Basketball Daily Dose: Dose: How you Livingston?
Game 1 goes to GSW 104-89, but not the way you’d think
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson didn’t do much of anything in Thursday’s Game 1, while Cleveland’s Big 3 of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love (as well as Tristan Thompson) all played very well for the most part. However, it didn’t matter, as the Warriors’ bench carried the Dubs to a pretty easy 104-89 win in Game 1.
I’m not sure there’s a better NBA story than Shaun Livingston’s. He blew out his knee in one of the ugliest injuries ever seen on television in 2007, has bounced around between nine NBA teams, yet was the best player for the Warriors in Game 1. He went from looking like he’d never play again to staying injury free and helping the league’s best team pick apart the Beasts of the East. Livingston finished with a playoff career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and added four rebounds, three assists and a steal, all off the bench. I didn’t link the video of his injury for a reason. It’s just really, really hard to watch. I love Livingston’s story and if he doesn’t do anything else in this series, I’m glad he got his moment in the spotlight last night. Having said that, no one on the Cavs could guard Livingston in Game 1 so I doubt we’ve seen the last of him.
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Leandro Barbosa was also big off the bench for the Warriors, hitting all five of his shots for 11 points and a 3-pointer in just 11 minutes. His buckets seem to come when the Warriors were making big runs, despite the low minutes. Andre Iguodala was also nice off the bench, finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds, six dimes, a steal and two 3-pointers in 36 minutes. We knew he’d be a key for the Warriors in this series and the only surprising thing he did tonight was come off the bench behind Harrison Barnes.
As for the guys we expected to be making headlines for GSW? Stephen Curry had just 11 points, five rebounds, six assists and three 3-pointers on 4-of-15 shooting, while Klay Thompson played just 24 minutes and hit 4-of-12 shots for nine points, five rebounds, two assists and a 3-pointer. This was the lowest combined total of points for the two GSW guards this season, yet they still won by 15 points. Neither player was hurt, or even looked bad, but they just couldn’t get their shots to fall.
Draymond Green came through with 16 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, a block and two 3-pointers on 5-of-11 shooting, and was the only big name for the Warriors to come through. Harrison Barnes, who started over Iguodala, hit 6-of-10 shots for 13 points and a steal, and Andrew Bogut scored 10 with three rebounds for the starters.
The Warriors’ bench outscored the Cavs’ 45-10, which is obviously the biggest takeaway from this game, along with the fact that Cleveland’s defense was borderline dreadful in Game 1.
While LeBron (23-12-9), Love (17 & 13) and Irving (26 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 7-of-22 shooting) all got their numbers, and Tristan Thompson jumped into the double-double party with 10 & 12, J.R. Smith was invisible in this one. He may have hurt his wrist early in the game, but he played through it and saw 36 minutes, but hit just 1-of-3 shots for three points, which came on a 3-pointer. He had hit 49 3-pointers in the playoffs coming into this game, so seeing him only attempt three shots was pretty strange. He did play some nice defense against Thompson, as expected, and he might have been the only Cavalier playing much on that end of the floor. One of the problems with having Love and Irving in your lineup is that you give it up on the defensive end of the floor. And the Cavaliers’ D did not look good in this one, especially against Livingston and Barbosa. Love, James (one assist shy of a triple-double) and Thompson all double-doubled, but other than pulling ahead by one in the third quarter, and battling for a few possessions, the Warriors were in control of this game for the rest of the night.
The Warriors scored 15 straight points in the fourth quarter, 13 of which came from bench players, and blew the game open to an 88-72 lead with just over eight minutes left in the contest. The Cavs went on a 9-0 run late in the game and pulled to within 11 points, but it was too little, too late.
I’m not going to jump to conclusions and call the Cavs out of this, especially after what we saw the Spurs do to the Thunder in Game 1 of their series. But the fact that Curry and Klay combined for just 20 points and the Dubs still won by 15, things aren’t looking great for the Cavs.
The Cavs will need to find a way to keep the Big 3 going, get Smith involved, and play some defense against anyone in a white jersey in Game 2. I think the Cavs will bounce back in Game 2, but that doesn’t mean they’ll win. And if the Cavs can’t pull off a win in Game 2 and fall into a 2-0 hole, the Warriors will likely take at least one in Cleveland, leaving the Warriors’ in a great position to repeat.
Look for Curry and Klay to return to form in Game 2 (Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC) and look for the score to be much closer.
