Friday 19 June 2015 23:02, UK
The Golden State Warriors defeated LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to claim the NBA Championship for the first time in 40 years.
Game four proved to be the turning point. The city of Cleveland were two wins away from their first taste of national success in 51 years and their first ever NBA title, with the Cavs up 2-1 in the series having won two in a row.
Down by 12 points at half-time in game four, Cavs head coach David Blatt demanded his players to, “Lay it out there! Till you're done!” What Blatt might not have realised was that the seven players he was utilising were done. The Warriors went on to win the game by 21 points.
Ultimately, a healthy and deeply talented Golden State squad simply outlasted an ailing and less endowed Cleveland team on basketball’s biggest stage.
It was the LeBron James show
While the onus was always on LeBron to bring success to Cleveland, losing all-star point guard Kyrie Irving to a fractured kneecap in game one put a lot more pressure on James. Especially after losing their other all-star, Kevin Love, in the first round of the playoffs.
The supporting cast that helped James get to the post-season were out. James and his underrated teammates were written off but no one expected what would happen next. James proved why he was the best player in the world after setting an NBA Finals record for scoring the most points through the first three games. The four-time MVP scored a combined 123 points gave the Cavs a 2-1 lead in the series.
By game six, James scored or assisted 62 per cent of the Cavs’ points. He illustrated his dominance by becoming the first player in Finals history to lead both teams in points, rebounds and assists.
Warriors depth eclipsed subdued Splash Brothers
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson – also known as the Splash Brothers – set numerous NBA records this season. Curry broke his own record for most three-point field goals scored in the regular season, and then shattered Reggie Miller's record for most three-pointers scored in the post-season.
Curry’s backcourt team-mate Thompson posted 37 points in a quarter, setting an NBA record, earlier in the season. The form we came so used to seeing from the greatest shooting tandem in the history of the game was far and few between in the Finals.
This did not inhibit the Warriors from achieving their ultimate goal. Golden State illustrated their depth with a bench that outscored or equalled Cleveland’s reserves in five of the six games.
Veterans Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa and David Lee had the greatest impact coming off the bench. The four players combined for 44 years of experience in the league, which proved invaluable.
Steve Kerr’s a rookie mastermind
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr became the first rookie to win a championship since Pat Riley in 1982. Kerr, who set the record for the most wins as a first-year coach, brought in a free-flowing offensive system to Golden State.
The former five-time champion masterminded the Warriors to victory with his ability to manage his team’s depth during the regular season. Resting his key players while giving the second team minutes on the floor during insignificant periods of the 82-game regular season proved beneficial. It meant Kerr had a healthy squad that showed little signs of fatigue.
Kerr made a crucial adjustment in game four, which proved to be the turning point in Warriors’ road to victory. Replacing centre Andrew Bogut with Iguodala stretched the opposition. With Iguodala starting, Golden State had five players who could shoot from three-point range. This made it more challenging for Cleveland to double team the more prolific shooters like Curry and Thompson.
Iguodala proved to be invaluable on the defensive end as well and after winning game four, Kerr stuck with the adjustments and the Warriors went on to win three in a row to clinch the title.
Andre Iguodala: an unsuspecting MVP
Andre Iguodala started every game of his 11-year career until this season. He did not start a single game this year but proved his efficiency against James after coming off the bench in the first three games.
This earned him his first start in game four. There is no stopping the best player in the world, but Iguodala certainly slowed him down. James only made 33 per cent of field goals in the entire series when guarded by Iguodala, which was significant.
It wasn’t just Iguodala’s presence on the defensive end that earned him the prestigious Finals MVP award. He scored 15 or more points 12 times all season, and four of those games were during the Finals.
The King won the battle but Steph won the war
In the end, the man known as The King took on an immeasurable workload throughout the Finals. In the entire series, James only sat on the bench for 23 minutes and spent an unfathomable four hours and 35 minutes on the court. Cleveland’s field goal percentage dropped from 40 per cent to just 17 per cent when the Ohio native took a break.
"I wish I could have done better and done more to help us get over the hump.” James said. “But it just wasn't our time.”
It was Curry’s time and the league MVP is now the first player in history to beat every other member of the All-NBA first team on the way to the title.
