The Warriors Put LeBron Out of His Misery in Game 4

My other Finals recaps:

-Game 1

-Game 2

-Game 3

Down 0-3 entering Game 4, the Cavs fought gallantly until the end with a never-say-die effort.  LeBron James was a monster with his six turnovers and five fouls.  Rodney Hood took a team-high 14 shots, and scored a whopping total of ten points.  Kyle Korver was a scorching 0-of-5 behind the arc.  Most importantly, their unselfish team play and balanced scoring were so impressive as multiple Cavs scored in single digits.  Meanwhile, their defense was so suffocating, it held Zaza Pachulia to just 2 points.

Just kidding.  The Cavs were pathetic.  No grit.  No heart.  They took this lying down.  They played as if they had already accepted their fate, and Game 4 was just the coup de grace.  They played as if they had already made their vacation plans and couldn’t wait for this to be over.  Thus, the Warriors never really met any resistance in completing the sweep, which granted them back-to-back championships and their third title in four years.

LeBron disappointed me.  He competed for a while, but the fight was eventually drained from him.  I was hoping he would go down swinging in this game.  I was hoping he would relentlessly attack and take at least 30 shots.  Instead, he only took 13 shots.   After the game, he came up with some BS excuse about playing in the last three games with an injured hand.  Give me a break.

Meanwhile, poor Steph Curry.  The Finals MVP – the only essential individual award missing in his resume – eluded him once again.  He did his best to make up for his awful showing in Game 3.  He made seven treys and scored 37 points in the closeout game.  But it wasn’t enough.  He ended up averaging 27.5 points (40% shooting), 6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in the Finals, which still fell short of Kevin Durant’s average – 28.8 points (53% shooting), 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists.  Hence, KD got to win Finals MVP again.  If only Steph managed to hit a couple more three-pointers in Game 4, scoring 40+ points, that would have bumped his scoring average over Durant’s, and maybe that would have been enough to sway the votes over his favor.

What I find adorable though is that, in the second half of Game 4, it appeared like KD was trying to give Curry the award as he kept on feeding him the ball instead of looking for his own shot.  He still ended up with a triple-double though – 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists – and that more or less secured his win.

Nevertheless, even though Steph is likely disappointed that he didn’t win it, he looked genuinely happy for Durant.

This is simply what makes the Golden State Warriors ridiculously strong.  Not only are they extremely talented, but they also enjoy a culture of selfless and gracious brotherhood.  They really don’t mind who gets the spotlight, and they have each other’s backs.  One individual’s victory is everybody’s victory.  Everybody’s victory is one individual’s victory.  They are the epitome of what a team is.  Strength in numbers.

And that’s why I still pick the Warriors to win it all next season.