NBA: Despite 51 from LeBron! Cavs miss huge opportunity and lose in OT

The Cleveland Cavaliers missed a surprise in Game 1 of the finals only wafer-thin. They had a chance to win the game, but JR Smith made a devastating mistake. So it went into overtime, in which the Golden State Warriors won 124:114. The incomprehensible performance of LeBron James thus remains unrewarded.

Kevin Love left the Concussion Protocoll in time and returned to the starting five of the Cavs, Jeff Green had to give way. For Andre Iguodala it was not enough on the other side, he was represented by Kevon Looney.

The initial phase was dominated by the offensives. LeBron James had collected 9 points after a few minutes, Stephen Curry held up with his own points and a great Fastbreak-Alley-oop on Kevin Durant. Suddenly it became quiet: JR Smith slipped in the defense and into the legs of Klay Thompson, who went down badly. With obvious pain he limped into the Locker Room – but came back with proper tape. 30:29 for the Cavs after the first quarter.

The defensive intensity was not yet high, it indicated a high scoring game with advantages for the guests. James had free dunks and layups – without Helpside. Then he went to the bench for the first time and actually saw his team expand the lead to 11 points, even with a little ball movement. A first “real” run of the dubs out of nowhere was the answer, Curry hit with the halftime buzzer from the parking lot: 56:56.

The Warriors then came out of the cabin strong as usual and opened with a 10:3 run. A time-out for Lue calmed the situation, James brought his team back with points and finally equalized with his second threesome. He was already at 31 points – with only 13 field throws! During the transition his heatcheck threesome also fell, Steph countered. When LeBron cooled down, the hosts settled down and led to the final section with 84:76.

Cavs-Three by Kyle Korver and Jeff Green provided a one-point game, a short time later James even hit the lead via layup. Thanks to Second Chance Points – even after free throws – the Warriors turned the game around again. Draymond Green met a very important threesome, Steph went from downtown to 100:94. The Cavs didn’t give up, James unpacked the next dunk, Kevin Love met a clutch threesome. 50 seconds before the end LeBron managed a three-point game to 104:102 for his team, the Oracle Arena was shocked. KD committed an offensive foul on the other side – they thought. After a review the refs gave – rightly – a blocking foul against James. Durant was cool on the line and balanced out.

The answer was given by James, who refuelled to the board and reinpowered the ball. Without time out, the dubs went over Curry, who also started to drive – and scored with a foul! His freebie sat at 107:106. The Cavs had a posession, Klay fouled George Hill. He only hit the first one, but JR Smith got the rebound – and made a serious mistake. Apparently he took a lead from his team and dribbled down the remaining time instead of throwing – overtime!

KD opened with free throws, Klay hit from the corner, Livingston a floater – plus 7 for the dubs. The Cavs were impressed, James also seemed broken. A Klay triple to 122:111 was the Dagger. Tristan Thompson was ejected after an elbow strike. Bitter for the Cavs, who missed a huge opportunity here!

The sensational performance of LeBron with 51 points19/32 FG), 8 rebounds and 8 assists was ultimately worthless. Curry was Warriors’ topscorer with 29 points (5/11 3FG) and 9 assists, Durant scored 26, Thompson 24.

Golden State Warriors v Cleveland Cavaliers 124:114, Series 1:0 (BOXSCORE)

Everything that makes up the chef was there: wide threesomes, buzzer beater, spectacular passes. In addition, he defended well and was the one who always had an answer to LeBron’s actions. And: In 46 minutes he only collected 2 ball losses, although he was the primary ball handler. KD left most of the field to him.

It wasn’t his best evening anyway (3/10 FG). But you just can’t make the kind of mistake he made in the finals. Instead of throwing a possible game winner in the final seconds after his offensive rebound, he dribbled away from the basket because he obviously thought his team would lead (which was not the case).