AFTER four decades of infamy and futility and three ownership changes, the Golden State Warriors finally sit atop the NBA landscape.
The high-energy Warriors whipped the short-handed and fatigued Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-97, yesterday in Game Six of the 2015 NBA Finals for a 4-2 series victory and their first NBA championship since Rick Barry led Golden State to the Promised Land with a 4-0 sweep of the Washington Bullets in the 1975 Finals.
It was Golden State’s third victory in a row in the Finals after falling behind, 2-1, in the best-of-seven series.For all the Warriors players on their playoff roster, it was also their first NBA title ring ever.
Curry’s ring was much sweeter since it came against four other members of this year’s All-NBA First Team: Anthony Davis (New Orleans), Marc Gasol (Memphis), James Harden (Houston) and LeBron James (Cleveland).
Golden State’s Steve Kerr also became the first NBA rookie coach to win the NBA crown since Pat Riley accomplished the feat with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982.
Golden State, probably the first jump-shooting team to snare the NBA title, produced a barrage of three-pointers from league MVP Stephen Curry, multi-dimensional Andre Iguodala and Curry’s Splash Brother Klay Thompson in the fourth quarter to take the fight out of a Cleveland team that probably even overachieved with its injury-depleted playoff cast that had been without two of its Big Three – Kevin Love after the first round (vs. Boston) and guard Kyrie Irving in the last five games of the NBA Finals – and played with a short seven- or eight-man rotation utilized by rookie Cavs mentor David Blatt in the championship series despite the availability of championship veterans like Kendrick Perkins, Shawn Marion and Mike Miller that Blatt nonetheless opted to keep on the bench.
In the series-clinching Game Six, Curry chalked up 25 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals for the Warriors, who also were NBA titlists in 1947 and 1956 when it was located in Philadelphia.
Iguodala also tallied 25 points and had five rebounds and five assists and became the first non-starter to earn Finals MVP honors since the award was introduced in 1969.
The 6-foot-6 swingman, who was relegated to a reserve role nearly all season in favor of the young Harrison Barnes, got the starter’s nod only in the final three games of the Finals — all victories — as Kerr also switched 6-foot-7 Draymond Green to center and benched 7-foot Australian center Andrew Bogut in the last two games to implement his “small ball” game plan starting Game 4.
In the series closeout, Nigerian center Festus Ezeli came off the pines to punch in eight of his 10 points in the pace-changing third quarter that broke the game in favor of the Warriors.
Another Golden State sub Shaun Livingston also scored 10 markers.For the Cavs, who have yet to win their first NBA crown since joining the league in 1970-71, a visibly fatigued LeBron James logged 32 points, 18 boards and 9 assists in 47 minutes.
Inconsistent guard J.R. Smith came off the bench to tally 19 points but most of them came in the fourth period when Cleveland had to climb out of a big hole that the Wine City subsequently was unable to overcome.
Russian center Timofey Mozgov came up with 17 points and 12 boards and power forward Tristan Thompson also posted his third straight double-double with 15 points and 13 reebies.
Cleveland outrebounded Golden State, 56-39, but for a third straight contest, the Warriors had more assists, 28-14. The Dubs also had more steals, 11-3, and committed less turnovers, 16-9.
Fatigue finally took its toll on James in Game Six and generally appeared disinterested and lethargic as his supporting cast, with the exception of Thompson and Mozgov, were unable to provide adequate help.
Golden State got off to a strong start, taking the first quarter, 28-15, with some crisp passing and impeccable field shooting. The Warriors shot 11-for-22 from the field, including 4-for-9 from three-point range, coming up with the extra pass that resulted in assist for each made basket.
However, Cleveland, which again employed a slowball offensive scheme, came within two points, 45-43, at halftime as the Warriors shot just 7-of-22 in the second canto and the Cavaliers made a living from the foul line and dominated the boards.
Curry got 11 points and Iguodala added 10 for the Warriors at the break. James, who appeared to involve his teammates so much without any success in the early goings, collected 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Thompson knocked in 11 markers and seven reebies, and Mozgov had seven scores and nine boards as Cleveland went 13-for-21 clip (GS was only 3-of-4 from the charity stripes) and outrebounded the Warriors, 29-16.
Trailing 47-45, Golden State zoomed to a 73-58 advantage late in the third quarter on eight points by energy-sparkling Ezeli and seven by Iguodala. (The Dubs finished 58-0 this season when leading by at least 15 points during a game).
The Warriors entered the payoff period ahead by 12, 73-61. Before Game Six, they had been 13-0 in the playoffs when leading after three quarters.
The Cavs, through James, roared back to come within seven, 75-68, with 10:15 left. A triple by Curry restored Golden State’s lead to double digits, 78-68. With back-to-back threes from Curry and Klay Thompson, GS established an 89-75 lead. It was 94-79 after an Iguodala triple with five minutes remaining.
Cleveland had one last-ditch fight left in them when it came within four, 101-97, with 30 ticks left but it was way, way too late to reverse the outcome.