NBA Finals 2015-2016 thread

[alldaboston]

I'm giving TT co-mvp, they lose without him.

Kyrie, LeBron, and Tristan should all share it. Fantastic series for all 3 of them

[LilRip]

I did not expect that at all. 3-1 comeback and a game 7 win on the road?? Talk about your double whammies. Also, I don't think there's ever been a more dramatic example of the old adage: you live by the 3, you die by the 3.

[greece66]

Love had by far the best +/- (19) among all those who played yesterday; and he also grabbed 14 rebounds in 30 mins.

I too was annoyed by how soft he played at times, but are people seriously suggesting he had a bad game? You really cannot make these things up 

[RockinRyA]

Kerr has been outcoached in that 4th quarter. Bogut is really important to the Warriors because 1) He sets good screens 2) He is a good passer 3) Ezeli sucks

Seriously its headscratching why Kerr put Ezeli in the first place. If he needed to rest guys he shouldve put Speights in. Ezeli has been horrible this series. 4 point lead gone once Ezeli happened.

[GC003332]

Congratulations to the Cavs on winning their first championship.

Finals started June 3rd finished on the 19th, great and all that they gave them some extra rest between games , series schedule length was far too long IMO.
These teams have their private jets and state of the art facilities. Just play the games quicker to maintain the casual observers interest.

[slightly biased bias fan]

Don't know if anyone has put this up yet but Lebron James per game average during the Finals was:

Points: 29.7
Rebounds: 11.3
Assists: 8.9    
Steals:2.6   
Blocks: 2.3

Soak that in for a second, that is greatness...period.

[hodgy03038]

I'm giving TT co-mvp, they lose without him.

Kyrie, LeBron, and Tristan should all share it. Fantastic series for all 3 of them

Kyrie made some ridiculous shots including the game winning 3 at the end. I think he was the difference.

[alley oop]

Kerr has been outcoached in that 4th quarter. Bogut is really important to the Warriors because 1) He sets good screens 2) He is a good passer 3) Ezeli sucks

Seriously its headscratching why Kerr put Ezeli in the first place. If he needed to rest guys he shouldve put Speights in. Ezeli has been horrible this series. 4 point lead gone once Ezeli happened.

Yep. Speights brought energy and was having a good game: 4 rebounds in five minutes, 2 blocks, 0 fouls, plus 3. But Ezeli: 1 rebound in 11 minutes, no field goals, 0 blocks, 2 fouls, minus 9; Varejao: 0 rebounds in 8 minutes, no field goals, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, minus 9.

Kerr was asked why he played them in the 4th quarter and gave a weak answer. .

[slightly biased bias fan]

For me there were only three things i didn't like about game 7:

- The stain on history that those sleeved Cavs jerseys are going to have

- That gargoyle Adam Silver presented the 'Bill Russell' Finals award to Lebron not Bill and left Mr. Russell standing there on the side without even an acknowledgement (very disrespectful)

- Lebron's acceptance speeches and interview continued to use the word 'i' instead of 'we' and never showed TT or Kyrie respect they deserved.

[Surferdad]

Larry didn't get to play long enough to have a better career than LeBron.

Now that LeBron has 3 rings to go with 7 Finals appearances and all kinds of statistical dominance, I don't think there's any question.

LeBron will probably dominate for another half decade at least, on top of that.

I still think Celtic fans will disagree with you with that one. 

Of course.

Yup!

Larry was a much, much better shooter, a better passer (though LeBron is pretty good) and a better team defender.  LeBron is a better slasher, ball-handler, rebounder and better individual defender.  They are tied for NBA championships.

LeBron has not passed Larry, yet.

This is very clear to most Celtics fans.

Kudos for LeBron for winning this year.  Otherwise, his standing among the all-time greats has not changed.  He is in the 7-10 range.

This is CelticsBlog. I refuse to stop defending Larry against LeBron.

[MBunge]

Things to take away from this Finals.

1.  Some folks need to apologize to Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley.  When they said Curry wouldn't be able to do what he's doing against physical defense, they were widely mocked as "haters" and out-of-touch old timers.  But both The Big O and Sir Charles were right.  Cleveland was allowed to bump, grab and touch up Curry and Thompson, turning Thompson mostly into just another guy and transforming Curry from superhuman to very, very good player.

2.  Pride goeth before a fall.  Golden State gave away games by not being ready to compete and absolutely refused to make any sort of adjustments throughout the series.  They expected to just keep doing what they did all year and would not accept that it wasn't working.

3.  Curry did deserve his two MVP awards because we see what GSW is like when he's not leading the way.

Mike

[bdm860]

I see this popping up around the web now, love the dig at the Warriors by LeBron:

[bello_man09]

oh wow ultimate warrior...shots fired.

[celticsclay]

I see this popping up around the web now, love the dig at the Warriors by LeBron:

Jr Smith is such a loser. It does bother me that he now has a championship ring. A lot.

[kraidstar]

What does suck though is that this would've been over in 5 if Draymond wasn't suspended.

Now I totally disagree with the NBA's decision, but Draymond also has to be smarter there. Just a TON of blame to go around for this p----poor Finals performance by GS.

a lot of collapses happen after league interference.

kings 2001. mavs 2006. c's 2010, 2012.

it's hard enough beating an elite opponent in itself. when the league gives away a game, takes it from your win column and puts it in the other teams' column, that is just incredibly tough. and often it takes just a few shaved points.

and add to that the mental component of knowing that the league is working against you, the frustration, the despair. it is disruptive, and i think we saw some of that in this series.

likewise, it works the other way too. you see guys like lebron, jordan, wade, the lakers bolstered by the refs. its boosts their confidence. it is obscene, and is a detriment to the sport.