The first game of the 2015 NBA Finals, both teams coached by rookie coaches, took place Thursday night, former Arizona Wildcat Andre Igoudala did not disappoint.
Sports media outlets were predicting a three-pointer war tonight, and the Warriors and Cavaliers did not dissapoint fans shooting a total of 58 and making 19, about 33%; Cleveland made 9 of 31 shots and the Warriors made 10 of 27. Both teams were living and dying by the three, its thrilling when these shots go in and devastating when miss.
Arizona Wildcats
Two three-pointers were memorable and worthy of mention in my opinion; one was when Andre Iguodala lost a shoe at the three-point line, ran over to the other side of the court, made himself available, got the ball and shot a three and made it. The second was when Iggy found Harrison Barnes for the three-pointer in the corner for the assist.
In addition, Iggy had a memorable monster dunk in the third quarter, textbook. On top of that he stole the ball at a crucial point in the OT period, and was immediately fouled. On an earlier play, Kyrie Irving slid and his leg went under him causing a noticable injury and he left the game seriously limping to the locker room, stating later than that this injury “felt different.” Coming off an injury to begin the game, one has to question Coach Blatt’s decision to play him for 43+ minutes.
With Irving out, that left only two Cavs players on the floor who had scored in the second half, LeBron James and Timofey Mozgov, with about a minute left in the game. Golden State was up by 10 points and never looked back. The Cavs had missed their last 12 shots and hadn’t scored in 6:20 minutes scoring just two points in overtime in the end which Steph Curry pointed out in the post game interview before he went into the locker room to celebrate.
The last minutes of the game were owned by Draymond Green who made a number of rebounds, turnovers and free-throws to put the final nail in the Cleveland coffin.
Jun 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors guard Andre Iguodala (9) during the first quarter in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James scored 44 points on 38 shots, made 8 rebounds and six assists in all, but LeBron cannot beat the Warriors on his own. His team also cannot go cold in shooting in overtime against the Warriors as well. With Kyrie questionable for Game 2 after making 23 points, adding 7 rebounds and 6 assists in Game 1, the Cavs are going to have to find a different strategy if they want to beat Golden States small ball team in Oakland.
With all of Isreal staying up late to watch David Blatt’s Cleveland Cavaliers play, there’s a ton of pressure on his team and LeBron James. I think they will figure out how to win one game at home as they have before without Irving, albeit against teams in the East. I predict they will pull out one win in two home games in Cleveland and come back to Oakland behind 3 games to 1.
Steve Kerr commented in the post game presser about playing small ball, “You have to try to keep doing different things with LeBron..so we tried to change our look a little bit.”
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Coach Kerr was asked about his thoughts on Andre and his defense and offense, “I thought he was fantastic you know Andre is one of the smartest defenders I’ve ever seen I mean understands angles, he understands where everyone is on the floor. It’s funny to say when a guy gets 44 points that the defender did a really good job and I thought Andre did extremely well made LeBron take some tough shots then offensively, you know, he got going he made a big three in the corner late in the game…he’s a great player for us.”
Iggy score 15 of Golden States 34 points off the bench, six more points that Cleveland’s entire bench who racked up a measly 9 points. He was especially clutch at the end of regulation when he gaurded LeBron as he attempted to hit a game winning three, but missed, saving the game and sending it to overtime.
Andre is a clutch player who has embraced his position as a relief player as he was asked to do by his fellow Wildcat coaches to do. It has sure helped the team and particular in this game. This strategy could propel the team to become NBA Champions.
You can't stop LeBron James, but Andre Iguodala slowed him down. via @ESPNStatsInfo. pic.twitter.com/nfMblvh8K8
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) June 5, 2015
Someone wants a ring!
Beardown Iggy!
A little victory dance from Riley Curry…
Riley Curry's victory dance is too cute. https://t.co/5a5On0PCwB
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 5, 2015
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