Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers: A Game 7 To Settle It All

The NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will come down to Game 7; legacy and the best season in NBA history is on the line

The defending champions just had to win Game 5 at home. That didn’t happen.

They just have to win Game 6 at Quicken Loans Arena. That didn’t happen, either.

And just like that, the Cleveland Cavaliers have become the third team in the history of the NBA Finals to force a Game 7 after being 3-1. And doing so, folks, wasn’t easy, either.

When most people thought that LeBron James and company were already done after falling into a 3-1 hole, the King came down pounding starting in Game 5 when he and Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 41 points, each.

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Then, after most people didn’t expect LeBron to replicate his 40-point performance, he did it again.

They just ate their own words, again.

In Game 6, in front of their home crowd for the final time, LeBron James proved that he is still the King of the NBA. His Majesty scored 41 points anew, and became the first player to score 40+ points in two successive Finals games since Shaquille O’Neal did it for the Lakers back in the early 2000’s.

But, he wasn’t just about dunks and scoring in those two historic games. He also dished out 18 assists combined, most of them to Tristan Thompson for easy baskets. Oh, and LeBron blocked 6 shots, one of them, a volleyball spike against a sprinting Stephen Curry.

And no, LeBron didn’t need to carry the load on his own like he did during last year’s Finals against the same team. This time around, the King had reinforcements. Thompson continued his improving game as he made all of his six shot attempts, good for his 15-point Game 6 performance.

Greatness. Legacy. For Stephen Curry and the Warriors, it’s the NBA’s best season that will be put on the line. After all, what’s a 73-win season without a championship, right?

But what helped the Cavs get a good start early on was Thompson’s rebounding. He had 16 rebounds which allowed the Cavs to run on the break and finish in transition in that same game.

Classic basketball, isn’t it? You force opponents to take bad shots. You get the rebounds. You score on the break. Basics. Whatever Tyronn Lue told his boys before Game 6, it sunk within the players. Kyrie Irving followed up his 41-point performance in Game 5 with 23 points in Game 6. J.R. Smith also came out of his slump with 14 points.

A few Warriors fans, with due respect to them, are claiming that the NBA rigged Game 5 and 6 to hype up the ratings for Game 7. Rigged, you say? The Warriors needed to win only ONE game to clinch the title. Rigged? Explain the Warriors’ 36 percent shooting in Game 5 and 40 percent in Game 6.

Bad luck?

No Draymond Green in Game 5?

No Andrew Bogut for Game 6 and 7?

Curry scored 25 points back in Game 5 on 8 out of 25 shooting. He scored 30 in Game 6 before fouling out and getting ejected in the 4th quarter when he didn’t like the call, and threw his mouthpiece.

That, by the way, cost him $25,000, but no suspension. Rigged, they say? Draymond Green deserved a suspension back in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the NBA thought otherwise.

If anything, Game 5 and 6 proved one thing: the Cavs already have the momentum heading into a death match at Oracle Arena. And that folks, despite Kevin Love‘s slump, offensively.

Both teams have two days of rest in preparation for Game 7, which is setting up to be one of the most anticipated Games 7s in NBA Championship history.

must read: Believeland And The Legacy Of LeBron James Entering Game 7

Greatness. Legacy. For Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, it’s the NBA’s best season that will be put on the line.

After all, what’s a 73-win season without a championship, right?