Stephen Curry on Game 7: 'I need to play my best game of the year' It goes without saying that the importance of Sunday's NBA Finals Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers eclipses that of any other game on the league calendar. For the players involved, that means the external pressure ramps up to extremely high levels. Different players feel that impact … [Read more...]

Andre Iguodala to (not) relax for Game 7 with 'Sopranos' finale Golden State Warriors wing Andre Iguodala enters Sunday's NBA Finals Game 7 with perhaps the single most important task of anyone on the team — guarding the red-hot LeBron James. Iguodala's job will be even more difficult than usual thanks to the back issues that clearly hobbled him throughout Golden State's Game 6 loss. … [Read more...]

LeBron focused on championship, not MVP 6:56 PM ET Dave McMenaminESPN Staff Writer Close Cavs and NBA writer for ESPN.com Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14 and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09 Syracuse University graduate OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even if the Cleveland Cavaliers were to lose Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, many … [Read more...]

Iguodala plans on playing despite bad back 5:58 PM ET Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala says he plans to play Game 7 of the NBA Finals despite a balky back that limited him the previous game. Warriors forward Andre Iguodala says he is planning on playing game 7 of the NBA Finals Sunday versus the Cavaliers despite a bad back which has bothered him … [Read more...]

Curry: 'Need to play my best game' in Game 7 5:57 PM ET Ethan Sherwood StraussESPN Staff Writer Close Covers the Golden State Warriors for ESPN.com Contributes to ESPN's TrueHoop blog Hosts TrueHoop TV Live OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry believes he needs to play better than he ever has in Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. "I need to play my best game of the year, … [Read more...]

Final analysis: Will Warriors recover or Cavs make history? 5:35 PM ET The Golden State Warriors never ran from history. Fewer than two weeks into the season, when the defending champions were 5-0, some players were already talking about 73 wins. Those too queasy to think that far into the future reveled in the pursuit of a record-breaking 16-0 start. The chatter got so loud that coach Steve … [Read more...]

Draft Preview: Nader's NBA Mock Draft 2.0 It’s only been a few weeks since my first mock draft, but you’ll notice that there has been a ton of movement in the lottery. The speculation about where these players will end up should really start to heat up after the conclusion of Game 7 of the Finals on Sunday, but I’ll take my best shot at another mock. Keep in mind that a lot could change over … [Read more...]

A Rose in the Garden? Knicks reportedly talking Derrick Rose trade The point guard position was a bit of a weak spot for the New York Knicks last season. Well, that'd be a charitable way to put it, anyway. Another would be: the Knicks' point guards got totally and completely outproduced on a nightly basis last season, with starter Jose Calderon unable to break down opponents off the dribble … [Read more...]

In praise of Tristan Thompson, who works until you break It didn't take baffling brilliance to predict that Tristan Thompson needed to play a major role for the Cleveland Cavaliers to beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. That's why some decidedly unbrilliant scrub tapped Thompson as one of the six most important players in this series. [Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The … [Read more...]

Report: NBA security mistook Ayesha Curry's dad for 'con artist' In the final minutes of the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 6 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, Ayesha Curry, the wife of Warriors point guard and back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, took to Twitter to register her displeasure with the officiating for the second straight game. This time, she went beyond … [Read more...]