The Golden State Warriors’ offense has disappointed in the NBA Finals.
During Game 3 of the NBA Finals, I was sitting in Jackie O’s pub contorting my neck just to get a decent view of the record-breaking televised event.
“God, this freaking sucks,” I said under my breath as fans cheered after every basket made.
No, it didn’t suck that I had to turn my neck 48 degrees to my right just watch the game. It didn’t suck witnessing the Cleveland Cavaliers earn a 2-1 advantage in a best-of-seven series against the heavily-favored Golden State Warriors. I’m happy for Cleveland.
It sucks seeing the type of basketball being played on one of basketball’s biggest stages.
“Really thought the warriors were better than this,” I tweeted last night in a tipsy-faze. I still stand by that tweet: It’s hard to watch the Warriors play poorly.
Going into what is arguably the most publicized NBA Finals matchup in recent years, the Warriors were supposed to make circus-shots, trampoline around the court and have more magic than the Harlem Globetrotters. Yet, they’ve been anything but those things in the first three games.
In the past two matchups with the Cavs, the Warriors have shot 40 and 39 percent, respectively, and have failed to score 100 points in back-to-back games against Cleveland’s stagnant defense.
This is a team that averaged 110 points per game in the regular season behind two guys tagged as “The Splash Bros”—one of which is the league’s MVP—along with former All-Stars Andre Iguodala, David Lee and an array of sharpshooters.
Yet last night, I had to watch some rat-looking-Australian dude nicknamed “Delly” outplay them in what was, for the most part, a defensive stinker until the fourth quarter.
Going into the matchup, there was supposed to be a superstar slugfest between Cleveland’s LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and Golden State’s high octane offense. It was the NBA’s “Mayweather vs. Pacquiao” in a sense.
But what was once a promising offensive matchup soon vanquished in a matter of minutes.
That dream of seeing Steph Curry—one half the Warriors’ “Splash Bros” tandem—crossing up Irving before gracefully landing a floater in the paint, then seeing Irving coming right back with furious drive of his own, turned into a nightmare.
Irving went down with a knee injury during Game 1 and then everything changed. It was like when the Fire Nation attacked in Nickelodeon's hit-show Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Now, instead of high-flying offense, fans get to watch a defensive-stalemate that almost replicates the 2005 NBA Finals, which saw the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs drag out a seven-game-defensive-snooze fest.
Curry, who’s known for his Houdini-like playmaking ability, has been cold in terms of shooting the ball, Klay Thompson has been inconsistent and role players like Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut haven’t been much better.
Sigh.
Here’s to hoping the Warriors pick it up in Game 4.
@Lukeoroark
Lr514812@ohio.edu
