So close, yet so far: NBA Finals Game 3, Behind the Box Score
June 8, 2017
Screw being rational, I want wins NOW: Between Innings
June 8, 2017Sports fandom is a fickle beast. It’s hard to say it much better than that.
For nearly 31 years, no major professional Cleveland sports team made the championship round of its league. The Browns won the 1964 NFL Championship. The Indians next made the 1995 World Series. It was a dark, dark time period for all those who live and breathe sports in the area.
But then those lovable 95 Indians – that amazing beautiful, passionate team in a strike-shortened season – ran into the juggernaut of the Atlanta Braves starting rotation. The Tribe made it back in 97, but fell victim to an unfortunate series of bounces in a Game 7 in Miami. And that was that. The jig was up.
A young 22-year-old LeBron James led a ragtag Cleveland Cavaliers team to the 2007 NBA Finals. The blossoming superstar had just had a playoff performance for the ages against the Pistons. But, the Cavs were promptly swept by the more veteran Spurs. The incredibly talented regular season Cavs failed to return to the Finals in the next three seasons.
So, after The Decision, The Lottery Ping-Pong Balls, The Return, The Injuries and The Comeback, maybe this is God just playing some mind games with Northeast Ohio yet again. Maybe this is karma for all of the 3-1 jokes. We enjoyed our time with those jokes. We certainly did. It was a half-century in the making. But, another Cleveland sports reckoning is upon us right now.
The Cavs may not be swept in the 2017 NBA Finals. We’ll learn more in Friday’s Game 4. But, the Cavs are ever so unlikely to come back this time around. The Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant are too foolproof, too invincible, too streaky, too tough, and just too damn talented to beat four times straight.
Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, now 32, damn near played perfect games on Wednesday. But in the final three minutes, the team just ran out of gas. Nothing gave me a more disheartening feeling than Steve Kerr’s sly smile as Durant nailed a two-pointer to bring the Warriors within two with 1:15 left. Kerr knew what the Warriors had left in the tank. He knew it was all but over right then and there.
LeBron James has averaged 32 points, 10.3 assists and 12.3 rebounds in the three games of this series. He has done so with a 63.9 percent true shooting mark, compared to 61.9 percent in the 2016-17 regular season and 58.4 percent for his regular season career. For yet another NBA Finals series, he’s been on another level of excellence.
Over the 16 games of these last three NBA Finals matchups, LeBron James has now played 691:41 out of the possible 778 minutes (89 percent). While LeBron is on the court, the Cavaliers are a fairly reasonable -25. That’s about as good as any team could possibly play the Warriors consistently! But, in the just 86:19 that LeBron has rested at all in 16 games, the Cavs are -85.
Not only does LeBron James have to play perfectly. But, unarguably a Top 5 greatest player in NBA history, he also has to never take a moment of rest. Otherwise, the Golden State Warriors with now four likely Hall of Famers in their respective primes will just go on yet another of their infamous runs. These current Cavs and likely any future version of this roster just can’t compete with the Warriors depth.
It’s disheartening. In sports and in all facets of history, the victors get to decide the narrative. Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson will likely improve to 2-1 in NBA Finals series, in comparison to LeBron’s 3-5 record. Kevin Durant, who doesn’t turn 29 until September, will re-capture the narrative as the game’s best current performer. He’s been sensational in this series and takes the Warriors to unprecedented heights. This has happened three years and major injuries removed from his well-deserved 2013-14 MVP campaign.
The Warriors don’t need all of their major four superstars to be perfect. Draymond Green has faced foul trouble all series. Stephen Curry’s shooting hasn’t been as spectacularly efficient as it usually is. And yet, the threat of all four of them makes it near impossible to defend this team for 48 minutes. Thompson, Durant and Curry have combined for 174 points with a 71.7 true shooting percentage in the last two games. They’re near unstoppable when playing well, let alone perfect.
Is it more frustrating to be so close, yet so far in the series when it matters most? Would you rather experience the 2016 World Series and 2017 NBA Finals, or be mired in decades of irrelevance yet again? To me, the answer depends on having that 2016 NBA Finals to forever cherish. Cleveland won once. That won’t ever be taken away. These close heartbreaks and defeats are treacherous. Cleveland has been better than all but one contender. And it’s a tough pill to swallow.
65 Comments
If we’re operating under the assumption that the other team wouldn’t say no – I’d go with Klay Thompson.
DELLY!!!!
Gonna be wild when the Cavs roll out CP3, Giannis, Paul George, LeBron and Davis next year.
Wade and Bosh off the bench of course.
WE LITERALLY DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO GARRY.
Fans walking around unable to take off their championship shirts and hats? Swagger.
Fans unable to stop saying ” the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead” including putting it on shirts to wear to World Series games as the Indians are blowing a 3-1 lead? As politely as I can put it – something else.
GRABAPABLO!!
Amen. Sing “We are the Champions” and “Cleveland Rocks” until it hurts. Wear the gaudiest 2016 NBA Champs gear 365 days a year. To church and weddings, even. But don’t drop your pants and defecate in public. (My rough equivalent.)
I own a Believeland shirt and that’s it.
The only other championship gear I have is a pint glass.
I generally don’t like championship gear. Other fans already KNOW you won.
Same. I have a CLE shirt (and a WFNY shirt!). It’s better swagger to walk around in the clothes of the baddest man in town than to wear clothes that announce you are. Still, I’ll allow it for the first championship in 52 years.
(That reminds me: Went out for sushi last night with the family to celebrate the end of the school year. Saw a guy at the restaurant wearing a shirt that said “Stomp on my flag and I’ll stomp your ass.” I have never in my life ever wanted to stomp on the US flag, but actually thought about it for a brief moment just to see how badass that dude really was. My hunch is that he wasn’t. At all. My experience says that the guys you want to avoid are the quiet ones.)
Sounds like a Nine Line Apparel shirt. They are a local patriotic clothing firm that has blown up nationally. It’s ran by vets.
https://www.ninelineapparel.com/
It was, and I’m familiar with the company. I like some of their stuff, but a lot of it just looks like gear for someone that wants to look like a Special Operator but isn’t.
(Free info: A “nine line” is one of the worst reports that you’ll ever send over the radio.)
We don’t have to trade anyone. As runner-ups (runners-up?), we automatically get the best free agent on the market.
…that’s how it works, right???
Only if we manage our cap well and not overpay Lebron’s friends.
“Guarantee” is a tough word to parse here, as even after they got Durant, I’m not sure they felt like they were guaranteed. Heck, about a week ago, despite the Warriors having won something like 27 of 28, many here felt we had a chance, and Vegas booked us at about a 30% chance. Favorites, yes, but not so overwhelming.
Besides, if we had the cap room after last year, we would have done the same things to bring in a star. Choosing the gun over the knife doesn’t mean you are fearful as much as you simply aren’t a dummy.
I’ll concede on the word “guarantee” for sure, but point to the ESPN atricle detailing Draymond sitting in the parking lot after Game 7 making two calls… one to Bob Myers demanding he get Durant and then the next to Durant begging him to GSW.
LeBron had that entire team so shook that Draymond couldn’t even leave the Arena lot without starting to recruit MORE help for a better chance at beating him.
And yes, had the Cavaliers been in the same once-in-a-generation cap room situation as the Warriors I would fully expect them to make a push for Durant as well even after winning the title.