The Golden State Warriors, who will host Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, have beaten and lost to LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers over consecutive seasons. James briefly celebrated breaking the record by raising his right index finger to signal No. 1 as he headed down the court while the game continued.
“I’m proud of our group”. I didn’t go bald like Mike, but I’m getting there.
“This is something that will be talked about long after us”, Draymond Green said. The anticipation only grew when the 73-win Warriors added Kevin Durant in free agency. But Boston players acknowledged there is still work to be done to catch the Cavaliers. Nope. They’re considerable underdogs because LeBron, the best player of his generation, is facing the most successful team of his generation. (Terry) Rozier is tough, Avery is tough, (Marcus) Smart’s tough. He left a contender to join an even better team. You can call up all the advanced stats you want, but basketball, when you really get down to to it, particularly in playoff situations that often come down to winning a few crucial possessions, tends to be pretty simple: Best player wins. They capitalize, they did everything to the T, like they were supposed to.
Bill Laimbeer, beloved enforcer of the “Bad Boys”, gave his answer, which shouldn’t surprise you.
Detroit became the league’s third repeat victor in the championship game the following season when Layne threw a 33-yard TD pass to Jim Doran with just over 2 minutes remaining for a 17-16 victory.
James spoke Thursday during the morning shootaround before the Cavaliers play the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. They become the first team in National Basketball Association history to enter the championship decider with a 12-0 postseason record (the 2000-2001 Lakers were still playing in the best-of-five first round era), and they did so with absurd offensive firepower.
They’ve given themselves a chance to erase the sting of their 44-point loss in Game 2. I think you’ve found two great teams.
After playing three halves against the Cavaliers, the Celtics said Thomas was done for the season. “So just to be a part of this is wonderful”. We have to have low turnovers, and we have to try to make them miss because some of those guys play a lot better at home.
First though, the Cavs had to finish off the Boston Celtics.
“We’re not going to use that as motivation”, Lue said. “I think maybe people just fail to realize that you just have two great teams and don’t appreciate that”. The NBA Finals start June 1st on ABC 10.
At the very moment where the clock ran out in that series, the person James was embracing was Durant telling the then-Thunder star, his offseason workout partner at the time, how proud of him he was.
So they must be massive favorites, right? They have the No. 1 pick; we’ll see what they do with that.
“Whatever they have to do to continue to play at – not just a normal level – at an MVP level, that’s what I’ve been on the doctors about”, he said.