{"id":244,"date":"2015-06-05T22:02:32","date_gmt":"2015-06-06T02:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=244"},"modified":"2019-06-26T16:52:40","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T20:52:40","slug":"after-game-1-of-the-nba-finals-are-the-cavaliers-done-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=244","title":{"rendered":"After Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Are the Cavaliers Done Already?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/635690650009926537-USP-NBA-PLAYOFFS-CLEVELAND-CAVALIERS-AT-GOLDEN-ST-73548471.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-247\" src=\"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/635690650009926537-USP-NBA-PLAYOFFS-CLEVELAND-CAVALIERS-AT-GOLDEN-ST-73548471-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/635690650009926537-USP-NBA-PLAYOFFS-CLEVELAND-CAVALIERS-AT-GOLDEN-ST-73548471-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/635690650009926537-USP-NBA-PLAYOFFS-CLEVELAND-CAVALIERS-AT-GOLDEN-ST-73548471.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last night in Oakland, the Warriors played the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. \u00a0Cleveland jumped out to a 14-point lead late in the first quarter, which evaporated by late in the second. \u00a0The game was extremely tight in the second half, however, and it was tied with 32 seconds to go. \u00a0With the ball and a potential two-for-one situation, the Warriors moved quickly. \u00a0They set up a fantastic play which saw Steph Curry get the ball in one-on-one action against the ailing Kyrie Irving. \u00a0Curry got around Irving, looked like he had a layup secured, and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vine.co\/v\/eMbYne5w3XZ\/embed\/simple\" width=\"661\" height=\"661\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On the next possession, LeBron James, while being defended by Andre Iguodala, stepped back for three, missed, and then the ball popped off the rim to Iman Shumpert.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vine.co\/v\/eMbLKj6KA3p\/embed\/simple\" width=\"705\" height=\"705\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This was the closest the Cavaliers came to scoring until the very end of the overtime session. \u00a0Neither team scored for the first 1:48 of OT, and the only points scored in the first 2:30 of overtime were Curry free throws. \u00a0Then this happened, which could be calamity for the Cavs:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/vine.co\/v\/eMeZVb2QPve\/embed\/simple\" width=\"747\" height=\"747\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Cavaliers would not score in the overtime until a LeBron layup with nine seconds left, which the Warriors defense willingly yielded.<\/p>\n<p>Irving is scheduled for an MRI this afternoon, and he is having that MRI performed as this article is being written. \u00a0If there is an official update on his injury and\/or status for the rest of the series, this will be updated. \u00a0However, his Game 2 status looks grim, per USA Today&#8217;s Jeff Zillgitt:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Nothing official from Cavs yet on Kyrie Irving&#8217;s knee, but I&#8217;m hearing he is unlikely to play in Game 2 regardless of MRI results.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffZillgitt\/status\/606923530794639360\">June 5, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If Irving cannot play in Game 2 or beyond, the Cavaliers are most likely done. This is why.<\/p>\n<p>Without Irving, the Cavs would most likely turn to Matthew Dellavedova to start at the point. \u00a0In Game 1 against Golden State, Irving had the best +\/- number on the Cavs, at +5. \u00a0Dellavedova had the worst at -13. \u00a0Worst of all, he did that in nine minutes. \u00a0If he would have played Irving&#8217;s 44 minutes at this rate, his +\/- would have been -64. \u00a0Of course, that wouldn&#8217;t happen, because the game would have evened out after a certain amount of time, before those 44 minutes were up. \u00a0But Dellavedova&#8217;s complete lack of impact in those minutes is utterly concerning. \u00a0He had three assists and one rebound in those nine minutes, and that&#8217;s basically it. He did nothing to distinguish himself, and was also on the floor during the Warriors&#8217; bench-fueled comeback in the second quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue for the Cavaliers is the question of who will help LeBron in the scoring department. \u00a0As Bill Russell once said in a Pepsi Uncle Drew commercial, &#8220;This game has always been, and will always be, about buckets.&#8221; \u00a0Sure, he scored 44 points last night, as well as 8 rebounds and 6 assists. \u00a0 However, the Warriors are obviously not terribly worried about James&#8217; scoring; they are more worried about that of his supporting cast. \u00a0LeBron also made some very tough shots, especially jumpers, against very good defense from Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and others. \u00a0He will not make those shots forever, and without Irving, he may be the Cavaliers only productive offensive player. \u00a0Sure, Tristan Thompson had 15 rebounds and played an awesome game last night, but he can&#8217;t do too much on offense. \u00a0J.R. Smith played well in the first half, but went cold in the second. \u00a0Can he get his own shot without the passing and floor spacing that Kyrie provides? \u00a0Can Timofey Mozgov get the same pick and roll dunks he did last night, like this one?<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tAygD8H_vyM\" width=\"711\" height=\"711\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And can the Cavaliers&#8217; bench out-perform that of the Warriors if Uncle Drew is unavailable? \u00a0It would have been tough for all of these things to happen with Irving, but without him, they become nearly impossible.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the Warriors should get plenty of credit here. \u00a0They found a LeBron defender in Iguodala, who defended him extremely well the entire night, as well as on the last play of regulation. \u00a0In my\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=150\">Finals preview<\/a>\u00a0last week, I only mentioned Iguodala once, and that was a mistake; I forgot about &#8216;Dre. \u00a0However, we cannot forget about how this series is basically over if the Cavs don&#8217;t have Irving for the rest of the series.<\/p>\n<p>Without him, the Cavaliers are done, already.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE<\/strong>: As I wrote this article, I said I would update it with potential Kyrie news. \u00a0Well, here it is. \u00a0Back to Zillgitt:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kyrie Irving has a fractured left knee cap and will have surgery in the next few days. Done for the Finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffZillgitt\/status\/606934186591666176\">June 5, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>My guess now is that the series ends in a sweep. \u00a0The Cavs just don&#8217;t have enough to beat these Warriors.<\/p>\n<p><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){\n  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),\n  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)\n  })(window,document,'script','\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js','ga');\n\n  ga('create', 'UA-62461709-1', 'auto');\n  ga('send', 'pageview');\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last night in Oakland, the Warriors played the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. \u00a0Cleveland jumped out to a 14-point lead late in the first quarter, which evaporated by late in the second. \u00a0The game was extremely tight in the second half, however, and it was tied with 32 seconds to go. \u00a0With &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=244\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;After Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Are the Cavaliers Done Already?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[679,4],"tags":[74,75,132,133],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-nba","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-matthew-dellavedova"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}