After last night, for the first time I think the Cavs could actually win the series. Still I think there will be a game where GS wins by 25. LeBron is playing like a beast, but his control the game by taking the air out of the ball for 23 seconds every time down the floor won't work if the get down by 15.

Also I'm not sure LeBron can keep this up. GS is making comebacks because LeBron is putting up a lot of 2-15 in the second halfs. He's ending up with some Kobe lines, but it's great soothing in the first half and trying to hang on for the second.

As far as the Cavs wearing down, I just don't see it because of the way the playoffs have been spaced out.
I'm sure if they lose, it will be offered as a factor, but the playoffs started for the Cavs on 4/19, and if this goes 7 games, it ends on 6/19. That means if it goes 7, the Cavs will have played 21 games in a 2 months span. In the regular season, they would normally play about 30 games in a 2 month window.

These guys can recover.

I was looking at this series with the view that the Cavs were the team to beat. Don't know why everyone hopped on the Curry bandwagon so hard. Lebron>>>>>>>>>

Wtf?! I hit post once and it reacted instantly. That was a strange triple post.

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Also I'm not sure LeBron can keep this up. GS is making comebacks because LeBron is putting up a lot of 2-15 in the second halfs. He's ending up with some Kobe lines, but it's great soothing in the first half and trying to hang on for the second.

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did you watch last nights game?

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I'm sure if they lose, it will be offered as a factor, but the playoffs started for the Cavs on 4/19, and if this goes 7 games, it ends on 6/19.

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And they had a week to rest and recuperate between the conference finals and NBA finals.

But, is there a difference between cumulative fatigue and in-game fatigue? Do they want to push Dellavedova so hard that he has to be hospitalized for fluids after every game?

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Also I'm not sure LeBron can keep this up. GS is making comebacks because LeBron is putting up a lot of 2-15 in the second halfs. He's ending up with some Kobe lines, but it's great soothing in the first half and trying to hang on for the second.

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did you watch last nights game?

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I did, and the cavs had a bunch of empty 4th quarter possessions where LeBron went iso for 20 seconds and then missed a fall away jumper. He doesn't have much choice, but if GS hits shots early I don't think the cavs can keep up. The cavs D has been awesome so far but I expect Curry to break out at some point.

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I wasnt on the thread last night but that was an awesome win.

Couple of things:

1)the lead getting to 20 actually hurt the Cavs. They would have been much better off if it just hovered from 8 to 12 for the rest of the game. They are winning on defensive hustle and once it got to 20 there was just no way to maintain that hustle.

2) People keep talking about how Curry "found it", he only started making shots because Delly stopped guarding him. I dont know why they took Delly off of him, maybe he was tired.

3) At some point this 6 man rotation from the Cavs has to wear out, they are still not in THAT great of a spot to win it

4)The Cavs still havent had a 3 point shooter go absolutely bananas and its going to happen. Always does for Lebron he will get one person hot and then keep feeding them

5) any of you on here giving Lebron the SLIGHTEST jabs, are doing sports so wrong. What we are watching is truly incredible. If you cant just sit back and watch it without hating on the dude, I feel bad for you. I really do.

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1. Agreed, they lost their mojo especially when Lebron went to the bench at the beginning of the 4th quarter.

2. Yes he was tired and I'm not sure he can keep it up for the remainder of the series. We'll see.

3. No, they're not and I'm wondering if it's going to catch up to Lebron at some point. I say this next game or perhaps Game 5. History is not on Lebron's side.

4. No they haven't, but it will be fools gold for them if JR does go off. By the same token, the Warriors haven't been consistent through 3 games. If they start firing on all cylinders, I think the Cavs are toast.

5. Incredible performance through 3 games yes, but he's still nowhere near GOAT. He is not a jumpshooter so why does he take Jordan-esque jumpers to win the game?

he shot better in the 2nd half than he did in the first.

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5. Incredible performance through 3 games yes, but he's still nowhere near GOAT. He is not a jumpshooter so why does he take Jordan-esque jumpers to win the game?

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you just made my point. He is up 2-1 against one of the best single season teams in NBA history, with one the worst teams in NBA Finals history(if not the worst. He is averaging 40/12/8. Why do you have to bring up who the GOAT is? Why do you have to find ONE thing to critique.

