Finals Recap, Game Four: Cavs 137, Warriors 116 (Or, Episode IV: A New Hope)

The Cavs appeared to have been back into the series as they led the Warriors for the majority of Game 3. With 95 seconds remaining they squandered that redemption and created a seemingly insurmountable 0-3 hole to the favored Warriors, which led to hack hot take narratives across the blogosphere ranging from the Dubs being the greatest team of all-time, and even some absurd proclamations that LeBron is going to ditch Ohio again in 2018 to sign with the coke vomit Lakers. 

A team has trailed 0-3 The Finals twelve times. On eight of those occasions that team was swept in the fourth game. The only time a Game 7 was forced was 1951 when the Rochester Royals won the first three games against the New York Knickerbockers, the Knicks went on to win the following three games, and the Royals went onto win Game 7 79-75. The Cavs were the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit last season.

What point is there in even trying? The Warriors are too young, too unselfish and too dominant for any team to compete with them for the foreseeable future. The Warriors have four All-Stars under 30. They are built to be an empire that can last for years unlike LeBron’s older almost dynasty in South Beach. As the talking heads picked and preened at the Cavaliers corpses on the hardwood floor, something happened. The Cavs were transformed from defending champions into insurmountable underdogs. In blowing a six point lead on their own court in the final three minutes and having the world turn on them, they were no longer the crowned champions, but reborn as history defying rebels.

First Quarter

The Cavs won the opening tip (a rarity in its own right), and JR Smith promptly drilled a triple from the corner off of a LeBron James dish. Kyrie went on to hit a long ball of his own from the opposite corner a possession later. Tristan Thompson boarded a James fadeaway and kicked it back to James who converted on the and one. The Cavs’ hot start awoke the crowd, and the team returned the energy right back to them. Another J.R. triple from the left corner pushed the Cavs lead to 14-5, their largest lead of the Finals at that point.

.@kevinlove is rolling with 10 early points. 🔥 #DefendTheLand https://t.co/mM04jIm5iv

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 10, 2017

The Warriors timeout didn’t have an effect. Smith deflected an errant pass which lead to a Kevin Love soft slam as he beat Zaza Pachulia in transition for another pair. The difference in energy in the early going gave me deja vu back to Game 3 of last year’s Finals. On the next Cavs possession, a Smith missed three ball was gathered by Thompson, and he promptly found Kevin Love alone in the corner and he hit his first three of the game.

A major difference in the early going wass how much more active Tristan was on the boards. Midway through the quarter he snared three offensive rebounds which led to seven Cavalier points. Jeff Van Gundy noted that Thompson took advantage of the Warriors switching a guard onto Tristan after a pick for Kyrie, and TT bullied Curry and Klay Thompson in the paint.

The Warriors mounted a comeback off of Cavalier missed opportunities at the charity stripe, and converted on their own trips to the free throw line. One of which was a phantom foul called on Richard Jefferson as Durant tumbled to the floor after a missed three. Kyrie retorted on the other end with a triple over former Herculoid Shaun Livingston.

The Cavs then went on a run of their own with a Steph Curry pass interference foul on a Kevin Love TD pass to Shump. With the Warriors in the penalty, Shumpert went to the line and missed his first, the Cavs sixth missed free throw of the quarter. A wedgie jumper by LeBron led to a jump ball between James and JaVale McGee. On the play Draymond Green elbowed Shumpert earning a common foul. Draymond’s temper tantrum led to a technical, which Love converted.

Love is in the air! #DefendTheLand https://t.co/r5vIvIQ9Ha

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 10, 2017

The Cavs kept piling it on as Love hit a three from the corner. A bad pass by Durant led to a Jefferson slam.That was promptly followed by a gorgeous give and go from James to Love, back to a cutting James for a layup. In all the Cavs scored the most points in a quarter in NBA Finals history, and were up 49-33 after one.

Second Quarter

LeBron started the second with a breather, and the Cavs and Warriors traded baskets out of the gate. Klay Thompson got tangled on a Tristan Thompson pick, and Kyrie buried his first triple of the game from just right of the top of the key.

The Warriors mounted a rally as Klay hit a three over Deron Williams, and Kevin Durant drew contact from Kyle Korver, and converted the and one. Six points in a flash. LeBron returned three minutes in, and quickly made his presence felt as Kyrie drew a double team on the right wing, and found a wide open James at the top of the key for an uncontested three.

