GRAND OPENING
Golden State makes statement with its lopsided Game 1 victory
There’s a party atmosphere for any big sporting event and it was no different Thursday night at Oracle Arena. After nine days of mind-numbing waiting and 12 perfunctory playoff victories by the Warriors, everyone was ready to be entertained.
Fans were whooping with joy as they entered the golden–shirt covered bowl, anticipating fun. Lighted bracelets were blinking, celebrities were sighted (Rhianna, Jay Z, Marshawn Lynch), there were long lines for libations and bro hugs between the players during warm-ups.
But that festive mood vanished as soon as the ball was tipped and the game got under way. The arena immediately filled with a thick intensity, a competitive heat emanating off the players on the floor. From the opening seconds, every shot was contested, every rebound a battle.
This felt less like Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals and more like Game 8 of last June’s series. As though a full year hadn’t
elapsed, as though all the emotion from last year’s Game 7 poured directly into Thursday night.
This was not a “feeling out” opening game. This was a “we know you and you know us” declaration game. And the Warriors were the team making the statement, pummeling the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-91.
“They’re the best I’ve ever seen,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. He had a smirk when he said it but he repeated it.
“No team has done this before, right?” he asked.
That’s right. The Warriors are 13-0 this postseason. After a game like Thursday’s, the possibility of doing the unthinkable, going undefeated — four, four, four, four — throughout the playoffs will be raised.
But one expects Lue is using that praise as a prod to goose his proud team. The Cavaliers will adjust. They came back from a 3-1 deficit last June. Few are predicting a Warriors cakewalk.
“There’s no time to be disappointed,” said Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving. “There’s a lot of things we can correct.”
The Cavaliers and Warriors are making history. For the first time in NBA history and the first time in more than half a century in the four major pro sports, two teams are meeting for a third straight championship. The Warriors won the first, the Cavaliers the second, so this — the third in the trilogy — is truly the rubber match. The grudge match.
There’s so much on the line, so much to prove. These two heavyweights have been waiting to trade blows since last season ended on the same floor at Oracle. In a joyous celebration for the Cavaliers. In a distressing heartbreaker for the Warriors, who went ice cold in the final minutes of Game 7.
That epic loss spurred the Warriors to go out and sign Kevin Durant, morphing from cute newcomer to Super Villain. The addition of Durant prompted the Cavaliers to go out and strengthen their supporting cast.
When asked what stood out to him about the Warriors, LeBron James had a simple answer. “KD,” he said. Other than personnel changes, the biggest difference between last year’s iteration of this matchup and now is the increased level of intensity. The deepening of the rivalry. The hardening of the grudges, the rewinding of memories, the fermenting of emotions.
And you could sense that immediately, from the moment the ball was tipped.
Durant in particular played like a man with a point to prove, a wish to fulfill, an internet to quiet. He was spectacular, the best player on the court — and that includes LeBron James. Too often for the Cavaliers’ liking, he found a wide-open lane and flew to the basket. He added eight assists to his 38 points.
“I just tried to do my part,” he said, “stay locked in on both ends and have some fun out there.”
Stephen Curry, who needed redemption after last year’s poor Game 7 performance, was also dazzling. He and Durant — who once were expected not to work well together — combined for 66 points and 18 assists.
Draymond Green, whose on-court antics in 2016 led to a Game 5 suspension and caused many of the Warriors’ momentum problems, was at his best: emotional, passionate but fully in control. The bench was solid, the maligned centers — Zaza Pachulia, who was vilified by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and JaVale McGee, whose basketball smarts were anonymously called into question by the Cavaliers — were key contributors. The team had only four turnovers to the Cavaliers’ 20.
In other words, it was all good for the Warriors. Including the fact that Mike Brown, their acting head coach, has now led them to an 11-0 record. Brown, who was fired twice by Cleveland, became the first Finals coach to be paid by both teams on the floor. Steve Kerr, unable to coach because of his ongoing chronic pain, addressed the team. But, even with Kerr only behind the scenes, his vision was being fully executed on the floor.
The Warriors pulled away at the start of the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, the air inside Oracle had lightened. The outcome of this opening game was already decided.
It had evolved from Game 8 back into a normal Game 1, just the first step of the series.
But it is going to be intense, every step of the way.