J-Speaks: Big Game Statements Given By The Last Season's NBA Finalists

The Defending NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers and the team they defeated the Golden State Warriors are once again at the top of the mountain in the Eastern and Western Conferences respectably. They have been the standard that every other team in the Eastern and Western Conferences respectably is their measuring stick. On Wednesday night, they proved in front of a national television audience that they are head and shoulders above their competition.

In the front end of a doubleheader on ESPN, the Cavs (15-5) blew out the Knicks (12-10) on their home floor 126-94 on Wednesday night to win their second straight following a three-game losing streak, while also winning their eighth straight versus the Knicks and garnering their sixth straight victory at Madison Square Garden. They also handed the Knicks just their second loss in their last 10 games at Madison Square Garden.

Kyrie Irving led the way with 28 points going 9 for 17 from the floor, including going 4 for 6 from three-point range. James, who has the third highest scoring average at the "Worlds Most Famous Arena," at 28.5 points per contest trailing only former Los Angeles Lakers' future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant at 29.9 and the great Michael Jordan at 31.8 had 25 points, going 10 for 14 from the free throw line with six boards, seven assists and two block shots. Love had 21 points and former Knick Iman Shumpert had 14 points and six boards off the bench.  

"I've never in my basketball career or since I've picked up a basketball when I was eight years old and learned how to play the game. Never in my mind have I ever felt I needed to take all the shots," James said to the media after the Cavs sixth win on road this season in nine chances.

"My little league coaches didn't allow it. But I've always loved the excitement of my teammates making shots and me creating shots for them. That's just my game. I'm not a volume guy. I don't like shooting a lot of shots. I make shots, but I don't have to take a lot of shots, especially on this team."

In the nightcap, the Warriors (20-3) won for the 16^th time in their last 17 games as they won at their Pacific Division rivals the Los Angeles Clippers (16-7) 115-98, beating them for the seventh straight time and improving to 10-1 on the road.

After a career-high 60 points on Monday night, All-Star guard Klay Thompson had 24 points going 8 for 18 from the floor, including 3 for 6 from three-point range. His fellow “Splash Brother” and back-to-back reigning MVP Stephen Curry went 0 for 6 from three-point range, but still finished with 19 points on 7 for 16 shooting with six assists and tied a career-high seven steals.

Draymond Green, who had missed 16 of his last 18 triples the last eight games had solid all- around game with a season-high of 22 points, five boards, four assists and two steals on 8 for 10 shooting, including 3 for 5 from three-point range.

Durant, who was just 5 for 17 from the field had 16 points, eight boards and seven assists, which led the team. Andre Iguodala, the 2015 Finals MVP had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.

"We like to make shots, but hopefully it won't matter because when you can move the ball, create more possessions and obviously keep a team under 100 like that, that's a pretty darn special performance right there," Curry said to ESPN's J.A. Adande after the game.

The Cavs and Warriors dominated their opponents back on Wednesday night and went about it in similar ways and in different ways as well.

For the Cavs, they dominated the Knicks right from the opening tip and to start the half and that was all she wrote. They outscored their opponent on their home floor 36-26 in the first quarter and 29-17 in the third quarter. They shot 48.8 percent from the floor with 23 assists on their 39 made field goals and registered 23 fast points to the Knicks eight. To put a cherry on this Sunday, the Cavs went 22 for 40 from three-point range, the most triples made against a Knick team in franchise history.

As great as the Cavs were offensively, it was their defense that told the story of this one along with their three-point shooting as they held the Knicks to 40.2 percent from the field. The Cavs out-rebounded the Knicks 53-47, with Thompson garnering 20 boards and forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 17 points, with 11 steals, which magnified the absence of Knicks' starting lead guard Derrick Rose, who was sidelined because of a sore back.

In the case of the Warriors, who went just 7 for 30 from three-point range at the Clippers, who have lost five of their last seven games thanks to their amazing ability to find the open man, their effectiveness at the foul line and that they were at the top of their game defensively.

For the 16^th time this season, the Warriors registered 30 assists in a game with 32 on 42 made baskets with just 11 turnovers. To put that into perspective, they are the only team in the NBA with more than four games this season with 30 assists or more in a game. On Wednesday night, the Warriors registered assists on their first 11 baskets of the game.

They were a remarkable 24 for 29 from the charity stripe and they held the Clips to 39.6 percent shooting from the field and to just 8 for 26 from three-point range. The Warriors had 12 steals, 27 fast break points and outscored the Clippers in the paint 58 to 38. On top of that, the Warriors starting five outscored the Clippers' starting quintet 85-41 and got off to a great start with a 37-19 first quarter.

