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*Photo via USA Today
The Golden State Warriors seem to be the team that no one can defeat. The New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, and Houston Rockets all failed to come up with a solution to defeat the Warriors in a seven game series and now the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves down in the NBA Finals one game to none with Kyrie Irving out for the rest of the series.
The Bench
The Warriors proved why they are so deadly in game one of the finals. The Warriors are the second team in the history of the NBA, to not have one player on the team's roster with previous NBA Finals experience and it showed in the first quarter. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson started out cold missing a lot of shots as well as the rest of the team. So what makes them so deadly? The Warriors were down 29-19 at the end of the first quarter and with Curry and Thompson off the court, they still were able to come back in the second quarter.
The Warriors bench is one thing that makes them more deadly than most teams. They were able to close the gap in the second quarter as they got a huge lift from Marreese Speights and Andre Iguodala. From there the Warriors never struggled on offense again. Iguodala finished with 15 points and played the best defense on the team against Lebron James. The Warriors bench outscored the Cavs bench 34 to nine in a game that was decided in overtime.The Warriors bench gave them the spark to get Curry and Thompson back on track offensively.
The Defense
The Warriors stayed true to their defensive game plan despite 44 points from LeBron James. This team with no finals experience could have easily panicked as LeBron continued to dominate in the isolation situations that the Warriors were giving him. The Warriors game plan was to reduce LeBron’s playmaking and force him into one on one jump shot situation, but LeBron was “on” in Game 1. The poise of coach Steve Kerr and this Warriors team to stay true to their game plan shows how lethal this team can be on defense.
The Splash
Having counterparts like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson makes the Warriors extremely deadly from the perimeter. The Cavs did a good job limiting Curry and Thompson to three-point attempts early. Curry and Thompson were a combined five of 15 from downtown in Game 1. Thompson got some open looks and was able to knock down some key shots. But five of 15 is not the type of combined numbers you usually see from Curry and Thompson. Just wait until they get in a groove and start knocking down the long ball. The Warriors were able to come away with Game 1 victory despite the Splash Brothers low numbers from beyond the arc.
The MVP
Perhaps what makes the Warriors the most dangerous team in the NBA, is the MVP Steph Curry. Curry finished with 26 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Curry only attempted six three-pointers in the entire game. He knew the Cavs were going to come out and limit his three-point attempts, so Curry started bringing the ball inside to find the open shooters and his open mid-range shot. After the first quarter, Curry played a flawless game showing everyone why he was the MVP of the NBA.
The Warriors are a very deadly team. There are numerous things that make them deadly from the Splash Brothers duo, the strength and depth of their bench, a great coaching staff and the MVP. The Cavs face their biggest uphill battle this season and it will be without Kyrie Irving.
Works Cited
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400796845