NBA Playoffs Have Begun

Going into the game tonight there will be one change for the benefit of the Cleveland Cavs, they won't have to deal with Draymond Green kicking or hitting anyone in the balls. During these playoffs this would make the 3rd time Green has assaulted an opponent's private parts. In Game 4 Green hit LeBron James in the hoo-ha's after he fell to the floor battling for the real ball in the game. James stepped over Green and it was a little disrespectful to be sure but it didn't warrant a violent response to the family jewels. 3 Weeks ago Green kicked an opponent in the toolbag and it was decided that he was flailing trying to draw a foul and the kick was inadvertent. This time there was no room for Green to wriggle out of because a right cross to a person's ball sack isn't an accident. I have heard all kinds of crap on Mike and Mike this morning by a lot of people saying Green shouldn't be suspended in Game 5 but I disagree. If you throw a punch you deserve to be tossed. It doesn't matter at what part of the body that punch is thrown, you don't throw a punch. It also doesn't matter if that punch is a haymaker or a jab, it's still a punch. I'm sick of Stephen A Smith anyway. He is beyond annoying and I love it when Skip Bayless gets the better of him on First Take. This suspension could make a difference to the outcome of tonight's game in Cleveland's favor but I think this is just a rallying point for the Warriors. I really think Golden State will win tonight claiming their 2nd straight NBA title. If anyone gives a crap here's an article from USA Today about why Kiki VandeWeghe, the guy in charge of disciplinary issues for the NBA, suspended Green.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/playoffs/2016/06/12/kiki-vandeweghe-draymond-green-lebron-james-finals-suspension/85797916/

Just when you give up hope is just the time when people find that something extra to overcome the odds to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat. That is what Cleveland did last night when they had the best game of their 2016 playoffs and beat Golden State 112-97. It wasn't like Golden State just rolled over and played dead they led after the first and second quarters as Clay Thompson was sick for the W's scoring 37 points for the game but it wasn't enough as both Kyrie Irving and LeBron had 41 points to lead the Cavs. In fact only JR Smith who had 10 points was the only other Cav in double digits scoring and Richard Jefferson (8 pts) and Iman Shumpert (4 pts) were the only bench players to score on the night. It was all Kyrie and LeBron as they combined for 82 points on 61% shooting as they answered every single run by Golden State with one of their own. Last night was a totally unexpected win in a totally unexpected location, on the road. To win the championship the Cavs are going to need to do this 2 more times and the likelihood of that is very remote. After the Game 3 blowout win Cleveland went right back to sucking because as good as Kyrie was last night he was that bad in Game 4. So, which Cleveland team shows up on Thursday night? Can the Cavs defend their home court and force a Game 7 next Sunday at Golden State? That is the $100,000 question which won't be answered until Thursday night.

A lot is being made of how not have the old ball kicker Draymond Green in the lineup last night but Green was on the floor when Cleveland blew the Warriors' doors off in Game 3. So I'm not buying what is being sold. Whiners like Stephen A Smith are still crying over Green being suspended but at what point will Green learn you can't drop-kick an opponents cajones and get away with it? Apparently, the NBA feels like the 3rd time is the charm. The Warriors did lose a man last night after coming down after attempting to block a shot Andrew Bogut hurt his left knee. It was bad enough he couldn't put any weight on it and had to be helped off the court. The injury was in the 3rd quarter and it he did not return to the game. Bogut is the Warriors presence in the paint and you don't lose a 7' center and play up to your potential without him. Cleveland scored 46 of their points in the paint and much of that was after Bogut left the game. If his knee is as bad as it looked last night this could really be a game changer for Cleveland. Draymond Green will be back but he isn't the force inside Bogut is and there is about 5 inches in height difference between the two. The job of protecting the middle would fall to Festus Ezeli and Anderson Varejao neither of which is as good as Bogut. The loss of Bogut could be a deal breaker unless LeBron and Kyrie have a crap game in which case it won't matter.

