Warriors open title defense vs Cavs
WARRIORS OPEN TITLE DEFENSE AGAINST LEBRON, CAVS
Greatness loves company, and Steve Kerr believes the Golden State Warriors are perfecting that very approach to team-building.
The Warriors begin the defense of their championship in the NBA Finals on Thursday at Oracle Arena, with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers opposing Kerr’s club for the fourth consecutive season.
“I just think that when you have a great player on your team, it’s a lot easier. The game becomes easier,” Kerr said. “With our team, we’re not a oneman show. We’ve got a lot of guys who can take over games, but it has to fit. The pieces have to fit. What I like about our team is our guys are very unselfish. They’re all – they all fit together well and they play off of each other. We found a nice group.”
Andre Iguodala, who hasn’t played since Game 3 of the Western Conference finals because of a bone bruise, is out for Game 1. The Warriors have blended the rotation to make up for the absence of their “point forward” but his absence could show up early and often against James. Klay Thompson drew the assignment of defending James Harden without Iguodala in the last series.
“You think back five years ago when (James) was with Miami, they were playing the Spurs in The Finals, and the Spurs were going underneath on every screen just daring him to shoot. Contrast that to now where he’s shooting fadeaway threes from 30 feet to close games out,” Kerr said. “I think his confidence level in his shot is the biggest thing. But I think it is pretty remarkable when you’ve got a guy who is already considered one of the top few players ever to play the game can make that much improvement late in his career. It’s a testament to his work ethic and to his work on his skillset. The shooting is what has really gotten better in the last few years.”
James, who said Wednesday he won’t miss playing Iguodala because of his quick hands and anticipation, is in the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive season. The 33-year-old is averaging 34 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the playoffs while barely leaving the floor for the depth-challenged Cavaliers. In games in these playoffs, James is averaging 41.3 minutes per game.
Game 1 of The Finals is the 101st game of the season for James, who is wrapping his 15th season as a pro.
“They always kind of talked about the NBA prime is like 27 and like 31, 32. That’s, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to that point,” said James, who said he had at least three rounds of treatment since the time the charter flight departed Cleveland to make sure he’s ready Thursday. “I don’t know. I’ve just never really bought into that. I’ve never bought into a ceiling either. You guys talked about what’s your ceiling, and I’ve always kind of told you guys that I don’t really have a ceiling. I want to just try to maximize as much as I can and be as good as I can.”