Boutta make a serious post.
You know I think it's funny. Cavs win a game and Warriors fans are talking about it being an "anomaly" and GS just needs to wake up and blah blah. But tonight they finally get a win, and it's almost
entirely based on anomalies.
Where do I start?
1.) Iguodala absolutely SHOWED OUT. Hats off to him, but that's not the recipe for success. Just like Klay, you'll get a good game out of Iggy then he'll fade to obscurity in the next.
2.) JR and Shumpert played
inexplicably bad. Don't get me wrong, they've been mediocre all series, but watching the Cavs get like 4 second chance 3s for Smith and watching him brick them all was cringe worthy. Speaking of which...
3.) The Cavs couldn't hit a 3 to save their lives. When GS can't score it's because "they're off", but Cle is shooting poorly and of course it's because of GS' "stifling defense." Go back and watch the game, the overwhelming majority of the 3s Cle shot were uncontested and they bricked everything. Delly, Shump, and JR especially.
4.) The Cavs were GASSED. They run a 7 man rotation and are battling all night, it showed in tonight's game with 1 day's rest. LeBron was on an IV for cramps before the game. Delly was in the hospital just a night before from dehydration. No one looked like they were mentally checked in besides Mozgov, who (this isn't a coincidence) has seen the least minutes of all the Cavs starters this series.
5.) LeBron played horribly. No one expects him to shoot great percentages, but he wasn't even shooting in volume. He didn't look aggressive and was missing lots of FTs, again probably due to fatigue.
6.) On top of missing lots of 3s, Cle was missing a lot of point blank layups as well, again probably due to fatigue. Despite dominating the glass they weren't converting all that well. They shot 33%.
7.) For the first time all series, GS was able to play at the fast pace they like. And again, I chalk this down to Cleveland being absolutely gassed. Dudes were leaking out for straight up uncontested fast breaks. That won't fly with 2 days rest.
And despite all that the Cavs were down 3 and within striking distance of the Warriors at the end of the 3rd. For a moment it looked like they were gonna take the game. Don't let the final score fool you,
GS gave Cleveland their absolute best shot tonight and Cleveland played about as awful as they can play and this game was still anyone's for the taking until Cleveland was running on fumes and decided to give up. And I don't wanna hear a single GS fan tell me that this wasn't their "best shot" because Curry and Thompson didn't play well. 4 games is a pattern, that "explosion" game is never coming for either of the Splash Bros.
2 Days of of much needed rest/recovery and time to make adjustments? Along with the fact that they'll be playing desperate because they just got beat? I'm not even worried. This series is cooked. Cavs in 6, on their home floor.