Actually, the Warriors stole Game 1
NO, Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Cleveland and Golden State was not supposed to be stolen by LeBron “King” James and the Cavaliers.
It was actually stolen from them.
With Warrior Stephen Curry planting the seed of the heinous heist.
With Cav J.R. Smith an unwitting accomplice.
And, yes, with hideous help from even the referees.
Crazy conspiracy. Why Curry was left open to shoot a buzzer-beating three at the half was a big no-no.
Isn’t Curry famously known to sink shots from as far as Jupiter or Mars? The only way to deflect that Curry shot was to wrestle Curry himself to the floor.
Smith was there to do it; he was just inches near where Curry committed the crime. But why Smith didn’t do it cost Cleveland the game in the end as Curry’s three knotted the halftime count at 56-all.
Cleveland had a foul to give at that instant and Smith’s embrace-foul on Curry could have ultimately made the Cavs a 107-104 winner in regulation.
Am I being petty, a nitpicker? Read on.
After James’s threepoint play off Kevon Looney gave Cleveland a 104102 lead, Kevin Durant would charge into James with 36.4 ticks left.
But, OMG! Referee Ken Mauer was overturned upon a replay review on the flimsy basis that James was in a restricted area.
On James’s blocking baloney foul, Durant’s charities made it 104-all. After James drove for what prove to be Cleveland’s last taste of the lead 106-104, Curry quickly countered with a threepoint play off Kevin Love for the Warriors’ 107-106 margin.
With 4.7 ticks remaining, George Hill had Cleveland’s possible marginal shot with his two charities off a Klay Thompson foul.
Hill made the first, but missed the second for a 107 deadlock.
But, hey, wait a second.
Smith grabbed Hill’s miss—Smith again, for Chrissakes?
Horrifically, Smith would waste a winning put-back when, crazily, he dribbled out of the paint, all the way to Timbuktu where time expired.
In overtime, the Cavs lost all hopes of recovery to go down in a stinging 124-114 loss.
Will Cleveland cast the Game 1 shock aside when Game 2 is played on Monday (PHL Time)?
“We’ve got to move on,” James said. “This game is over and done with.”
The king has spoken.