Anyoen can be critiqued. Was MJ perfect? No.

My whole point is it just just be watched and admired. He is doing something phenomenal right now.

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"They're playing like a team that's desperate and needs something. We're playing like a team that's not desperate and got something." - Draymond Green

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Uhh...yeah. A NBA title. Of course they're playing like need it. Very wise words, Draymond. Might be time for the Warriors to start getting a little desperate.

He should be embarrassed. But he's not and that's embarrassing too

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5. Incredible performance through 3 games yes, but he's still nowhere near GOAT. He is not a jumpshooter so why does he take Jordan-esque jumpers to win the game?

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It's largely due to his supporting cast. He's getting tripled if he drives in crunch time, and in the previous games wasn't getting the calls either, there isn't anyone who can handle and set him up, and the spacing isn't good because the D doesn't respect his teammates. So his choice, at times, was reduced to bulling into three defenders and hoping for a call that wasn't coming, or settling for a long fadeaway.

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IMO, this roster is better than the one Lebron had in 2007, but not by much. The 2007 Spurs knew how to choke out an opponent on the biggest stage, and the Warriors may be in their crucible now

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Agreed. I think injuries have certainly hurt the Cavs, and while nobody is claiming Delavadova is a great player that would be a stud anywhere, he isn't that much different from other hustle PGs that have made an impact in the past (JJ Barea, Patty Mills). He appears to be smarter than Mario Chalmers.

Mozgov has improved every year, and matches up very well with any center in the East, and is the better center on the floor during this series.

Tristan Thompson has improved every year, and may be a better rebounder than Kevin Love, and is probably a better defender. Plus he doesn't need the ball in his hands. Has out rebounded everyone in this series it seems.

Back when the Knicks were winning 54 games, JR Smith played the most minutes, and has been a key contributor on plenty of playoff teams. Arguably filling about the same level of contribution as what Carmelo got to play with on anyteam.

Shumpart is a solid player. Outside of Golden St, he would be a contributor on about any team in the league.

Additionally, there are some guys on the Cavs bench that were major contributors last few years to their playoff teams in the West that can't hardly get on the floor (Perkins, Miller, Marion). It isn't all about injury and they haven't regressed to Jimmy Carter 1 year later.

Look, I'm not saying saying LeBron is playing with the Dream Team, nor even as good as what Steph Curry has around him, but this narrative about his supporting cast being 4 stiffs, isn't exactly true either.

And probably most important right now, unlike with KLove and Kyrie out there, there is a lot of clarity about what the Cavs offense is all about.

You just had to justify every single guy around LeBron a ton. Based solely off that, it's clear that LeBron is playing with spare parts. Sure some are better than others, but if they somehow win this finals, it'll be fun to find a championship team in the last 30 years with a finals roster as depleted as the Cavs. Bet there won't be a single one. Every other team will have AT LEAST one other guy who you regard as a stud.

Not to mention, the Warriors are, statistically speaking, one of the best single season teams in nba history, according to 538

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I was looking at this series with the view that the Cavs were the team to beat. Don't know why everyone hopped on the Curry bandwagon so hard. Lebron>>>>>>>>>

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The Warriors are tied for the 4th-most wins in NBA history. They were tied for #1 in offensive efficiency and alone as #1 in defensive efficiency. The Cavs had just lost 2 of their "Big 3" and its next best options are players that were the 7th and 8th leading scorers on a last place Knicks team. Dellavedova is an undrafted second-year player that averaged 4.8 ppg while shooting 36% from the field. And Vegas had GS as the overwhelming favorite.

Just a few reasons why "everyone hopped on the Curry bandwagon".

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Additionally, there are some guys on the Cavs bench that were major contributors last few years to their playoff teams in the West that
can't hardly get on the floor (Perkins, Miller, Marion). It isn't all
about injury and they haven't regressed to Jimmy Carter 1 year later.


Look, I'm not saying saying LeBron is playing with the Dream Team, nor even as good as what Steph Curry has around him, but this narrative
about his supporting cast being 4 stiffs, isn't exactly true either.

