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You thought the Warriors couldn't get any more little things to break their way? Ha! Think again partner! The Cleveland Cavaliers could've shocked the world and stolen Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Oracle Arena, but a missed George Hill free throw and J.R. Smith brain fart prevented them from sealing the deal at the very end of regulation. Even Lebron's god-like stat line (51 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block 19/32 from the field) wasn't enough to go home for the win.
The Warriors got solid games from the Splash Bros. Steph Curry (29 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 11/23), and Klay Thompson (24 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 8/16), while Kevin Durant turned in a decent one for his standards (26 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 8/22). Draymond Green had his usual all-around impact (13 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 5/9) which also included baiting Tristan Thompson in some mind games that may cause Thompson to be suspended from Game 2.
Starting at the very beginning I remembered one interesting occurrence. At the beginning of Finals games, the home crow is usually hyped out of their mind for the start of the NBA Finals. If the enemy team receives the opening tip, they're usually vigorously booed by the crowd just to set the mood and intensity. Not this time when the Cavs won the tip. You could only hear faint boos sprinkled in, nothing much at all. It has been four times in a row now that these teams have faced off. Warriors fans didn't seem like they had as much hate for the Cavs because they expected to win so easily. What seemed like a potentially mild game turned out to be intense and explosive in the waning seconds.
The Cavaliers kept it neck and neck with the defending champs throughout the first four minutes of the starting quarter. Cleveland was switching well on defense and taking their time getting to their spots to drain open looks en route to a 15-15 tie game. With six minutes remaining, J.R. Smith accidentally slid into Klay Thompson's left leg and Klay got up hobbled, grasping his leg. Team doctors took a look and escorted him to the locker room for evaluation, but he ended up eventually returning to a standing ovation. Right after that play happened the boo birds were awakened! J.R. Smith was in the fan's crosshairs on every play.
The Cavs played a solid first quarter though. Lebron James scored 12 (on 4/4 shooting) while Kevin Love pitched in 9 on the way to a miniscule Cleveland lead 30-29 heading into the second. Steph Curry had 11 on 4/5 shooting while the rest of his teammates picked up buckets here and there. They looked a little lackadaisical on both ends in the first quarter, but we knew it couldn't last based on their third-quarter habits.
The Cavs even looked good to start the second quarter. They brought out a few bench guys and hopped out to a seven-point lead 42-35 which forced Golden State to call timeout. Lebron already had 18 with 7:42 left in the second. The Warriors quickly cut that lead down to four, but Cleveland went on a 7-0 run (with Lebron on the bench) and jumped back ahead by 11 this time, 51-40. But Golden State rallied back to tie the whole thing up at 53-53. Lebron made three free throws to take the lead back 56-53, but Steph Curry managed to hit a last second buzzer-beater near halfcourt to tie it back up 56-all! The first half was a wrap and Steph Curry checked out with 18 points (7/12) while Lebron had 24 (9/11) on the board.
And then the dreaded third quarter came around. The Warriors scored four points and came out with exponentially higher defensive intensity. I got the creeping feeling the Warriors would hold their lead the whole game after their first four points. Steve Kerr also decided to start JaVale McGee who had some nice defensive sequences 1-on-1 with Lebron. The Cavs called a timeout with the Warriors up 7, 66-59. But the Cavaliers didn't let the expected onslaught consume them, fighting back to tie it 68-68 off a Lebron three. The Warriors jumped ahead a little at the end and walked into the fourth with a six-point lead, 84-78. Cleveland managed to not get buried in the third quarter avalanche.
Golden State's defense was slipping to start the fourth, especially in the paint. Cleveland got some buckets off of dunks and beyond the perimeter too to bring the deficit down to one, 88-89. Jeff Green and Lebron James either scored or assisted on all points in the mini-run. They snatched the lead back on a flashy Lebron scoop shot drive for his 40th point. A little bit of scoreboard back-and-forth ensued but the Warriors got Draymond and Steph to hit their three's which put them up by 6, 100-94 with about 4 and a half minutes remaining. It just might have been the first made three-pointer of the postseason for Draymond.
Lebron brought it back to a two-point game off two quick buckets in the paint, but Curry pushed it back to four, 102-98 with 2:30 remaining. Kevin Love sunk a three and brought it to a one-point game 101-102. A couple possessions later, Lebron muscled his way in for an and-1 bucket 103-102 with 50 seconds remaining! Oracle Arena was nervous. Warriors took a timeout before Lebron went to the line, and he made his shot to put it at 104-102. Moments later, Kevin Durant drove straight down the lane with 35 seconds but the refs whistled him for a charge against Lebron, which would've been a turnover when they were down by two. They reviewed the play and reversed the call from a charge to a block to send Durant to the line, where he hit both free throws to tie it 104-104.
Lebron went right out of the timeout and scored a quick bucket for the lead, 106-104. But Steph Curry wasted no time and took it down the court for an and-1 layup of his own to put the score at 107-106. Cavs had a timeout but they didn't take it. Lebron had the ball with 23 seconds in the game and scrambled for a bit, but George Hill ended up drawing a foul on Klay Thompson to go to the line.
This is the part we will all remember when looking back at this game and possibly the entire series. George Hill hit his first free throw to tie it 107-107 but missed the second which would've given them the lead with four seconds on the clock. Then in an instant, J.R. Smith nabbed the rebound and he had several options. He could've held onto the ball and waited to be fouled, jumped back up to get a shot in, or dribbled out just a little to find a wide-open teammate if there was one. Instead, he ripped an enormous brain fart and took the ball near half-court away from his hoop because he thought the Cavs were up by one point when the game was actually tied! We got sent to overtime. Lebron shot JR a look of disgust that I knew was going to be the next meme in a matter of seconds. Here is the play followed by the look he shot J.R. at the end.
Durant hit the first baskets of overtime at the free throw line to put the score at 109-107. Klay Thompson immediately followed with a transition three, 112-107. The Warriors were just grabbing every rebound too. It was never up in the air as Gold State just steamrolled them in overtime to escape with a closer-than-expected Game 1 win 124-114.
But there were some minor theatrics at the end. One of the refs threw out Tristan Thompson when he elbowed Shaun Livingston as he was falling down from a shot. Then Lebron started jawing with Klay Thompson, which caused Draymond Green to come in talking that shit and Tristan Thompson shoved the ball in his face, which looked like a punch! He got tossed from the game because of his initial elbow but that sequence with Draymond may have cost him an appearance in Game 2.
Because of the stage that we are on, that J.R. Smith play has to be in the upper echelon of weirdest and dumbest basketball moments of all time. We even have to cross leagues and seat it in the Hall-Of-Shame next to Chris Webbers time-out call in the NCAA Championship Game. It obviously wasn't the only thing to decide Golden State's victory, but it's that one glaring moment where the Cavs had an excellent chance to go up 1-0 on the team that everyone thought they had no chance against in their own building!
If we learned anything from this game though, it's that Cleveland can put up a better fight than we initially expected (just like we learned from the Rockets later on in the WCF). Golden State might not be as invulnerable as we thought. Even though they have all the tools to be overpowered, they don't always utilize them to perfection when the lights are the brightest. One more thing to keep in mind is the impending return of Andre Iguodala. He's going to take their machine up a level so we will see how Cleveland will respond with him still out. I'm looking forward to Game 2 and hoping it'll be just as nail-biting as the first.
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