HC NBA Ballers

[TMoney]

Amazing performance by Kryie and LBJ to stay alive.

If those two go for 82 combined again I will tip my hat.

[Guss2]

Yep, great performance. Not having a big man inside for most of the game definitely opened things up for James and Irving.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Guss2

[purk]

Steph is having a tough time playing against a more physical guards however.  Yep, very much in agreement that the lack of premier interior defenders really open up the lane for LBJ and Kyrie.

[robm321]

Watching the finals I can't shake the question. When did Steph become a mediocre player? I was thinking there was a hidden injury or something, but after two teams and several games, he appears to have gone from the best in the league to an afterthought. Strange. 

Edited June 14, 2016 by robm321

[TMoney]

Having watched him all season he is obviously still hurting. He really needs the summer to recuperate. Other than that overtime in Portland and game 7 vs. OKC he really just hasn't been his regular self.

As down as Steph's production has been, though, it all comes down to defense. If the Warriors defend like they did in games 3 and 5 we will be headed back to Oakland. If they defend like they normally do, they will be popping champagne.

[robm321]

That's what I figured. I'm hoping for champagne. 

[purk]

Well he was missing left and right last night from the outside but he really struggles when you put a good defender in front of him.  I'm sure he isn't 100%...but then LBJ mind is never 100%.

[n3rdling]

I dunno, I only hear about how injured Steph must be after he has mediocre games.  All the injury talk disappears after his very good games.  I think the physical style of the playoffs might not mesh so well with his game.  He's getting held and bumped a lot more than he did during the regular season and hasn't really been effective at beating his man to get to the rim. 

[Wmcmanus]

Definitely a quiet 25 points. More like a Kobe shooting night for Curry. But even the best aren't "on" every night. Reasons aren't important, only results. So he's got 2 more chances to prove himself as the MVP he is, or at least blend in and help to make everyone else play better.

[TMoney]

To quote the infamous Al Davis, "Just win, baby!"

[robm321]

Yep, hope they wrap it up tonight.

[mypasswordis]

Make it stop, make it stop! Turning the TV off at the half if they're still down 20.

[Augsburger]

Bleh!  WTF!

[TMoney]

Balls!

I can't take anything away from LeBron. He absolutely destroyed us out there in all phases of the game. He was just a monster on both offense and defense. He showed up for his guys and his city when they needed him most.

The Warriors need to stop whining about calls and just play. I thought their constant complaining got them mentally out of it. Yeah, some of the calls were terrible (particularly against Curry) but you have to just ignore it and keep playing. They didn't, and now the entire NBA season comes down to a single game.

[dsavitsk]

2007 Conference Finals

 

[cclragnarok]

Unsurprisingly, Scott Foster was one of the referees:

http://www.knbr.com/2016/06/16/scott-foster-to-offciate-game-6/

He's the referee with suspected gambling ties:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/07/14/disgraced-former-nba-referee-tim-donaghy-phone-calls-to-second-ref-raise.html

He's also the one that threw out Livingston for (what seemed to be) just a little complaining earlier in the playoffs:

http://www.sportsgrid.com/nba/was-shaun-livingstons-ejection-the-result-of-a/

 

Edited June 17, 2016 by cclragnarok

[mypasswordis]

They were hoping for some calls because Steph and Iggy are clearly injured, Bogut is obviously injured, and the role players aren't showing up. That's also why Lebron went off again tonight, getting guarded by injured players. Warriors also basically don't have a center now that Bogut is gone, since Varejao (other than flopping) and Ezeli are straight up ghosts.  I hope Warriors look into picking up a center this offseason. 6'6 Draymond simply doesn't cut it as center outside of quick spurts in the Death Lineup, and Bogut is injury prone. Barnes 0-8 FG...

[purk]

That suspension of Green really have repercussion effects. Bogut had to work extra hard as he was the sole interior defense so as Iggy.  Steph is clearly injured.  I think the Warrior is done.  They likely will keep it close for 3 quarters and run out of gas toward the end.  Congrats to King LBJ for his third titles.  NBA should be proud for having a hand to change the outcome of the game.  LBJ did show up the last couple of games no doubt...but that was done to a team with roughly no interior defense left. 

[mypasswordis]

NBE gonna NBE. Draymond should've been suspended back in the OKC series though, so they possibly altered the narrative twice.

[purk]

I'm with you on this.  Yup...totally.  

[TMoney]

"James has a Cleveland franchise, his hometown team, one win away from a championship -- one win away from the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, one win away from upending an opponent that hungers to be known as the greatest ever. Win one game, you win everything. The Cavaliers have never been this close. It is not hyperbole to suggest every step in James' basketball journey has led to this moment.

Win Sunday in Oakland, and the dumb, overheated debate about James' "legacy" disappears from the airwaves forever. There will be no more convenient cherry-picking of his few subpar Big Moment games, no more selective memory to buttress preconceived damnation, no more talk about his emotional fortitude from people who have never had a conversation with him.

Every NBA Finals carries legacy weight. Every Game 7 lingers somewhere in our memory forever. But this? This is enormous. This is a flashbulb game. This is as big as sports gets."

--From Zach Lowe's excellent Game 7 preview: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16312235/2016-nba-finals-how-got-game-7

[Wmcmanus]

^ Sounds like something Howard Cosell would have said.

[Aura]

Sorry for the golden state folks, but a MASSIVE congrat to Dr John (jvlgato) on getting to see a team he's a fan of win for the first time in his entire life! (And that's any sport)

I've had it good in Chicago. Gotta feel great for Cleveland. 

[robm321]

I don't buy the injury thing. Curry just choked on a level I've never seen.

That said, congrats to Cleveland. I usually can't stand Lebron, but he fought for it. The whole team has earned my respect.

[TMoney]

Congrats, Cleveland. Well deserved. The King reigned supreme. 

I can't be mad to lose like that, just disappointed.

The biggest shame is that Curry just hasn't been the same player after the injuries. I thought at the time they happened in Houston that that was our season. It is a testament to our team that they were able to go on as long as they did without Curry in peak form.