The 2015 NBA Finals - The Golden State Warriors Defeat The Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-2

[DonRocks]

Am I the only person who thinks this "small ball" nonsense has hurt the quality of play in the NBA? Give me a 7-foot center and a 6-10 power forward any day of the week.

Fifteen minutes ago, there wasn't a single player on the court over 6'8".

There's no question that with the advent of the deadly 3-point shooters, the game has been changed, but rebounds are still rebounds, and there's no reason you can't have both on the same team.

I see championship NBA teams 10 years from now having guards like Stephen Curry *in addition to* centers like Patrick Ewing and power forwards like Tim Duncan (okay, maybe not all 3 of those people on the same team, but you know what I'm saying). As surely as 350-pound offensive lineman are different than 210-pound quarterbacks, so it shall be in the NBA.

I also think that these are two of the worst teams ever to play in an NBA finals, superstars aside.

Any other opinions?

[DonRocks]

Despite the Warriors winning 4-2 last night, Lebron James led every player on both teams in points, rebounds, and assists.

"Golden State Warriors Beat Cleveland Cavaliers in Six To Win First NBA Title in 40 Years" by Chris Haynes on cleveland.com

"Golden State Warriors End N.B.A. Title Drought with Victory over Cavaliers" by Scott Cacciola on nytimes.com

"Champion Warriors Find Ways to Surprise Again" by J.A. Adande on go.espn.com

"The Golden State Warriors Have NBA Dynasty Potential" by Zach Buckley on bleacherreport.com

"Golden State Warriors Down Cavaliers to Win NBA Title" by Steve Almasy on cnn.com

[DaveO]

I watched a fair share of playoff games during this NBA finals.  Good for the Warriors.  An excellent team with a very different rhythm than most NBA teams; up to 4 players on the court that could threaten with 3 pointers including the deadliest of all 3 pt shooters in the game, Steph Curry.   On defense over the year and in the playoffs they swarmed and they could protect the rim (up until the final series when they went small.).   They had a super star, 2ndary stars and they played great team ball.  An excellent team.  They dominated in the regular season and the playoffs.  Good for them.

Too bad for Cleveland and too bad for Lebron.  The team lost two significant 2ndary stars.  Had they not lost Irving and Love the results could have been easily different and the rhythm of the games would have been dramatically altered.   And with those losses Lebron carried more weight, did more, dominated more over the final series than I've ever seen one basketball player do over a finals series.  Historical in NBA terms.

And to Don above on the big man thing:  Had either team had one reasonably talented big man on offense and in the paint then the other team would have been forced to play their big man to try and stop him.

Over the entire series there were some amazing plays:   Here is an ESPN video of 10 great plays from the entire playoffs:  Somewhat surprisingly the choice for the best play occurred in the first round.  It was the final play of the seventh and elimination game for two very evenly matched teams.  The last play won the game and that series and involved two epic stars.  It was astonishing:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13100137

[farmer john]

I also think that these are two of the worst teams ever to play in an NBA finals, superstars aside.

Any other opinions?

I disagree. Golden State is one of the best sets of shooters to ever step on the court together and their depth is such that former all stars such as Iguodala and Lee were coming off the bench (or not playing at all) until the finals where the Cavalier's lack of depth made small ball the most viable option. They are WAY better than the Mavericks team that beat Lebron his first year in Miami (imo the worst team ever to win a title) or the Pistons teams with Billups and Hamilton.

By the end Cleveland was down to Lebron and a bunch of relative stiffs but they were still way better than the Iverson Philly team. Lebron and 4 random guys off the street would be as good as that team.

"The Golden State Warriors Have NBA Dynasty Potential" by Zach Buckley on bleacherreport.com

I admittedly did not read the linked article yet but the guys who know (in Vegas) have Cleveland as the favorite next year with Oklahoma City sharing second billing with Golden State. Golden State is unlikely to ever be as healthy as they were this year and one injury is all it takes.

The Wizards are 11th at 30-1. i believe that is underselling them a bit.