stat-stuffing performance from LeBron.
Kyrie Irving, 24 points. It was evident that Irving was off to a slow start in the first half. He still finished strong with the aforementioned 24 points. Kyrie did his thing in attacking the basket and wiggling his way around Curry and Klay. I'd say that 4-point play in the 2nd quarter got him going in this game.
Kevin Love, 15 points, 21 rebounds. With the way K-Love's been playing in these playoffs, this was not his best game scoring-wise. However, he did crash the boards and leading the team in rebounding and in blocks, notching 3 of them.
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Turnovers. 20-4 ratio in terms of the turnovers from both teams, but the Cavs crumbled under the Warriors' defensive pressure. Ball security is certainly going to be a point of emphasis for this team in Game 2.
Tristan Thompson, 0 points, 4 rebounds. If Thompson can have his way in the boards against Bogut, he can have his way against Pachulia. That was not the case today. His rebounding activity was non-existent all game long.
Golden State Warriors
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Kevin Durant, 38 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists. Welcome back to the NBA Finals KD! If there's any indication that he wants that ring, this is the game. He put on an absolute dunk fest over the Cavs defense tonight. But most importantly, he brought some much-needed defensive activity during this game with his length and athleticism.
Stephen Curry, 28 points, 6 three-pointers, 10 assists. If the Warriors had this Curry in game 7 last year, they would've won it. This is the confidence builder that he needs to show up big in this third installment of the Cavs-Dubs finals. As soon as he got hot in the 2nd half, consider it a wrap for the Warriors.
Zaza Pachulia, 8 points, 6 rebounds. Zaza "Houdini!" He had a couple of highlight plays, just throwing up the basketball. Lucky for him, a lot of those circus shots went in.
Ball security. As mentioned, 20-4 was the turnover ratio for both teams. What a difference a year made for the Warriors.
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Klay Thompson, 3-16 shooting. Warriors fans have to put a missing label for Klay Thompson's scoring in milk cartons. I labeled him as an X-factor for these finals. There's no problem for Klay defensively, but he's playing like Harrison Barnes last year, struggling with his shot.
Conclusion
Does Kevin Durant's presence differentiate this Warriors team from the historic 73-9 roster? That is certainly so. Even though it's just one game, you can definitely see the difference from a year ago. This Warriors team is loaded with so many weapons on the offensive end. For the Cavs, Oracle Arena has been brutal to them outside of Games 5 and 7 last year. No question, the turnovers played a key role in their loss tonight. Game 2 will decide where this series is gonna go. If it tilts in favor of the Cavs, this is a series. If it tilts in favor of the Warriors, this gonna be a short series with no blown 3-1 lead this time. I'll see you guys on Sunday for Game 2.
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