DEEP IN THE Q! 👌 https://t.co/Kgg5qHG9IV

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 10, 2017

The play of the quarter came five minutes in, as time was expiring on the Cavs shot clock. With five second left on the possession, LeBron drove on Iggy, and Durant closed on him in the paint as well. LeBron then found J.R. five feet behind the top of the key. David West and Klay were late to close out, and Smith buried a thirty footer, his third of the game. It was a five point shot. A miss would’ve easily led to Golden State layup. Dahntay Jones then amazingly drew a technical foul from the bench, and J.R. was the voice of reason trying to talk him down. 2017 everybody.

In what seemed like a superstar mixtape over the next three possessions, LeBron beat Green off the dribble for a signature one-handed sky slam. On the other end, Steph Curry hit a corner three. Irving the did a stop on a dime pump fake that shook Durant from the floor, and followed with a fadeaway.

Teamwork. #DefendTheLand https://t.co/V8kHrg3mky

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 10, 2017

A Kevin Love steal led to a fast break to James who drew Klay Thompson’s third foul. James went on to convert the and one. On the next Cleveland possession, LeBron drew contact on Durant on a pump fake. He split the pair. LeBron buried the Cavs’ twelfth three of the half off of a pump fake from the wing that got Green off the floor to push the lead to 19.

The Big Three combined  for 67 at the half, with Kyrie leading the way with an NBA Finals halftime scoring record of 28. The final Cavs conversion of the half was a beauty as LeBron hit Love in the corner for a deep ball that pushed the Cavs to establish a new NBA Finals record for most points in a half with 86. Eighty-freaking-six.

Third Quarter

Golden State opened the second with back to back baskets that included a Green and Steph pick and roll where Kyrie and Tristan doubled Steph, and Green slammed home an uncontested pair prompting a quick TO from Coach Lue to regroup.

The team responded. From the top of the key, Irving got back three of the four they’d given up, rebounding his own miss on a fadeaway. On the next Cleveland possession, Tristan kicked it to Love in the corner for a deep ball of his own.

https://twitter.com/no_cut_card/status/873397506100649984

At least three times a game LeBron James makes you mumble a deity’s name under your breath. With 9:03 remaining in the quarter, he me mutter to myself again as he beat Klay off the dribble then lobbed the ball high off the backboard for himself and caught his own alley-oop and dunked on Durant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_2lLpHONj0

Durant then split a pair on a BS flagrant foul on Kevin Love on incidental contact to Durant’s head has Love was trying to block the shot.  The poo parade then began on the opposite end of the court.

That is not the technical foul you were looking for… pic.twitter.com/6nZVzkJ54W

— Dante Centuori (@ScienceDante) June 10, 2017

Draymond Green was called for his third foul as he bodied up Love on the wing as Love received the ball on the wing. Green was then called for his second technical foul, which would naturally lead to his ejection. Green then taunted the crowd as Kyrie buried the freebie. The announcers called it his second technical, but Vince McMahon called for the bell, and the officials then said that Green’s first technical foul was actually on Steve Kerr, even though the official scoresheet at the half gave the first technical to Green. Mmmmmkay.

After the chaos subsided for a moment, LeBron brilliantly fought through a double team by Zaza and Durant, and found an open J.R. Smith in the left corner for a three. The Warriors retorted with back to back to back scoring possessions charged by Curry and Durant to cut the wine and gold lead to 12.

The Cavs then received contributions from a pair of reserves who have underperformed in the series. Deron Williams scored his first points of The Finals on a fatman-fall-down-fadaway from the right block. A possession later, the Cleveland zoo crew plus LeBron rotated the rock around the Earth until it found Korver on the left wing, and he dialed in a deep ball which tied the Warriors record from Game 2 for the most threes in a Finals game with 18.

A melee for the ball ensued on the other end as Shump and Zaza fought for for it on the floor. Zaza pulled a Draymond and tried to punch Shump in the groin, but misfired. The only person to be ejected was a fan for heckling the Warriors bench, and wearing a heavy flannel in June. I’ll allow it.

After the commotion, Deron Williams set a pick for LeBron at the left wing, LeBron then kicked the ball to Jefferson in the corner, he rotated it to the right wing to Shump, who went back to Williams on the left wing for a NBA Finals record breaking 19th three.

Curry responded with a contested three from the right wing. LeBron then returned the DIF to the scoreboard with a stepback three of his own over Iggy to give the Cavs a 115-96 lead after three.

