Welcome in to the full recap of game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers where the Warriors end the 40 year drought in the Bay Area, closing out the Cavaliers, 105-97 in Cleveland to capture the Larry O'Brien trophy.
The Bay Area is going crazy right now. 40 years in the making for another NBA title here, it's unbelievable. Keep in mind though, I'm still a Laker fan, but as a Bay Area resident, I'm happy for them. Years of slapping them around in the Pacific Division and look how far they've come. This finals was a battle between an area and a city that are absolutely thirsting for a title and the Cavs' gave the Warriors a run for their money, but the Warriors showed why they're the best team down the stretch and you can't write a storybook any better.
Golden State Warriors
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Andre Iguodala, 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 9-20 shooting. I've said this countless times when Iguodala is on this positive list, there is no other Warriors player out there who wanted it more than Andre Iguodala. You talk about seasons of frustration since he was drafted by the 76ers, always coming up short, but now he came this far and deservedly so, though arguable, won the NBA Finals MVP from his bench play and changing the series since being inserted into the lineup. He started off a little slow this game, missing a couple of shots, but as the game went on, he made big shot after big shot when the Cavs looked like they were about to rally. The wait was long overdue for Iguodala and he showed up when it matters the most with or without any prior finals experience.
Draymond Green, 16 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 6-13 shooting. You can also make another case that Draymond Green could've won the Finals MVP with his kind of performance this game. Green held out on his own against Tristan Thompson, against Timofey Mozgov. When the energy was needed, Green provided that, making shots, penetrating, playing help defense, getting players, the triple-double numbers speak for itself. He was all-around in the biggest game of his career.
Stephen Curry, 25 points, 8 assists, 8-19 shooting. It doesn't matter the order who could've deserved Finals MVP, but this is the last candidate, the regular season MVP himself. It was a slow start for Curry in the finals after being shut down by Matthew Dellavedova, but he started to find the rhythm down the stretch and never looked back. Last game, he went on a scoring spree, this game he was all-around. The Cavs defense had no answer for Curry this game, whether they tried to trap him, double team him, triple team him, but he was constantly finding the open man in pick and roll situations. He's finding Iguodala, finding Draymond Green, finding Klay Thompson, despite his struggles. Then in the closing seconds, he came up in the clutch with critical threes to answer a Cleveland run and making crucial free throws when the Cavs weren't going away in the final seconds.
Bench. You never know who is stepping up for the Warriors with their depth. Last game Barbosa provided the spark, this game, Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli showed up this game. I thought their performance in the 3rd quarter, was the difference maker. Ezeli hustling for the ball, giving the Warriors second chance points and same with Livingston, providing much needed buckets to make the lead more insurmountable for the Cavaliers to come back from. The bench quietly played a huge role for the clincher as Ezeli and Livingston contributed 20 points combined, 10 coming from both players.
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Not a lot of negatives for the Warriors other than Klay Thompson's off night and a little bit of prevent defense in the final minute of the 4th. Other than that, the Warriors played a complete, team game to clinch the title.
Cleveland Cavaliers
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Timofey Mozgov, 17 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 5-8 shooting. If there was one constant for the Cleveland Cavaliers these finals, it's obviously LeBron James and the other, the Cavs' big men. Let's start with Timofey Mozgov here. Defensively, he was solid, able to come up with blocks to help the Cavs gain a little momentum. But since the Warriors inserted the small lineup, Mozgov had his way, making easy baskets and it continued until the bitter end for the Cavaliers.
Tristan Thompson, 15 points, 13 rebounds, 7-12. The 2nd part of the constant in the Cavs' big men was Tristan Thompson. He also played his heart out until the end. Thompson didn't break off consistency as he was a hustling rebounding machine all playoff long. If anything that should be taken away from this experience, it's that Thompson has an identity he can build off of in the following season: be the player who hustles hard and fights for every offensive board. His career started slow being a former 1st round pick, but Tristan Thompson found a role he can excel in once the Cavaliers are at full strength by next season.
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Turnovers. The turnovers couldn't have come at the worst way possible for the Cavaliers. Credit to the Warrior defense, they were able to create 16 turnovers from the Cavs, 6 of them from LeBron James. The game in which the Cavaliers needed it the most, they mar it with the turnovers and the Cavaliers paid dearly for it as the Warriors cashed it on every opportunity to get points in transition and set the pace their way. 16 turnovers, 3 of them from shot clock violations, just an unacceptable effort in taking care of the ball from the Cavalier offense.
Missed Free Throws. The Cavs had 10 more free throw attempts than the Warriors. They were attacking the basket, crashing the paint, giving the Warriors some fits that they had to foul and they just couldn't hit the free throws. LeBron missed some free throws, Shumpert missed some free throws, J.R. Smith missed some free throws. We all know how free throws can make or break a player, a game, and a series and the Cavs had some opportunity, they just couldn't cash in on that.
Conclusion
For the Bay Area, one drought is over. For the city of Cleveland, another year of sports heartbreak. But credit where credit is due, the Warriors and its players made a lot of sacrifices for the greater good to put this team to championship greatness while the Cavs, they scratched and clawed and made this a series. But unfortunately, two fairy tales on a collision course cannot both have a happy ending and the Warriors made their fairy tale season a happy ending while the Cavs' fairy tale ending has a sad ending to its season. But congrats to the Warriors, they deserved it, the fans deserved it. I'm sure the Bay Area will not stop partying for quite some time. This concludes my coverage of the 2015 NBA Finals. Thank you guys for following my posts and I will see you guys until next season. We still got the NBA draft to go. I can't wait to see who the Lakers pick, but I'll be off until the NFL football season starts. Meanwhile, you guys can find me on my friend Stillmattic's blog at bleachzealot.blogspot.com as we have started on our next Fight Night collaboration. So head on there and catch up with our latest postings. I'll see you guys later.
Congrats Golden State Warriors 2015 NBA Champions!
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