Warriors feeling no pain after hard-fought Game 1 win over LeBron and the Cavs. Thompson says he’ll be ready Sunday.
Rivalry heats up to a new level as the Cavaliers show disdain for Warriors’ antics
OAKLAND >> If the fun-loving Warriors played baseball, they’d flip their bats after every home run. Stephen Curry might shimmy down the first-base line. Draymond Green would scream at the pitcher all the way around the bases.
JaVale McGee would ... well, I don’t know what he would do, but it would be weird and entertaining.
Baseball, though, polices against this stuff with its old-school (and increasingly debated) unwritten rules. The quick version is that excessive celebration will get you a 95 mph fastball to the ribs.
Basketball’s unwritten code is less documented, but it’s there. And when the Cleveland Cavaliers deemed the Warriors in violation late Thursday night on an otherwise meaningless play, it added some heat to an NBA Finals rivalry that’s already at the habanero level.
At issue was a shot attempt by Warriors reserve guard Shaun Livingston with 4.8 seconds remaining in the Warriors’ 124-114 overtime victory in Game 1.
With the victory safely in hand, Livingston could have done what most
teams do — let the 24-second shot clock run out for a turnover and humbly hand the ball back to the officials.
Instead, Livingston launched a mid-range jumper. Cavs center Tristan Thompson showed his immediate contempt by defending the shot with an elbow to Livingston’s head.
That act earned Thompson a type 2 flagrant foul for “excessive violence” and the automatic ejection that comes with it. As part of the tension in the final minutes, LeBron James and Curry also exchanged heated words, no doubt disagreeing about how Miss Manners would rule on a double-digit lead in overtime.
In the locker room later, Thompson was still fuming about The Code.
“Shaun’s a smart player. He’s been in the league for a long time. So he knows,” the seventh-year veteran said. “He shot the shot. Maybe he wanted to increase his points per game. I don’t know. That’s some (baloney).”
The Warriors, meanwhile, were ticked off about a violation of the actual rules — the ones that are written down. When Green celebrated Thompson’s ejection, essentially clapping in his face, the Cavs’ 6-foot-9 center responded by shoving the ball into Green’s ear hole.
Klay Thompson was still ticked off about that Friday on a conference call in which a reporter asked whether Tristan Thompson should face league discipline.
“I don’t know what the exact rules are as far as a suspension for that. I thought it was unnecessary when he shoved the ball in Draymond’s face,” the Warriors guard said.
“That was very uncalled for, especially if two guys are just talking. That’s not the way to play.”
The coaches, predictably, also had a philosophical difference as to whether Livingston’s jump shot was a cheap shot.
Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said Friday that the Cavs take a different approach to the code.
“For us, I think when the game is out of hand and we know a team can’t
score a basket in two seconds, then we usually run it out,” he said. “But the Warriors’ policy all year has been (to) shoot the ball. They don’t take a turnover. You’ve got to play it to the end of the buzzer. They took a shot. And that’s what they do.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained that his players will continue to shoot in those situations so long as there is a 24-second shot clock to
abide by.
“I guess Tristan felt like that was offensive. That’s a different interpretation,’’ Kerr said. “If there is no shot clock on, we are going to dribble the clock out.
“But if there’s time left on the clock, the game is telling us to continue to play. We’re not going to go in and dunk it. We’re not going to do anything fancy. Shaun dribbles up and takes a 15-footer. But we’re not going to take a turnover. That would be stupid.”
It looked like just one play but, as is the case with many baseball beanballs, there’s a deeper history at play.
The Warriors celebrate more than any team in the NBA, both because they have reason to (they’re aiming for their third title in four years) and because their roster is filled with free spirits who play with a jubilant flair.
Curry gyrates and exhorts the crowd after long
3s. Green screams right in opponents’ faces after a key defensive stop. Nick Young is nicknamed Swaggy P. The Warriors have strength in (dance) numbers.
And the Cavs have no use for the antics. The ferociously competitive James made that clear in previous Finals. Whenever Curry, for example, took one of his just-for-the-heck-of-it shots after a stoppage of play, James would defend those attempts, too. The message seemed to be: this ain’t recess.
James was unavailable Friday, but teammate George Hill, who missed a fateful free throw at the end of regulation in Game 1, spoke on behalf of the Cavs when asked about this growing NBA Finals rivalry.
“We’re the last two teams playing, and we’re going to fight it out,” Hill said. “It shouldn’t be a prom dance. It’s going to be a fight.”