Game 7: This Is More Than Just A Game
Curry said he hasn’t been able to turn on the TV.
A special, record-setting season saved for the defending champs, with a memorable comeback added to the long list of accomplishments. “But we are very, very confident, optimistic and excited knowing what we can accomplish going forward”. “It was a painful ending”. But the other two Warriors All-Stars did not produce at that level.
While Green is eager to immediately move forward, Thompson was despondent a day later, still at a loss for words to describe how the Warriors became the first team in National Basketball Association history to squander a 3-1 Finals lead and miss out on a second straight championship that was there to be had. Even when he moved closer, Barnes shot just 44% from within 8 feet and was brutal in mid-range, shooting just 33%, according to NBA.com/Stats.
But those previous 32 teams didn’t have LeBron James playing at a level unmatched by anyone on the court, including the two-time reigning MVP, Stephen Curry.
But Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5, which Cleveland won with gargantuan performances by James and Kyrie Irving, and the Warriors never pried back the momentum from there. The Thunder took the first salvo of a 1-2 punch that put Draymond Green on the bench for Game 5 and paved the way for a Cleveland victory. His field goal percentage in the restricted area fell from 66 percent in the regular season to 48 percent in the Finals. Barnes said he isn’t anxious about his struggles in the Finals affecting him. “And she said, ‘What do you want to eat?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’ And she had an old hamburger and I had a grilled cheese sandwich”. But did you realize that they still would have topped the chart even if you subtracted Curry’s record-setting 402 makes in 886 attempts?
In an April report by Sean Deveney for Sporting News, Los Angeles may already have their sights set on both Barnes and Ezeli, in the event that Durant opts to sign with another ball club.
If Barnes isn’t coming back, a wing scorer might be the priority Thursday night. “I’m not the GM of this team, so I don’t make any decisions or make any changes to our roster”. “It might go up or go down”. I don’t regret a single moment! It reminded me of the time when Jordan, after winning his fourth title, also on Father’s Day, did something very similar in 1996.
And now the Warriors are pushed into the category of greatest teams to fall short of a title - there with the 2007 New England Patriots and the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
With less than a minute to go, just after Irving hit his dagger three-pointer, Love got switched onto Steph Curry.
Iguodala replaced Harrison Barnes in the starting lineup for just his second start of the season and first of the playoffs, and what a move by Kerr and his staff, who did the same thing past year in crunch time.
“I just want to say congrats to Cleveland”, he said. Right now, my mindset is doing things to stay in shape. “It doesn’t mean you’re not looking aggressively”.
“I didn’t hear a lot of people blaming anyone else. Hopefully, it elevates you and propels you going forward”.
And with a max extension for Curry, a max contract for Durant, and the contracts of Green and Thompson, Golden State’s spending would be around $85 million with only four player on the roster, without any hard promises that the salary cap will increase much, if at all. I will always control my emotions now. I think as a leader that’s important. I don’t take those things for granted whatsoever, but my focus is really on my craft.