In a game defined by intense competition and a battle for the ages, the biggest story might be the lasting impact game one has on this championship battle. The Golden State Warriors emerged victorious in a hotly contested, incredibly close overtime game, 108-100. The Warriors took control of the series with the win, but the Cavaliers may have suffered a loss far greater than just game one.
A few minutes into overtime, which the Warriors dominated, Kyrie Irving went down in what looked like a non-contact injury while being defended by Klay Thompson. He almost immediately checked out of the game and headed to the locker room. It looked like something in his knee gave out, or he re-injured his foot. Whatever the reason, his status for game two has to be classified as questionable at best.
Update: Irving suffered a fractured left knee cap and is out for the remainder of the Finals. His recovery time is said to be three-to-four months.
The injury is such a shame for Irving. He had played the playoff game of his life up to that point, with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 2 big blocks on Stephen Curry. The second came in a tie game with just seconds left in regulation after it looked like Curry had a wide open layup. Irving’s ability to knife through Golden State’s defense helped other players like Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith to get great looks. Now with out him, the series has an entirely different feel to it.
Early on, though, it looked like Cleveland would prove to the world why they shouldn’t be considered underdogs in this series. Perhaps it was a combination of Golden State’s nerves and inexperience versus LeBron James and his championship moxie, but regardless the Cavs jumped out to a 29-19 lead. Golden State couldn’t hit anything, but a second quarter run by the bench cut the halftime deficit to 3. The Warriors bench were led by Andre Iguodala and Marreese Speights, who just returned from injury to put in 8 timely points.
From that point forward, it was a combination of the Splash Brothers against the one-man wrecking crew that was LeBron James. Both teams went back and forth, as two heavyweights would trade blows in a title-fight. James finished with 44 points, 8 boards and 6 assists, while Curry put in 26 and Thompson 21. LeBron was hitting from all over the floor, and even though he took 38 shots, it always looked like he was getting the shots he wanted. Ultimately, it was Golden State’s defensive adjustments on LeBron that helped them win this game.
Late in the 3rd, LeBron had torched Golden State’s defense, no matter who was guarding him. Harrison Barnes and Thompson couldn’t handle him in the post, and Draymond Green spent most of his night defending other Cavs, especially after he got into foul trouble. That left Iguodala, a former all-defensive team member, on James. Iguodala did have his struggles in the post, but ultimately figured out what he needed to do.
The fourth quarter still saw James making tough shots, but that’s to be expected from the best player in the world. Towards the end of the fourth, though, Iguodala forced long jumpers and didn’t let LeBron establish himself in the post as frequently or effectively. The final sequence saw LeBron taking a tough step-back jumper over Iguodala, which he missed, before Iman Shumpert almost put in a buzzer beater himself. In overtime, LeBron scored only 2 points on a meaningless layup, while he turned it over twice and missed his other three shots. Once Harrison Barnes hit a corner three to extend the lead to seven, the game felt all but over.
It’s hard to blame LeBron for this one, even if he did have the fate of the game on his fingertips as regulation ticked down. He was dominant for most of the game, and even though the Warriors were game-planning to let him score and shut down everyone else, he still facilitated enough to keep everyone involved. J.R. Smith has to play better, as 3 for 13 just won’t cut it. The Cavs can’t win with LeBron putting up 50 every game, especially now that Matthew Dellavedova has be moved into the lineup and the Cavs may have to dig a little deeper into the bench. Tristan Thompson was dominant on the boards, and Cleveland will need a lot more where that came from to generate second chance opportunities.
Golden State emerged victorious, but the challenge before them must appear much clearer now. Watching LeBron torch them for most of the night surely opened their eyes to how different this series can be when he, and the rest of the Cavs, are on. Unfortunately for Cleveland, this means the Warriors may be even more geared up and ready to go while still being up 1-0 rather than down 1-0. Though the night ended poorly for them, the rest of the basketball world was left marveling an incredible game, and we can only hope that this is a theme for the rest of the series.