Fourth Quarter

The Cavs started the final frame with the LeBron on the bench. At that point he had only rested for three minutes through the first 36 minutes of action. A pair of back to back treys by the Warriors cut the Cavs lead to 13, and Coach Lue called a TO. James checked in a minute and a half into the fourth.

The Warriors cut the deficit to 11, their closest of the second half off of a David West tip in. Kyrie quickly responded with an off-balanced three from the left wing over West off of a pick by Thompson. Irving followed that with a high-arching left-handed floater on Klay Thompson.

Congratulations to Lebron James for becoming the King of Triple Doubles for the NBA Finals with 9 and breaking my record.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) June 10, 2017

A James board off of a Klay Thompson miss gave him a triple-double, and he passed Magic Johnson for the most triple-doubles in Finals history with nine. Don’t let the Jordan/LeBron comparisons distract you from how great LeBron really is. At the end of his career we can have a meaningful discussion on that topic. The fact that James topped Magic’s record years before he hangs them up is a testament to the King’s greatness.

Making the extra pass paid off again for Cleveland as LeBron hit J.R. in the paint, who found Kyrie in the corner. Irving dealt back to James at the right wing, and he rotated back to J.R. from the top of the key for the Cavs 22nd three. Irving then extended the Finals record for threes in a game a moment later, with a three ball of his own from the right wing. Up 21, with two minutes and change left, we could finally exhale.

Cavs crowd boldly chanting Cavs in 7.

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 10, 2017

The zoo crews from both teams were subbed in after a commercial break and “Cavs in Seven” chants echoed though the arena. Shump hit a 24th three, and the series lives on for another day as Cleveland wins 137-116.

Final Thoughts:

I went into this contest with a strange feeling. I was at peace with it all. I felt fortunate that we got to experience the positive and negative emotional g-forces over the past seven years with this team. In a way, I accepted that they weren’t going to win the title this season after their narrow loss at home in Game 3.

I was distracted at work think about Game4. On my drive home I saw that we needed a recaper, and I volunteered. I was nervous enough about the game that I gave Mojo my linguine with clam sauce, because my nerves killed my appetite. I believed that the Cavs could win the series last year. Until the end of the first quarter last night I didn’t believe that they could push this sucker to seven games. But all it takes it one. Last night’s win gave me hope, and before you can believe you have to hope.

 Boo:

As purdy as Jordan Sparks and Rascal Flatts sing, I really do wish that the Cavs would let The Q crowd sing the national anthem like they did last year. It set a tone of unity for the games for the arena and followed with the app for one mantra. Friends of opposing teams expressed jealously that Cleveland did it better. Hopefully when the series comes back to Cleveland for Game 6, they’ll let the crowd sing it.

The refs man. Zaza should probably be suspended for Game 5 for his punch at Shump. I’m not sure if his presence will matter that much though. The Draymond technical that was mysteriously rescinded was baffling. He also came down on Tristan’s head and smacked Shump in the face with a flailing arm. Both twice as violent as the flagrant the refs gave Love.

Yay:

I need this framed. My birthday is coming up. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/kSEc4k0fSR

— Kayla (@YesImKayla) June 10, 2017

The Pipe Man Commeth! J.R. went 5 of 9 from downtown, and was engaged on defense. It’s been a rough season for J.R. with his injury troubles and the premature birth of his daughter. If LeBron is the brains and brawn of the Cavs on the court, J.R. is their soul. My favorite moment was him talking to the refs after Dahntay Jones’ technical.

Record books on fire. The record of rewriting records continued as they scored the most points in an NBA Finals quarter with 49, then in a half with 86. The Cavs also shattered the Warriors record of 18 threes in a Finals game five days later with 24.

Thirteen down, three to go. #DefendTheLand pic.twitter.com/qpMiESj4Dt

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 10, 2017

The Big Three were BIGGGGG as they combined for 94 points, 22 boards, and 16 assists. On our C:tB email thread there were plenty of freak out moments, myself included. A response I had that was seconded by editor Nate Smith was “What would the Spurs do?” They wouldn’t freakout and trade Irving for Chris Paul and Love for Paul George or Melo. They’d regroup. Accentuate the positives of the stars, and rebuild the auxiliary players to accent the core better. Win or lose going forward, the Cavs should never trade a member of their core of James, Love, Irving, and Thompson. Yes, Tristan is part of their core. Also, injuries happen. Derrick Rose was the next greatest thing until he wasn’t. Kevin Durant has had a pair of significant foot injuries. If the Cavs keep this ship together, they can still compete for the title for the next three years. That’s something 28 teams can’t say. They can still compete this year too.