Scott Garceau: NBA Finals - Best Of Three
That's what the NBA Finals has come to after Golden State whipped Cleveland 103-82 in game 4 Thursday night in Cleveland. Andre Iguodala was the star of game 4 he scored 22 points, but more importantly, the Warriors defensive ace locked LeBron James down to 4-of-14 shooting when guarding the Cavs star. James was 3-for-8 against all other Warriors (ESPN Stats & Info).
It was a night to forget for LeBron, I guess carrying a team on your back has a shelf-life and in game 4 it appeared to take a heavy toll on the Cavs super-star. The Warriors defense, led by Iguodala, gave him extra attention and it payed off. Golden State's defense basically said one of those other Cavs might beat us but it won't be King James. It didn't help that LeBron took a nasty fall into a cameraman in the second quarter and cut his head in two places.
LeBron finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, good numbers for mere mortals but a bad night for LeBron. James hit only 7 of 22 field goal attempts, missed half of his 10 free throws and didn't score in the fourth quarter. Timofey Mozgov took advantage of James extra attention and had a career high 28 points. Matthew Dellavadova, a rock-star in games 2 and 3, had a rough night hitting only 3 of 14 shots.
After trailing by 15 Cleveland made a nice run in the third quarter and cut the lead to 3 with under a minute left, but that was their last hurrah as Golden State outscored the Cavs 30-12 the rest of the way. Stephen Curry was good, not great, with 22 points and 4 of 7 from three. Golden State shot a respectable 40% from 3 (12 of 30) while Cleveland couldn't shoot straight hitting only 4 of 27 (14.8%).
The NBA Finals are tied 2 games each, and now it comes down to a best of 3 series with games 5 and 7 (if necessary) in Golden State. With old "Mo" back on the Warriors side and the home court edge they look like the NBA champs from here, but didn't we already award them the trophy after Kyrie Irving was ruled out for The Finals?
Sure, I think Golden State will grab their first title since 1975 but that doesn't mean that LeBron and his spunky bunch will fade into the sunset. The Cavs who shocked us in games 2 and 3 may have a trick or two left, if not Cleveland's sports championship drought dating back to 1964 marches on.