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The rise of the Golden State Warriors and the demise of the Cleveland Cavaliers

By Nicholas Gonzalez

Jun 12, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35), guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrate with his caught Riley in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 12, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35), guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrate with his caught Riley in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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NBA: The rise of the Golden State Warriors and demise of the Cleveland Cavaliers explained

The Golden State Warriors have captured their 2nd NBA title in three years, and are once more back on top of the world. This time with some additions, but none more important than former MVP Kevin Durant.

But besides Golden State winning, what led to the demise of the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Reasons For The Warriors “Rising”

The Addition Of Kevin Durant

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This is pretty self-explanatory, but the addition of Kevin Durant is the best improvement in the NBA you can make besides LeBron James himself, who happened to be on the opposing team. Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball and a former NBA MVP. Adding that to already a 73 win team is like giving the Patriots Julio Jones and a little bit more.

It’s ridiculously unfair. No matter how you spin it, from what we saw on the surface these past five games, the Cavaliers repeat if Golden State doesn’t add Durant.

Curry’s Hustle

I will be the first to admit I am not the biggest Stephen Curry fan. I don’t like how he goes about his business or how he acts, but he is still an elite basketball player, and he showed that this NBA Finals in more ways than one.

Seeing that Durant had the hot hand, Curry focused his energy this finals to hustling, and he just did that. The two-time MVP averaged eight rebounds and nine assists as well as two steals per game on the biggest stage.

The Team Got It Done

The Warriors were more energized and motivated from the get-go than last year and that was obvious. This year’s team put it all out on the line. They hustled on rotations, switched off on screens and chased after every rebound possible. With no sign of slowing down. The whole unit from Durant to Patrick McCaw played like a well-oiled machine, and that’s how they won.

Cleveland’s Demise Explained

Kyrie’s Inconsistencies

Kyrie Irving is one of the major reasons the Cavaliers lost this series, whether you like it or not. He was completely outplayed and dominated by Steph Curry in every facet of basketball. From defense to on the boards. He also picked when and how he wanted to show up. In Game 1, Uncle Drew shot 46 percent from the field but played horribly in every other aspect of basketball. In Game 2 he was a pathetic 35 percent from the floor, and added little to no contribution anywhere else.

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    • Game 3 was probably his second best game, but the blame doesn’t fall far away from him either. Irving took a stupid isolation three against Thompson late in the game, despite being 0-6 from beyond the arc through the night. He would finish the game 0-7 from deep, and the Cavs would lose by 5.

    If he shoots 20 percent from three, Cleveland wins. Game 4 was easily his best game, he played sound basketball, and guess what? The Cavaliers won. Game 5, he once against was bad. He shot 41 percent from the floor with little to no contribution anywhere else and was dominated by Curry all night. Rough series for Uncle Drew.

    Tristan Thompson’s Fowl Play

    I genuinely don’t think I have seen a worse performance from a starter than I did from Tristan Thompson this series. Thompson averaged 6 PPG and 6 RPG this series. That’s bad, now it’s even worse when he got almost every single of those stats in Game 5, in which he decided to not even think about playing defense.

    In 3/5 games, Thompson did not record a SINGLE point. NOT ONE. He didn’t even reach the line, and he only shot six free throws all series. How is that even possible as an undersized big man? He also was dominated on the rebounds by everyone on the Golden State roster, including Steph Curry who had more rebounds than Tristan in almost every game.

    Thompson was also, for lack of a better word, a garbage disposal on defense. Thompson had a 121 defensive rating guarding ZAZA PACHULIA AND JAVALE MCGEE.

    The Bench Sucks

    Cleveland’s benched combined for just seven points in Game 5. The Warriors? 35. That’s annihilation. And it was like that every game. Deron Williams and Richard Jefferson played horribly all series, and Iman Shumpert might be the worst player in the NBA. The bench was completely garbage all series, which was expected, but this was something out of the Staten Island waste dispensary.

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    The fact of the matter is the Cavs lost, both things contributed to both them losing and the Warriors winning in drastic ways.

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