NBA Finals Game 7 Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers Preview.
Well, NBA fans, can you all sit back and understand the meaning between the best player and most valuable? Because this NBA Finals we are witnessing LeBron James take over the entire series and define what being the most valuable player really means. During the regular season, no one can take away what the Warriors did as a collective unit. Winning a record amount of games in effortless fashion seemingly night in and night out was something special, no doubt. For Curry, scoring 30.1 points per game on that team? We can and should have called him the best player in the league for the regular season.
But to give him the unanimous MVP of the league? I think some of these voters need to take a long hard look at what has gone on all playoffs long. In Game 6 of the finals, the Cavaliers came out with incredible energy, and surged out to a 31-11 first quarter score. James and the gang were gelling once again, and had all of us wondering once again how this Warriors squad won 73 regular season games. LeBron James backed his game 5, 41 point performance with – yes – another 41 point outing. In Game 6 James’ stat line was 41-11-8 and a bunch of key defensive plays in crucial moments. Late in the game, Steph Curry got a steal and took it down the court for what he thought was an easy lay in, but didn’t know that James was stalking him down the court, timed his jump right, and sent the Curry layup into the third row. Afterwards, the camera caught James giving Curry some words of “advice” we will call it. Only a minute or two later, LeBron secured his 8th rebound of the night and Curry fouled him on the way down, for his 6th foul, his first foul out in his career. When the ref blew his whistle Curry flung his mouth guard at a fan and ran to the ref claiming he didn’t agree with the call, in light terms. Wait, so if Curry scores 30 points, the Warriors can still lose? How is that possible?
I think this finals series the meaning of being an elite, we can even call it a top 5 scorer in the league, is different than the most valuable. Whoever wins game 7, I think it is a no brainer that LeBron wins the MVP. Going into game 5 down 3-1, LeBron was averaging 24-9-8 and we were telling him in order for the Cavs to have a shot, he was going to have to do even more, way more. So, James proceeds to rattle off two games (41-16-7, then 41-11-8) in a row to get his team right back into it, and perhaps steal the momentum in the do-or-die Game 7 in Oakland. On the Warriors side, some could argue that Curry has been the third best player on his team this series. Klay Thompson has been unbelievable with his consistent scoring along with guarding Kyrie Irving every play of every game so far. Draymond Green? Love him or hate him, you see how deflated the Warriors are without him on the court. So then there is Curry. Yes, last night he scored 30 points, but his performance was not even close to enough to get the win. He had just 1 assist, 2 rebounds, 4 turnovers, and oh yeah the temper tantrum after fouling out. The most valuable player is the award, people. Not the most fascinating scorer in the game, for his from-the-logo shots he takes in pregame.
Moving on to game 7, it will be very interesting to watch. It seems as if the Cavs have all the momentum, but let’s not be foolish here, the task won’t be easy. They have to go out to Oakland, to try to beat the Warriors, who haven’t lost 10 games there this season (regular season and post season combined). We have seen it all from both teams, but the past two games, the Cavaliers have beaten the Warriors even with Curry and Thompson having good scoring games. I think we know which LeBron we are going to see on Sunday, the question is if we are going to see just the shooter Steph Curry, or a Curry that will play like a true most valuable player, and effect the game in more ways than hitting 5-6 threes.