J-Speaks: Cavs Survive and Set Scoring and Three-Point Records

This past Wednesday night, the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers were minutes away from pulling within one game of tying the 2017 NBA Finals. Then, their opponent the Golden State Warriors hit them with an 11-0 run to close the game, gave them 118-113 victory and a 3-0 lead in The Finals, and pulled them to within one win of capturing their second title in the last three seasons. The Cavs though were in a similar pickle last season, trailing 3-1 and won the final three games of the series to capture the city’s first pro sports championship in 52 years a season ago. They started what they hope is something similar on Friday night and leading their record setting performance was their dynamic point guard and the two-time Finals MVP.

Led by the 40 points of All-Star lead guard Kyrie Irving and the second triple-double of this championship series by LeBron James of 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, the defending champions staved off elimination and beat the Warriors 137-116 to cut the series lead to 3-1 on Friday night.

“We have championship DNA,” James, whose ninth triple-double of his Finals career moved him past Hall of Famer and five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers Earvin “Magic” Johnson for the most all-time said after the game.

“We showed that tonight. We just kept our composure. We shared the ball, we moved the ball and defensively we were physical. It’s one game.”

James also moved passed the great Michael Jordan (1,176) into third place on the all-time Finals scoring list at 1,206. Only Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,317) and Mr. Logo himself, Jerry West (1,679) have scored more in their Finals careers than “King James,” who also passed “His Airness (1,463)” for the most free-throws made in NBA postseason history with 1,467. Back in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals last month, James passed MJ to become the all-time leading scorer in postseason history, where he not has totaled 6,122 points.

The Cavs, who led from start to finish won this contest by giving the back-to-back-to-back Western Conference champions a taste of their own medicine.

Coming into Game 4 on Friday night, the Cavs were shooting just 24 percent on uncontested three-point shots in the Finals, compared to 51 percent in the first three rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they went 12-1.

They hit a Finals record 24 three-pointers in 45 tries, with seven of those triples coming in the first quarter, on the way to setting a NBA Finals record with 49 points, and they set an NBA Finals record with 86 points in the first half. They had 27 assists compared to the Warriors 26. They shot 52.9 percent from the floor on the night and held the Golden State to 44.8 percent from the floor as well as 11 for 39 from three-point range.

“We knew this team was beatable. We knew we could play better and this is the result you get when we play at our best,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game.  

Three of the biggest reasons the Warriors won the first three games of the 2017 Finals 3-0 was the fact that Kevin Durant has been unstoppable; the “Splash Brothers” of reigning back-to-back league MVP Stephen Curry and his fellow All-Star running mate Klay Thompson have been hitting triples left and right and the supporting cast of the Warriors has been scoring better than “the others” of the Cavs.

Despite his worst shooting perform of his Finals career going just 9 for 22 from the field, including 2 for 9 from three-point range Durant led the Warriors with 35 points on the night, going 15 for 16 from the free throw line, but Thompson and Curry were held to a combined 27 points on 8 for 24 from the field, including 6 for 19 from distance.

While All-Star forward and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Draymond Green had a strong game of 16 points and 14 rebounds, but shot 6 for 16 from the field, the Warriors supporting cast of ZaZa Pachulia, Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee and Shaun Livingston combined for just 24 points.

“They played with their backs against the wall. They had a free swing at it and it was one of those nights where we just didn’t have anything clicking,” Curry said after the game. “Not going to overreact to one. Obviously, I can play better and want to play better and will play better.”

The Cavs’ “others,” consisting of All-Star forward Kevin Love, who has been up and down in these Finals had 23 points, going 7 for 14 from the floor, including 6 for 8 from three-point range. Starting center Tristan Thompson, who has been missing in action production wise, had just five points, but pulled down 10 boards, including four on the offensive glass. Starting shooting guard JR Smith, who had yet to score in double-figures in The Finals had his second strong game in a row with 15 points, going 5 for 9 from distance and veteran Richard Jefferson had eight points off the bench.

Perhaps the most underlining reason the Cavs really showed out on Friday night and defend their title at least for two more days is the fact that James’ teammates were upset by some comments that Green, the Warriors’ emotional leader made about how they were going to celebrate another title on the Cavs home floor like they did two years ago winning Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.

“I didn’t hear it, but some of the other guys heard it and told me that they wanted to celebrate on our floor once again and they wanted to spray champagne in our locker rooms,” James said. “So, I just told guys, I didn’t stress anything besides just live in the moment.”

There was no better example of that then in a very chippy third quarter when a loose ball scramble concluded with two technical fouls being handed out; an acquaintance of James was escorted out of the arena by security, and after being called for fouling Love, it appeared that Green was called for his second technical foul, which means an automatic ejection from the game. As security came onto the floor to usher him off to the Warriors’ dressing room, the public addresser of “The Q” announced that a technical foul that was assessed to Green in the opening 24 minutes, was given to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. If that was not enough Pachulia was involved in another pile up of Warriors and Cavs players, and he delivered a couple of swipes to the groin area of Cavs’ swingman Iman Shumpert as the game officials John Goble, Mike Callahan and Marc Davis tried to restore order to the contest. Both Pachulia and Shumpert were assessed technical fouls.

The most exciting play that was basketball related and not WWF related that happened in the third period was when James was coming down the floor, faked Thompson right out of his shoes; threw a lob to the basket, caught and threw it down with two hands, reminiscent of what Hall of Famer and NBA analyst on NBA: The Jump weekdays at 3 p.m. on ESPN Tracy McGrady did in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, although, he dunked it with one hand.

“I got caught in the air. So that’s the only thing I could think of. I didn’t want to travel. Just threw it off the glass and it went and got it,” James said about the play.  

While the Warriors dreams of becoming the first team to go undefeated in postseason is gone, their hopes of winning a title are not as we head for Game 5 back at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA on Monday night.

A win on their home floor would give them as mentioned earlier, their second Larry O’Brien Trophy in the last three seasons and their long quest for redemption after blowing a 3-1 series lead a season ago would be complete. Durant would have the one thing missing from his stellar career resume, a title, which he came to Golden State for back last summer.

Winning that title will not be easy though as the Cavs have momentum and history on their side. They won two of the three remaining games of last season’s Finals on Golden State’s floor, including the Game 7.

The difference from last season to what might take place Monday night, Curry is healthy, unlike last year’s Finals; Green will be on the floor for this close out game unlike last season when he was suspended and the Warriors have Durant this go around. On top of that, of the 126 teams that have had a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven in postseason history has ever lost.

No team in Finals history had never lost when trailing 3-1 and the Cavs overcame that and most of that team will be playing in Oakland on Monday night at 9 p.m. on ABC.

“We want to try to put ourselves in position to play another game and we did that tonight and hopefully we can do that it Monday night,” James said.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 6/9/17 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Mike Miller, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, and Zach Lowe; 6/10/17 11 p.m. edition WABC “Eyewitness News,” with Sandra Bookman, Joe Torres, Jeff Smith with Weather and Anthony Johnson with Sports; www.nba.com/games/20170609/GSWCLE#/recap/boxscore/matchup; www.espn.com/nba/game?gameid=400954513; www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/1966/seasontype/3/lebron-james and www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2444/jr-smith.