Cleveland ready to pop corks
Cavs have little to lose while attempting to end city’s 52-year title drought
They will play Game 7 of the NBA Finals tonight in Oakland, Calif. Yet the seismic activity should be monitored more closely in northeast Ohio, where the ground really threatens to move under people’s feet.
They anxiously await the biggest sporting moment ever experienced in Cleveland, the Cavaliers beating the Warriors, potentially bigger locally than The Drive, The Fumble and, yes, The Decision. The Cavs never have played a game like this, one that decides an NBA title or affects so many lives and edits so many legacies. They all want to be witnesses when LeBron James fulfills his promise.
They forecast a mixture of anticipation and dread floating in the air above Lake Erie until tipoff and a steady stream of tears, caused by agony or ecstasy, as the final buzzer sounds. They are ready to party like it’s 1964 or wait again till next year, as they have so often in America’s most futile sports city. In a series with too many lopsided games, the real blowout could come in the Flats if the Cavs can bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Yes, Cleveland indeed would rock like never before.
What are the Cavs doing here anyway? The Warriors looked invincible leading the series 3-1 with confidence brimming all over the Bay Area and Game 5 at home, back when Ayesha Curry was tweeting only recipes for bread pudding. Then while addressing the suspension of teammate Draymond Green for his Game 4 dust-up with James, Warriors guard Klay Thompson informed James at a news conference that the NBA is “a man’s league.” Oops. Rustled out of a series slumber, the Most Dominant Man in the NBA responded the way men of his ilk do.
James became only the fifth player in Finals history to post back-to-back games of 40 points or more, scoring 41 in consecutive victories. After two of his most clutch individual performances ever, James arrives for a career moment of truth averaging 34.4 points and nine rebounds in five career Game 7s.
Beating the Warriors on their home floor for the NBA championship would represent James’ greatest accomplishment. Ending the 52-year title drought would make it fair to wonder if any professional athlete has meant more to a city than James means to Cleveland. Only one sports story in 2016 would carry more significance nationally than the Cavs winning Sunday — the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. This is Cleveland’s October.
But while a victory would enhance James’ legacy, be careful suggesting that a loss would tarnish it. That’s knee-jerk, talk-show, hottake hyperbole. A player making his seventh appearance in the Finals has done nothing this series to diminish his stature. Quite the contrary; James leads both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks while carrying a Cavs team with occasional help from Kyrie Irving but mysteriously meager contributions from Kevin Love. James reasonably can claim the Finals MVP award, win or lose.
What makes James and the Cavs especially dangerous is they will play Game 7 having nothing to lose and everything to gain. Only three of 15 road teams have won Game 7 of the NBA Finals, with the Washington Bullets the last to pull it off in 1978 against the Seattle SuperSonics — who entered with a 22-game home winning streak. (Thank you, Wes Unseld.) No team has dug out of a 3-1 hole in the Finals.
The Warriors, in contrast, have more to lose than gain. They entered the playoffs riding the wave of history after breaking the Bulls’ regular-season record of 72 wins. They need to repeat as champions to stake any legitimate claim as the best team in NBA history. They were favored by the league consensus yet have lost eight playoff games compared with nine losses during the entire regular season.
And since Green’s suspension, the Warriors are reeling. The team known for having so much fun on the court resembles a bunch of guys trying to get through the work day. Players appear more rattled than defending champs should. Nothing depicted that more than Steph Curry flinging his mouthpiece in disgust in Game 6, hitting a fan and drawing an ejection. It was a bad look for anybody, let alone a two-time MVP.
The legacy of the 2015-16 Warriors hangs in the balance of the next 48 unforgettable minutes more precariously than James’ does.
As Cavs-Warriors captivates the rest of the country, only the bravest of Chicago Bulls fans will dare to take a peek. Consider if the Cavs capture Cleveland’s first title since the Browns in 1964, James’ dominance will revive the LeBron-MJ debate over the best player ever. If the Warriors prevail, it will provide the championship that would empower basketball historians in the Bay Area to deem this the greatest season by an NBA team.
Miss Game 7 at your own risk. This has a once-in-alifetime feel to it.