NBA Finals 2015-2016 thread

[LarBrd33]

It's just going to suck when James joins the Lakers this summer with Durant.  But it's fun nonetheless. 

Beating the 73 win warriors is like knocking out George foreman

Ahaha you never stop, do you?  TP for the laugh.

Lol it's what woj and Bill Simmons keep saying is in play. 

But right now we just need to sit back and appreciate the fact we just witnessed arguably the greatest basketball player of all time have hi Ali vs Foreman moment.

This makes me almost want to have kids... So I can tell their kids about this some day.

[Csfan1984]

Awesome game. Warriors living and dieing by the 3. And Cavs with the best two iso players. Even the scrubs for both teams chipped in some to add moments to the final game. It was enjoyable now time for GOT.

[PhoSita]

LeBron is the greatest of all time.

Man.  Amazing series by the Cavs, especially LeBron and Kyrie.

All time collapse by the Warriors.  They couldn't get any shots inside at the end and they lost.  Couldn't hit a shot.  You need to be able to get shots inside or else you open yourself up to this kind of result.  Battled all game and got four or five great opportunities and they couldn't finish.  Kyrie did.  LeBron did.

So disappointed.  I can't imagine being a Warriors fan right now.  Epic failure.  Beaten by a great, great opponent.  But this tarnishes their legacy irreparably.  Empty season.  Totally empty.

Can't let that one stand. How old are you. LeBron James is maybe top10, maybe. I can name 10 better players.

Nonsense.

He's going to get to the Finals another 3-4 times, at least, if he stays healthy.

Kyrie will go down as one of the all-time second bananas.  Pippen, McHale, Parker.

The Cavs will trade Love for some extra wings this summer and dominate the regular season next year.  The Warriors will fall behind the Thunder and the Spurs and become a footnote.  The Cavs will build a dynasty.


I believed the Warriors were the best team in the league this year.  But they couldn't get to the finish line.  Tough to rely on the jumper as much as they did.  In this game 7, they were only in it through the 3rd quarter because of great defense mixed with crazy shot making.  The shots stopped falling in the fourth and they lost to a team with the best player in the series.

Curry was injured, sure, and I stand by everything I've ever said about his regular season being better than LeBron's.  He was the regular season MVP this year.  But LeBron was the greatest in the playoffs, once again.  Kudos to LeBron.

[saltlover]

The loss of Bogut for game 6 and 7 will be overlooked in this game.  Give him Ezeli's minutes and this is a very different game.

I think Curry clearly not being healthy was the biggest issue. His field goal percentage near the rim dropped and he had lost all explosiveness off the dribble.

Oh, many things mattered.  But Bogut isn't going to be talked about.  And Ezeli was terrible.  0-4, 0 points, 1 rebound in 11 minutes, and some very bad defense late.  There's a reason Ezeli didn't get much run in the postseason, and we saw why the last 2 games.

[Rosco917]

odds of Love being there next year? my vote is not very high.

[meangreenmachine]

The loss of Bogut for game 6 and 7 will be overlooked in this game.  Give him Ezeli's minutes and this is a very different game.

I think Curry clearly not being healthy was the biggest issue. His field goal percentage near the rim dropped and he had lost all explosiveness off the dribble.

Yeah, the biggest issue was Golden State stupidly pursuing 73 wins earlier in the regular season. After they clinched the top seed, they should have rested. Had they done so, their path to the Finals would have likely been easier. The Cavs basically got to rest for two entire playoff series, with barely a challenge in the ECF, whereas Golden State needlessly battled fatigue and injuries, not to mention the scare from the Thunder.

I doubt anybody will ever win 74 games in a regular season because nobody will repeat this mistake again.

[hpantazo]

If Golden State had suited up and played Bill Russell instead of Ezeli or Varajao they would have won.

Kerr could have suited up himself and played instead of Ezeli or Varejao and they would have won. Kerr cost them the series going with Ezeli in the 4th quarter though. That was the difference.

[Vox_Populi]

The loss of Bogut for game 6 and 7 will be overlooked in this game.  Give him Ezeli's minutes and this is a very different game.

I think Curry clearly not being healthy was the biggest issue. His field goal percentage near the rim dropped and he had lost all explosiveness off the dribble.

Oh, many things mattered.  But Bogut isn't going to be talked about.  And Ezeli was terrible.  0-4, 0 points, 1 rebound in 11 minutes, and some very bad defense late.  There's a reason Ezeli didn't get much run in the postseason, and we saw why the last 2 games.

I agree in general. But the strange thing about Ezeli, as other analysts have noted, is that the Warriors lost all confidence in him before he was this terrible. Like, he was good as recently as the Portland series. Then they just decided he sucked and then he did suck.

Also, Kerr deserves blame too. Livingston and Barbosa were outplaying Barnes regularly and he didn't give them enough minutes.

[Eja117]

There is a certain something to watching one of the worst best players of an era getting a ring.

[PhoSita]

Lesson:

Being the best team in the league is great, but it's not as great as having the best player in the playoffs.

[hpantazo]

There is a certain something to watching one of the worst best players of an era getting a ring.

JR Smith or Shumpert?

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

now, I can mark it down today. Celts will oust Cavs next season. I can't wait to revisit this!

[saltlover]

The loss of Bogut for game 6 and 7 will be overlooked in this game.  Give him Ezeli's minutes and this is a very different game.

I think Curry clearly not being healthy was the biggest issue. His field goal percentage near the rim dropped and he had lost all explosiveness off the dribble.

Yeah, the biggest issue was Golden State stupidly pursuing 73 wins earlier in the regular season. After they clinched the top seed, they should have rested. Had they done so, their path to the Finals would have likely been easier. The Cavs basically got to rest for two entire playoff series, with barely a challenge in the ECF, whereas Golden State needlessly battled fatigue and injuries, not to mention the scare from the Thunder.

I doubt anybody will ever win 74 games in a regular season because nobody will repeat this mistake again.

Would resting have made a difference? Curry hurt his knee slipping on a wet spot on the court in the Houston series, where someone had just fallen.  I'm not sure resting three games at the end of the year would have prevented that.  I mean, maybe, because butterflies flapping their wings and all, but he got hurt on a specific play that was a bit unusual in nature.

[rondofan1255]

Happy for Cleveland. 

[CoachBS#1]

THe only thing I learned in this finals is, CBS is the best coach in the NBA and Harrison Barnes absolutely doesn't desrve a max contract and not even close. This finals were full of poor coaching.