Will Lebron deliver for Cavs?
Storylines to watch during NBA final
1Can
When the Cavaliers drafted the hometown hero back in 2003, the thinking was the city’s brutal sporting drought would soon come to an end (Cleveland has not won a championship in any of the major sports since 1964 and has never ruled the NBA). While LeBron James did take the Cavs to the Finals once before leaving for Miami, that overmatched group was swept away and once he was gone, the team again sank to the bottom.
But now, James is a hero again and the Cavs are the area’s great hope to finally reverse the curse.
With a series win, James would stand with Jim Brown at the top of the Ohio sporting pantheon.
With a loss, he would drop to just 2-4 at the Finals.
Meanwhile, the Bay Area teams have recently been walking on water. The Warriors topped the NBA all year, the Giants have won the World Series three times since 2010, the 49ers, Sharks and Athletics have been contenders and the Raiders ... well, you can’t have it all. 2Who
James dropped all the way to No. 3 in MVP voting this season, but rest assured, he remains dominant. James nearly averaged a triple-double against Atlanta and has averaged 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 8.3 assists overall in 14 post-season games, 12 of them Cleveland wins.
But if you dig a little deeper into the numbers, James hasn’t quite been as good as he was the previous three post- seasons (granted he was historically good those years). His shooting is way down (. 492 true shooting percentage vs. an absurd .668 last year and .585 and .576 before that), he is getting to the free throw line less often and has struggled from outside and his player efficiency rating has plummeted.
All of that has opened the door slightly to the idea that reigning MVP Stephen Curry has now surpassed him.
Cur r y has averaged 29.2
the King (finally) bring a ring to Cleveland?
is the best player in this series?
points on 46% shooting ( 44% from three), including a masterpiece of a series in the West final against Houston (31.2 points on 49% three-point shooting).
How do you slow down Curry, James was asked? “The same way you slow me down. You can’t.”
Indeed. 3Is
Inarguably, the Western Conference is far better and more competitive than the East, yet the Warriors won seven more games than East-leading Atlanta and 67 in all. Only five teams have ever won more and four of those squads eventually emerged as NBA champions.
Golden State’s 10.01 point adjusted margin of victory is the seventh-best ever, according to Basketballreference. com ( via
this Warriors team a historic group?
Forbes.com) and five of the top six won championships.
Four other teams also won 67 games in a season and three of them won it all ( the other, the 2007 Dallas Mavericks were stunned in one of the biggest playoff upsets ever by an underdog Warriors squad).
There’s no question Golden State had a histori c regular campaign, but, in order to rank amongst the all-time great squads, Curry’s crew needs to cap everything with a title.
Otherwise, t hey w i l l b e remembered only as a really good team that couldn’t quite get it done (and, perhaps, one of only three that has ever wiped out a 20-point fourth quarter deficit in a playoff game as they did in Round 1 against New Orleans.