After the regional finals, the finals matchup has finally been determined.
It's still a duel between the Warriors and the Cavaliers, there is no suspense.
On June 2, 2017, the 2016-17 NBA Finals kicked off. The Golden State Warriors faced the Cleveland Cavaliers at home.
Cavaliers starting lineup: LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Irving.
Warriors starting lineup: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Pachulia, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry.
This year's starting lineup has not changed much from last year, except that the Warriors replaced Barnes with Durant.
Although they all have maximum salaries, it is obvious that the Warriors lineup has become stronger and more flawless.
Historically, the Warriors were supposed to win the championship in the 15-16 season, but in the end they were tricked by James and manipulated by the league. In the end, they unfortunately failed to win the championship.
Now replace Barnes with Durant, and the Warriors won't even be afraid of the referees!
It can be said that Durant is used to beat the referee!
Even if the league still wants to make a game, even if James still wants to use dirty tricks, the Warriors are not afraid anymore!
When the strength of two people is about the same, the weak one can win through backstabbing, but if the difference in strength is too great, such as asking a kindergarten kid to deal with a well-armed college student, then random tricks will not be effective.
Therefore, Deng Fang did not make targeted arrangements - I am not afraid of whatever you do!
The only thing Deng Fang cares about is Curry's FMVP, but Deng Fang doesn't have any good ideas in this regard.
To obtain FMVP, you must first win the final victory, and secondly, have enough good data.
There is no problem with victory, but the data is hard to say.
If it's all one-on-one defense and no tactics, it's all one-on-one. Curry is not afraid compared to Durant, and there shouldn't be any difference in statistics.
In a one-on-one duel, Durant definitely has an advantage, but the difference is not big.
However, Curry is a huge threat without the ball, and he is more sure of three-pointers than Durant, which can give him an advantage in scoring.
In short, if the opponent defends normally on the defensive end, using one-on-one or double attack, then the performance of Curry and Durant should not be much different.
But the problem is that your opponent won’t do that!
The Cavaliers' defensive strategy when fighting the Warriors has always adhered to one principle, which is to strangle Curry!
You can lose the team battle, but Curry must die!
This is Tyronn Lue’s consistent belief!
Durant can challenge one on one, but Curry can’t!
Durant can switch defenses in pick-and-rolls, but Curry must flank!
Under this defensive strategy, Curry will have far fewer shots and assists.
Every time Curry is flanked and the ball is passed to Green, Green will play the role of a setter. Many of the Warriors' assists come from Green.
Although most of the credit for these assists should be attributed to Curry who was double-teamed, the technical statistics cannot show it!
However, Durant's data is not affected by this, but may actually improve!
After all, double-teaming Curry will allow Durant to get a lot of open shots!
The principle of FMVP selection is basically one thing: the player with the best statistics on the winning team!
In this case, it's basically Durant!
There was nothing Deng Fang could do about it.
Deng Fang can change the Warriors' defensive strategy, but he can't make the Cavaliers change their defensive strategy.
People would rather lose than double-team Curry. What can you do?
Without Durant, even if opponents double-team Curry, Curry's statistics will most likely be the best. No Warriors player's statistics can surpass Curry's.
But it’s different now that Durant is here!
Durant's singles ability is indeed strong. If he is given a chance, he can indeed score. When Curry is double-teamed, Durant's performance is definitely better than usual, and his statistics are even better than Curry!
Therefore, there are not many good ways for Deng Fang to compete for FMVP.
Fortunately, Deng Fang didn't care so much about it.
After all, Curry has won several FMVPs before, and he no longer cares.
Besides, Durant came to vote sincerely. Although he was a bit of a thief, he still devoted himself to the Warriors.
In this case, let's give up the FMVP to Durant!
Of course, it’s not okay not to give it to Durant, because Tyronn Lue won’t agree...
In fact, Deng Fang acquiesced to this fact the moment he agreed to Durant joining the Warriors.