I don't need spew out a bunch of stats to talk about this NBA Finals series I just need to tell you that it's 3 games apiece and Game 7 will be at Golden State on Sunday night. Cleveland defended their home court in a dominating fashion and the game was not as close as the 115-101 score might indicate. Draymond Green was in the lineup so all the posturing over his Game 5 suspension is just so much gas. It appears that the loss of C Andrew Bogut is a much bigger blow than the loss of Green. Cleveland crashed the boards without much difficulty and they dominated in the paint without Bogut there to stop them. Steph Curry acted like a bitch getting himself tossed after fouling out of the game and arguing with refs. Steph's wife went ballistic on Instagram saying her man was wronged, her family was wronged and the NBA is a rigged deal trying to push the series to 7 games. She removed her posts after she had time to think about it and probably at the urging of her family as well. It just wasn't a good night for the Curry family. Steve Kerr bitched about the refs in the post game presser as did Curry who was still mad about the last foul called on him that fouled him out of the game. It's sort of sad to see the Warriors lose a little of the good will and class they have built up over the last couple of years. The Cavaliers will be walking into a viper pit in Oakland on Sunday but without Andrew Bogut it may not matter how nasty the atmosphere is the Warriors may not be good enough to beat a Cleveland team who is at full strength. The tables are turned a bit from last year when Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were out for Cleveland. The difference is Golden State didn't lose their Kyrie, Clay Thompson. He has been a beast the whole series and if GS wins the whole thing he should be the MVP. At any rate it should be fun to watch Game 7.

I feel that Cleveland is going to do it. That's just my gut talking but I keep hearing, in my head, that line from the Movie "Young Frankenstein." It's alive.

Dracula was right as rain. The beast known as the Cleveland Cavaliers was indeed alive as they gutted out a 93-89 four point win in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. If you stop and think about it the feat of winning after being down 3-1 to Golden State is even more impressive when you think about a couple of things. 1) No team had ever won the championship after being down 3-1. That in, and of, itself is pretty impressive. 2) Cleveland did an almost impossible task of completing 2 of the 3 wins to close out the championship on the road. Even more impressive is the Cavs did it against a team that set the regular season record for wins and it was in their house. LeBron was the series MVP but Kyrie Irving was the bread to James' butter. Last year the Warriors beat the Cavs in the finals but Cleveland only had LeBron and some decent role players because both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were both injured and unable to play a single minute. It looked like having Irving and Love wasn't going to matter but the Cavs caught fire and got it done.

It was cool to see Cleveland's 52 year draught end and it was equally good to see the fans in Cleveland didn't trash the city as part of their long awaited and much deserved celebration. Way to go Cleveland.

LeBron won't be dogged over his failure in NBA finals. This win puts him in the conversation as one of the true greats of basketball all time. The fact is, LeBron could become a terrible criminal down the road and Cleveland will still love him because the home town son made good on his promise to his city. Good. Golden State fans are disappointed now but their team is young and they will be back maybe even with Kevin Durant. Who knows. Cleveland will be back too. We could see Golden State vs Cleveland III next year. I'm happy for James because he deserves this day in the sun as do the Cavs and the fans of Cleveland. Sometimes the right team wins and the right team won last Sunday night. Props to King James, the rest of Cavaliers team and fans of Cleveland.

 

Since the Cavs won the championship a big move happened in the NBA. Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose is a Bull no longer. Today he was traded to the New York Knicks ending any hope of Chicago home boy Rose having his own LeBron James moment with the Bulls. If Rose can stay healthy he will be a great addition to the Knicks roster. If he can't stay healthy, and recent past says he won't, then Chicago cuts bait with a high dollar player they haven't been getting any bang from all those bucks. As part of the deal New York sent C Robin Lopez and guards Jose Calderon and Jerian Grant to Chicago and New York gets Rose, G Justin Holiday and the Bulls 2017 2nd round pick. The key element for NY is Rose. Maybe a change of scenery will be just the ticket to put all the injury woes behind him and he can make the Knicks relevant again for the first time since the early nineties when they had Patrick Ewing and John Starks.

 

The NBA draft is tonight and it's a bigger deal than the MLB draft but not by much. Mainly, everyone wonders about the top 10 picks then they turn off the TV and go to sleep. For the most part the real game changing impact players come in those first ten picks. You get a sleeper or three in the rest of the draft but nobody loses sleep over the draft. The NFL draft is still king of the draft hill but it will be interesting to see who Houston takes now that they have to say goodbye to Dwight Howard. Howard turned down a deal for over $23MM and he will become a free agent on July 1st. See ya later, Dwight. As for any moves to replace Howard in the draft it will have to wait for the second round because Houston doesn't have a first round pick. They do have two picks in the 2nd round at No. 37 and No. 43. So that is something. Here is a link to NBA.com with the current draft results. As expected Ben Simmons from LSU was the first pick in the draft going to Philadelphia. Will Simmons become the first star in Philly since Allen Iverson? Time will tell.

 

http://www.nba.com/draft/2016/draftboard.html