Cavs chances: Slim to none

I HAD picked the Cleveland Cavaliers to dethrone the Golden State Warriors in the ongoing National Basketball Association Finals in six games. With the Dubs having taken a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series with a pair of home victories – 104-89 and 110-77 – at the Oracle Arena, the Cavs’ chances of pulling this one out for the city of Cleveland’s first championship in any of the four major U.S. pro team sports leagues (NBA, National Football League, National Hockey League and major-league baseball since 1964) are slim to none.

Slim – it’s because in the NBA’s 70-year existence, only three teams (out of 31 series that have gone 2-0) have captured an NBA Finals after dropping the first two games. These are the 1969 Boston Celtics (4-3 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers), 1977 Portland Trail Blazers (4-2 vs. the Philadelphia 76ers) and 2006 Miami Heat (4-2 vs. Dallas Mavericks).

None of the three teams enjoyed homecourt advantage during those Finals and only the 2006 Heat’s triumph came under the 2-3-2 Finals format. The NBA has reverted to a 2-2-1-1-1 scheme since 2014. The Cavs’ margin of error is so small only because they have to beat the Warriors in four of the next five games of the 2016 NBA Finals to secure their first-ever NBA crown.

And Cleveland may even be without star forward Kevin Love in Game Three after suffering symptoms of concussion after being hit at the back of his head by an inadvertent elbow from Warriors forward Harrison Barnes in the second quarter of Game Two.

At least Love, who was held to five points in 21 minutes, has three days to make it past the NBA’s “concussion” protocol as the third game won’t be played until June 8 (June 9, Manila time). Still, a third consecutive defeat will doom the Cavaliers outright as no team in league annals has overcome a 0-3 hole to win the Finals.

And even if somehow Cleveland splits the next two games on its home floor (Quicken Loans Arena) – Game Three on Thursday, June 9 (Manila time, 9 a.m.) – and Game Four on Saturday, June 11 (Manila time, 9 a.m.) – its chances of a first-ever NBA title finish are also practically nil as no team in league annual has ever rallied from a 3-1 Finals deficit to snare the Larry O’Brien championship trophy.

So dominant has Golden State been in the first two games that Cleveland was nowhere near the invincible team that it was early in the postseason – a 10-0 start – with four-game sweeps over Detroit and Atlanta and a 4-2 win over Toronto in the Eastern finals that propelled the Wine City unit to a Finals rematch with the Warriors.

And that was even though the Splash Brothers Stephen Curry (11 and 18 points) and Klay Thompson (nine and 17) were not exactly lighting up the scoreboards. The Warriors’ 45-10 bench scoring did the Cavs in during the series opener and their points scored off Cleveland turnovers in the first two contests were huge.

Draymond Green has been sensational in the Warriors’ twin victories, collecting 16 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in Game One and 28 points (spiked by five triples), seven rebounds, five assists and one steal in Game Two to become the leading candidate for the Bill Russell hardware that goes to the Finals Most Valuable Player (succeeding another unheralded Warrior Andre Iguodala, last year’s recipient).

LeBron James chalked up lines of 23 points 12 rebounds and nine assists in the series opener and netted 19 scores, eight boards and nine dimes – and seven turnovers in Game Two where his Cavs were soundly beaten off the boards, 46-34. Channing Frye, a midseason acquisition from Orlando by Cleveland, was missing in action in the first two games with a combined 11 minutes and two points (2-0) on 0-for-2 field goal shooting.

Starting guard J.R. Smith has totaled eight scores (3-5) and has shot 1-for-3 and 2-for-6 from the field in back-to-back games. Even All-star guard Kyrie Irving was on vacation in Game Two, making just 10 points on 5-for-14 floor shooting (with no three) in 33 minutes following a series-opening 26-point performance.

Cleveland’s NBA rookie coach Tyronn Lue wants the Cavaliers to run at a faster pace on offense and have more ball movement but the Warriors’ shocktroopers like Green, Barnes, Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa (10.5 ppg, 10-12 FGA) simply have outfoxed their counterparts on both aspects with their hustle points. No wonder Curry, the back-to-back NBA regular MVP, and Thompson, are prancing and dancing so far.