“You try to affect the games other ways when your shot is not falling,” Curry said. “That’s kind of the test. To stay locked in and not get frustrated because I know it won’t happen that often. We’d like to make every shot every night and have that free-flowing offensive rhythm. But for us, if we can defend and not turn the ball over, we’re going to be in good shape most nights. Tonight, was a testament to that.”

In games of the magnitude that the Knicks and Clippers had, it is imperative that your star players come out and play with a sense of urgency, which hopefully intern raise the level of the rest of the team.

Knicks perennial All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who along with Durant were named co-recipients of the 2016 USA Basketball Male Athletes of the Year award, with Anthony winning it for the third time and Durant for the second battled foul trouble for most of the night finished with just eight points on just 4 for 9 shooting. Second-year forward Kristaps Porzingis had just 12 points on just 5 for 15 shooting.

The Clippers All-Star duo of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin had nights to forget as they struggled the whole game. Paul had 15 points on 7 for 14 shooting, but was an abysmal 1 for 6 from distance with just five assists and Griffin had just 12 points, going 5 for 20 from the field with nine rebounds and seven turnovers. Center DeAndre Jordan had 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, but he and Griffin did not dominate the Warriors on the boards.

A team of the caliber of the Clippers needed to do better than what they did out-rebounding their opponent 58-54, including 17-12 on the offensive glass.

“I turned the ball over, I missed some easy shots, forced some bad shots,” Griffin said. “We got some work to do, obviously.”

What is even more disheartening about this loss is the fact that the Clippers bench, which has played well this season outscored the Warriors reserves 57-28, with three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner Jamal Crawford scoring 21. Former Warrior Marreese Speights had 15 points and nine boards off the pine and Austin Rivers scored 14.

To bring home how difficult this loss was for the Clippers, head coach and the father of Austin, Glenn “Doc” Rivers said to ESPN’s J.A. Adande in an interview before the start of the fourth quarter as they were down 91-75, “There attacking us and we’re not responding. At the end of the day, you got to trust who you are and just keep playing. I thought we stopped playing for a while.”

Speights made his opinion felt after game when he said to the Orange County Register that, “First we need to start really just leaving the refs alone. Guys just got to sacrifice, do some other things than just scoring, do some other things than your personal goal. Just try something new. They’ve been doing it here for four or five years and it hasn’t been working so it’s time to try something new.”

While what the guy also known as “Mo Buckets” said was true and has the credibility to express those feelings, those kinds of emotions are not coming from the mouth of Griffin and Paul, the All-Stars, and leaders of the team, which also explains why they sleep walked through the game on Wednesday night.

It is hard to fathom that Thompson and Durant can go 6 for 21 from the field in the opening half and you are still down 62-49 at intermission. On top of that, the Warriors were 4 for 16 from three-point land in the opening half. How can that happen?

Well when you only shoot 40 percent in the first half; go 4 for 14 from three-point range, register just seven assists; commit nine turnovers and surrender 16 fast break points, well that is how.

It is also how as the game is winding down, you see the likes of Warriors and Cavs star players on the bench can be having a good laugh and joking around at the expense of their opponent and that opponent express their frustration, which results in Coach Rivers, Griffin, and Paul each getting technical fouls.

James, Richard Jefferson, Irving, and Tristan Thompson were doing the water bottle challenge with the game in progress. They were trying to see who can flip a Dasani water bottle and have it land standing up from the bottom.

After the game, Irving said to the media about what happen, “If you land it, you just like a legend. I was just trying to follow in the kids’ footsteps and really just put my mark on the water bottle challenge. It was awesome.”

That situation can be looked at like this, Jackson disrespected James and he and his teammates responded in kind by blowing the Knicks on the court and having a good time on the bench. To the victor go the spoils. 

On Wednesday night, we saw that the Cavaliers and Warriors are the two top teams record wise in the NBA. We also saw two teams on the national stage play at their best where it matters most at the defensive end. We also saw two teams with major star power, utilize their other teammates and got fantastic results. When that happens, they are hard to beat.

“Great night defensively,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “If we defend like that and take care of the ball, even on a night when shots aren’t going in, we have a chance to win anywhere, even on the road against a great team.”

Information, Statistics and Quotations are courtesy of 12/7/16 3:30 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Chauncey Billups, Richard ‘Rip” Hamilton and Tracy McGrady; 12/7/16 10:30 p.m. contest between the Golden State Warriors versus Los Angeles Clippers on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Mark Jackson, sideline reporter J.A. Adande; 12/8/16 2 a.m. edition of NBATV's "Gametime," with Vince Cellini, Dennis Scott and Shaquille O'Neal; www.espn.go.com/nba/standings; www.espn.go.com/nba/matchup?gameid=400899769 and www.espn.go.com/nba/game?gameid=400899772.