Now that Deng Fang is no longer entangled in the ownership of FMVP, there is no suspense in the game.
…
Although the Warriors are much stronger, the Cavaliers don't want to give up.
The first quarter started, and the game quickly showed the flavor of the finals.
On the defensive end, the Cavaliers and Warriors all showed their special skills. No matter who caught the ball, dribbled or released the ball, it was extremely difficult.
In one and a half minutes, both sides went back and forth for many rounds, but neither of them scored.
James passed the ball between the cracks and found J.R. Smith in the bottom corner. The latter opened his hand and scored a three-pointer into the net, finally breaking the scoring drought.
But soon Durant and Pachulia successively attacked the inside and succeeded, and the Warriors led 4-3.
The two teams then fell into a fierce tug-of-war. Later in the quarter, Durant broke through twice and succeeded in dunks. In one of them, he directly knocked James to the ground, igniting the enthusiasm of the audience.
However, James was not affected. After that, he hit a three-pointer and then drove to the basket and dunked on McGee to score.
In the latter part of this quarter, McGee covered the sky with his giant palm on defense and blocked a TT dunk. Then, he grabbed an offensive rebound during the offense and assisted Curry in hitting a three-pointer.
Curry scored 10 points in a single quarter and felt very good. Iguodala also hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
After the first quarter, the Warriors temporarily led 35-30.
In the second quarter, taking advantage of James' rest, the Warriors set off a small climax. Durant hit the inside and dunked successfully, giving the Warriors a 9-point lead.
In desperation, James reappeared. With his containment, Shumpert hit an open three-pointer, and Irving also hit a difficult 3+1.
But the Warriors are still the team that runs the offense more smoothly. With excellent ball sharing, Durant continues to get opportunities to hit the basket. With 3 minutes left in the half, his personal score has reached 20, and the Warriors will also score 20 points.
The difference is as large as double digits.
Love hit a three-pointer and finally helped the Cavaliers stop the bleeding. However, Durant's attack was extremely decisive. Later in the quarter, he caused Irving to foul and hit a free throw into the net. At the end of the half, the Warriors temporarily led 60-52.
After changing sides and fighting again, the Warriors' advantage became more and more obvious, while the Cavaliers fell into a scoring drought and failed to score a point in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter.
Durant hit the net with three points, Curry scored 8 points in a row, and the Warriors went on a 13-0 run, widening the point difference to more than 20 points.
James forced a three-point shot and finally helped the Cavaliers stop the bleeding. But since then, the point difference has always hovered around 20 points.
In the latter part of this quarter, Curry continued to hit magical three-pointers, and Draymond Green also found his touch, making a mid-range shot and scoring three consecutive points. As Irving hit the net with three points, at the end of the third quarter, the Warriors continued to lead 93-72
.
James insisted on staying on the court in the final quarter, but the point difference remained at around 20 points.
In the middle and later stages of this quarter, James encountered a steal during a fast break and made his 8th turnover of the game.
Looking back, Durant scored three points, completely killing the suspense of victory.
After that, the Cavaliers replaced their main players one after another, and the game completely entered garbage time.
In the end, after the whole game was played, the Warriors beat the Cavaliers 113-90, getting off to a good start.
For the Cavaliers, James scored 28 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 turnovers, and made 2 of 6 three-pointers.
Among other players, Irving scored 24 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Love had 15 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks, Jefferson had 9 points and 4 rebounds, Shumpert had 5 points and 5 rebounds, Tristan Thompson had 0 points and 4 rebounds, Deng Tai
-Jones 6 points.
For the Warriors, Curry had 28 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists, Klay Thompson had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, Draymond Green had 9 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, and Pachulia had 8 points.
6 rebounds and 2 steals, Iguodala had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, McGee had 4 points and 5 rebounds.
Durant played 37 minutes and 33 seconds, made 14 of 26 shots, and scored 38 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds. He completely suppressed James and became the number one contributor to the Warriors' win.
