If I had to summarize these playoffs in one word, I would have to quote Lebron James in saying "CLEVELAND!" I found these finals much more intriguing then the past few years. There was a team other than Miami or San Antonio in the Finals and Lebron and the Cavaliers finally got to showcase what a great and memorable team they have become and what a terrific job Tyronn Lue did and redeeming himself from his past finals experience.......... lets just say he's glad he wasn't guarding Allen Iverson. These playoffs showed many story lines. The Cavaliers quest to end the drought of championships in Cleveland (Thanks John Elway). The Golden State Warriors quest at history and going back to back (Clipboards beware). And a surprising team in the Toronto Raptors who were never out of it, winning two seven game series before eventually falling to the Cavs in 6. One thing we learned about them is that Bismack Biyombo is a beast, and will likely get a max contract, whether Dikembe Mutumbo has authorized it or not. But they do have a promising back-court in Lowry and Derozan and if they stay together, could have a bright future. This playoffs was one of much Controversy as well. Draymond Green kicked and punched his way into this report, getting himself suspended for game 5 of the finals after numerous flagrant fouls through Steven Adams' kiwis. This Playoffs really heated up in the confrence finals. In the West, we saw the 73-9 Golden State Warriors fall down 3-1 to the The Thunder. Golden State proceeded to win the series in 7 games due to the unconcious shooting of the splash brothers (KLAY THOMPSON........ oh and the 2 time and unanimous MVP steph curry was there too, but GS fan or not, you can't deny Klay often put on the backpack in that series, especially game 6). OKC had the Warriors on the ropes, they were beating them at their own game, transition shooting and lockdown defense. Then for some reason, this stopped. Andre Roberson got in foul trouble as well as resurgence of Steph Curry, not to mention Kevin Durant's attempt at hero ball in the final games as well the forever unpredictability of Russell Westbrook. Despite the epic collapse, the future in OKC could be promising. The draft day trade that saw the edition of victor Oladipo, Damontas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova could prove very tempting to Kevin Durant's re-signing, but we'll just have to wait and see. The East saw a blowout boring series to a dramatic resurgence, back to a blowout. Toronto's shooting was very sparatic. Whatever it was, the Raptors fell 2-0 in the series to the Cavs, losing handily in the land both times. But game 3 was the first confrence finals home game in Raptors history, so the Raptors faithful (shoutout to drizzy) were quite fired up and seemed to fuel the Raptors resurgence and Bismack Biyombo's glass cleaning as they stole the next two. The thing the Raptors struggled with once again in the series was staying hot and winning on the road and they would go on lose the next two. This was a valiant effort however going against the juggernaut cavaliers and "playoff mindset" Lebron James, not to mention the historic Cavaliers 3pt shooting. Heck of a job by James Casey though, who wouldve been fired reportedly if the Raptors lost game 7 in the first round vs the Pacers.
So here we are, Cavs/Warriors, the series we all wanted to see, the rematch. Games one and two in Golden State saw the emergence of two established bench players. Shaun Livinston and Leandro Barbosa played ecsquisetly in games 1 and 2 as the Warriors win both at home. game 3 saw a Cleveland resurgence and the cavs winning by 30 which was somewhat of a common trend throughout these finals, blowout wins. This game also saw the absence of Kevin Love. Love hasnt really fit with this team and honestly, they looked like a better team with Richard Jefferson in who was playing in the finals when lebron was in high school. Love would return for game 4 as the Warriors set an NBA finals record with 17 three's in a finals game (Wow, the Warriors set a 3pt record, never seen them do that..........). This was also a game that saw "The shot to the groin heard round the world". Draymond Green hit Lebron in the groin and was suspended for game 5 as the Warriors win, but lose a key contributer. Game five was what many thought would be the end. No Draymond no problem right? No. Lebron and Kyrie combined for 82 and despite a meer 2 points from Kevin Love, The Cavs lived to fight another day, stealing one in Oakland going back to the land. Now this is something we have seen before. Everyone said "OKC has this in the bag" going up 3-1 but game 5 proved to not be that in the west finals. the warriors won and gained momentum. this same thing happened for Cleveland. The Cavs gained momentum and not to mention Lebron James knocking down 3's. Draymond Green was back for game 6 in the land. Something no one couldve predicted happened. The cavs got off the an unbelievable start, going up 31-11 in the 1st. The Warriors got off to the worst start possible. No team has scored that little of points in a finals game since the 50's. This is the 73-9, hot shooting Golden State Warriors!!! later on, The Warriors started chipping away at the cavs lead. they had cut it to single digits when steph curry, pulled a shot from the parking lot that missed and seemed to give the cavs back the momentum. Curry had picked up fouls here and there throughout the game and they started to add up and eventually led to a sixth foul late in the 4th. This led curry to yell at the referee "thats b*** s**** and throw his mouthguard into the stands and the first ejection in his career. Sure, Steph curry can keep his cool when everything is going in and they're winning every game, but not in this moment. Not to mention his wife tweeting about the nba being rigged. Really?!? Your husband is a two time mvp on the team with the best record in regular season history. if the Nba is rigged Ayesha, you have nothing to complain about. Anyways, Lebron dropped 41 again and the cavs win again. So here we are, game 7 at oracle. This was without a doubt, one of the most entertaining games to watch. Lebron and Kyrie going and forth with Steph, Klay and Draymond Green who, not matter what anyone may call him for obvious reasons, came up HUGE for them, dropping 32 in the First half. Fast forward to the 4th, steph curry goes 1-6 in this quarter while Lebron and Kyrie come up HUGE in the final minutes. curry was careless with the ball, much like game 6 and the cavs capitalized. then comes the play we all will remember from theese playoffs. Lebron james with the EMPATIC chasedown block of iggy and then the absoluetly disrepectful kyrie irving 3 in the face of steph curry. now something most wont remember is that Kevin Love actually played quite well in game 7, looking a bit like him Minnesotan self, grabbing 14 boards, 9 points and the best plus minus on the team at 19. So as many know, Lebron finishes with a triple double and hes done it. The cavaliers are finally champs. No one and i mean NO ONE can question his legacy. Coming back from down 3-1 against steph, klay and the warriors that were 73-9? Are you kidding me?!?!?!?! We then saw Klay Thompson, who was very adiment in saying that "Oh, i guess lebrons feelings were hurt." After draymond green being suspended, walk out without any "good games" to the cavs and he also walked out early in game 6 as well. Who feelings are hurt now, Klay? All jokes aside, this will be remembered by many as one of the greatest finals and playoffs in years.
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