2015 NBA Finals (Game 1): First Blood by Warriors

Warriors and Cavaliers, both teams were not picked by most basketball fans at the start of the season to make it to the final are now a step away from being the NBA Champion. For the first time ever since 1998, a final won’t feature either Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, or Dwayne Wade. The Warriors are making their first NBA Finals appearance since 1975, while the Cavs are bidding to win their first ever NBA title in franchise history. Perhaps an interesting thing about this series is that we have two rookie coaches on both teams, Steve Kerr and David Blatt.

The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1, winning 108-100 in overtime, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the series. The Cavs had the early lead in the first half, 51-48. But Warriors with the home advantage, came back and leveled things up in 48 minutes of basketball forcing an overtime. To the neutrals, it was certainly an entertaining game and a fantastic opening to the series.

The game was evenly matched until overtime when Warriors managed to turn up a gear and win the game. The Cavs almost fired blank in overtime until LeBron’s layup with less than 30 seconds on the game clock. Key players from the Cavs suffered from fatigues after logging massive minutes during normal time. LeBron James (45 minutes), Tristan Thompson (47 minutes), and Kyrie Irving (43 minutes) all played more than 40 minutes in Game 1 causing them to misfire badly in overtime. On the other side, Steph Curry was the only Warriors that played more than 40 minutes. David Blatt might want to consider making some adjustments to that for Game 2. Perhaps giving more minutes to James Jones or Matthew Dellavedova who only played 17 and 9 minutes respectively in Game 1. Or thinking of going deep in the bench. Shawn Marion, Mike Miller or even Kendrick Perkins who had experience of playing in the NBA Finals could perhaps provide the experience for the team going forward.

The Warriors defense has been solid in the whole game. Andre Iguodala (pic) did a great job defending LeBron James, not allowing him to drive to the rim and settling for jump shots. The only slight concern for the Warriors for the coming games is to limit Tristan Thompson’s ability to grab offensive rebounds. Do expect the Warriors to keep the same defensive game plan in Game 2. Offensively, the Warriors might want to think of some adjustments. The smaller lineup with Draymond Green at center has proven to be effective especially in overtime. A high chance that the Warriors might play with this lineup for a longer period in Game 2.

Regular season MVP Steph Curry had a good game: 26 points, 8 assists, 10-20 shooting. But this Warriors team will need better production from the other guys. Klay Thompson, who has been struggling with his shooting in this playoffs has 21 points from 5-14 shooting, nailing only 3 three-pointers from 9 attempts. Andrew Bogut, who was the key for this Warriors defense will need to start scoring more points. In Game 1, it was the combined effort of Andre Iguodala and Marcus Speights who gave this Warriors team the offensive lift when the team were behind by more than 10 points during the first half.

For the Cavs, bench production was an issue in Game 1. JR Smith was the only contributor to the bench with 9 points. There were outscored by the Warriors bench by a total of 25 points. Dellavedova and Jones, who both had zero points will need to step up their game and start scoring for the team. This Cavs team simply can’t expect LeBron to put up another 44 points game in the next few games. They will need to make some adjustments to execute better. Tristan Thompson will have to give the team more low-post scoring with the offensive rebounds he created. Timothy Mozgov will have to continue his great form in Game 1. While LeBron might want to think of settling for fewer jump shots and create more opportunities for the shooters.

But for LeBron, losing Game 1 in the final is not unfamiliar territory. He lost the first game in the last three finals appearance. And, he led his team and came back to win two of those. Regardless of the injury situation of Kyrie Irving, LeBron will surely be fired up to push this Warriors team to the limit. Hopefully we will have a few more entertaining games ahead.