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Neither Miller nor Perkins has broken the 7 ppg barrier since 2010. Marion hit the wall this year. Mozgov is a starting quality center, but after that it's a bunch of guys who should be coming off the bench or maybe playing as the fifth best starter. Lebron makes players look better than they are, and it's because he can make up for any shortcomings they have on offense. This is why Boobie Gibson got a 5 year, 21 million dollar deal but the second it ended so did his basketball career.

If Delly had to handle the ball all the time he would look bad. If Schumpert had to do more than catch and shoot, he would have a thousand turnovers. If Thompson had to do anything but rebound, he would be a major offensive liability. If JR Smith were allowed to touch the ball, he might shoot it before he got across half court. Instead, all of these guys are able to get by with doing only the very few things they are good at on offense and have plenty of energy to go all out on defense.

Wrong thread

Holy **** that's awesome!

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I was looking at this series with the view that the Cavs were the team to beat. Don't know why everyone hopped on the Curry bandwagon so hard. Lebron>>>>>>>>>

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The Warriors are tied for the 4th-most wins in NBA history. They were tied for #1 in offensive efficiency and alone as #1 in defensive efficiency. The Cavs had just lost 2 of their "Big 3" and its next best options are players that were the 7th and 8th leading scorers on a last place Knicks team. Dellavedova is an undrafted second-year player that averaged 4.8 ppg while shooting 36% from the field. And Vegas had GS as the overwhelming favorite.

Just a few reasons why "everyone hopped on the Curry bandwagon".

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Yep. GS is a damn good TEAM. Cleveland without Love and Irving = Lebron and a bunch of role players and outright scrubs. The energy and... hell I don't know, moxie? Cleveland is showing on D is pretty incredible. We'll see if they can keep it up and get two more wins.

My guess is no, but who knows. LeBron is a f***ing freak. A smothering defender on one end and a slightly smaller 1995 Shaq on the other (by that Shaq comparison, I mean that he's ridiculously, unfairly athletic for his size and that he can bulldoze his way to the hoop against pretty much anyone. I don't actually mean he plays like Shaq). If anybody can lead a team to another 2 wins, it's him.

But these last 2 games have been very close despite GS being deep in a funk. If they shake it, Cleveland just doesn't have the horsepower to keep up.

I know other people have talked about exhaustion and recovery, but Delly wound up in the hospital after the last game. Two days isn't very long to recover from cramps/dehydration/exhaustion that severe. Very good chance that he'll start running out of steam much sooner every game. The Cavs only have 7 players getting 10+ minutes. Take away Dellavadova and you've either got to pull Mike Miller out of semi-retirement for real minutes or try to roll six deep. Mike Miller can't begin to cover anyone on the Warriors, and taking a player out of the lineup puts 15% more load on a group of guys who are already surviving on sheer willpower for the last 5 minutes of every game.

Lebron was cramping as well, although this time it happened while he was walking so it never really locked up and he was able to come back in at relatively full health. Still, if he plays at less than 98% of where he has been, the Cavs lose three straight.

I was laughing out loud reading that post that was justifying Lebrons supporting cast.

This is the NBA. This is the NBA Finals. There is not another person on his team that can be trusted to give any offense on their own.

He sits for one minute and the Warriors start to INSTANTLY take over the game. In one minute.

His team has a bunch of role players. You dont win in the NBA with a roster like that. Especially against one of the best teams of all time.

If he pulls this off(and its still not a likelihood), it will be one of the best accomplishments in the big 3 sports history. Simply incredible.

Did Yall see this dumbass??

I keep watching it and cracking up at this idiot. There is a longer video where it shows here. I will go get it and post.

Perfect representation of that fanbase. Trash

Ray Allen would be kind of big for the cavs right now....

What is going on in that video? I don't have sound.

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What is going on in that video? I don't have sound.

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After game 2(which the Cavs won), some girl right behind the camera guy yells "Hey Lebron, how does it feel to be a Pu**y Ass B*tch?"

then the security bro right in front goes "Hey watch your mouth, woman!"

The extended video shows the guard say watch your mouth woman again, then he says "I remember your face" and as soon as he says that, she immediately looks ashamed and apologetic.