I have about an hour to write out my thoughts about the NBA Finals since I didn't want to at 1 a.m. and I have to be at work soon (and I'll be there for a longer-than-normal day). So here goes.
1) Everyone wants to talk about Steph Curry, and everyone should be talking about Steph Curry.
I don't get it. He's the best shooter in NBA history - although Klay Thompson is hot on his heels - and yet there's something amiss at surprising times. I don't believe in "clutch" the way a lot of people do, because if Steph doesn't hit a million threes all the time, the Warriors are never in position for him to take a game-winner in the Finals (they also don't make the Finals). All of them are worth three points, so they need the first one as much as they need the last one.
But something kind of happens, doesn't it? And doesn't it affect his legacy a tiny bit? Steph shot 34.3% on three-pointers this series. Toronto was all over him defensively, and he never had space to take those shots, but even so, the ones he took went in at at a lower rate than Longball Legend Rajon Rondo shot during the regular season.
In the Finals, Stephen Curry shot 22.6% on three-pointers when the nearest defender was 4-6 feet away. That's staggering. And it's not that small of a sample size either - he took over 5 of these per game. For comparison's sake, he shot 39% in this situation in the regular season.
Steph also shot 44% on three-pointers when the nearest defender was closer than 4-feet away, so figure that one out. He just couldn't hit the open looks when he had them, and that's pretty damning for a guy who people like to pretend is bad in the clutch.
Furthermore, on the legacy bit, think back about the last five years of Warriors basketball. After the Warriors beat the extremely shorthanded Cavaliers in 2015, Steph made a tongue-in-cheek apology about "sorry we beat the team in front of us. Sorry we weren't injured" etc. and honestly, I thought it was a pretty funny thing to do. He's right. All you can do is play the other team and try to win, and that's what they did. More power to them.
So then the next June they were at full-strength/health and lost with basically the same lineup and the best team in NBA history. Then they got the 2nd best player in the NBA to come hang out for three years, ramping up a constant debate over whether Durant was better than Curry. They won two pretty easy titles with KD as the guy, and then lost him for this year's Finals. Fair or not, this is still a Finals loss for Curry and means he's 1-2 without Durant, and that one was against a Cavs team which featured LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, and a roster of guys who are not NBA starters.
Does this actually tell us anything about Curry? I kind of think it does not. It tells us that this is a complicated equation with a lot of moving parts, and one shot here or one shot there make all the difference. The Dubs were 27 missed threes from missing the Finals altogether in 2018, so it's not that simple.
For what it's worth, in Finals of the past, Steph has been statistically very good, but not quite as good as regular season, which is to be expected, I think. It's hard to say whether or not he was good or bad in these if you just look at the stats, but people remember what they want to remember. Examples:
2) The Finals MVP thing.
Here's a very big if: If Klay doesn't get hurt, the Warriors very probably win that game last night. They'd have a puncher's chance going into game 7 as well. If the Warriors won in 7, Steph Curry - in my opinion - still would be without a Finals MVP. Klay was just unreal this series.
It sucks that Klay tore his ACL. It sucks that he'll be out for a long time. It sucks that the NBA is on summer break. But it did not suck to watch Klay Thompson. My god. 24-41 (58.5%!!) on three-pointers in five games? The guy is incredible.
I can't tell you how many texts got sent about his shooting form, his uncanny ability to square his shoulders, his ability to get his upper body in perfect position regardless of what's going on below his waist, and how seemingly every shot was going in. His defense was maybe not as great as it's ever been, but it was pretty damn good too. I don't even know what to say about him other than just...wow. And how he's a free agent too? What a weird summer for the Warriors' free agents.
3) The Raptors were so funny to watch down the stretch.
We all know that Kawhi is a robot, and the fact that the most emotion he showed in the entire game was when he wanted his 0.0 seconds left bucket to count. But there were about 3:00 down the stretch where there were two apparent truths about the Toronto Raptors:
1) Everyone wants to talk about Steph Curry, and everyone should be talking about Steph Curry.
I don't get it. He's the best shooter in NBA history - although Klay Thompson is hot on his heels - and yet there's something amiss at surprising times. I don't believe in "clutch" the way a lot of people do, because if Steph doesn't hit a million threes all the time, the Warriors are never in position for him to take a game-winner in the Finals (they also don't make the Finals). All of them are worth three points, so they need the first one as much as they need the last one.
But something kind of happens, doesn't it? And doesn't it affect his legacy a tiny bit? Steph shot 34.3% on three-pointers this series. Toronto was all over him defensively, and he never had space to take those shots, but even so, the ones he took went in at at a lower rate than Longball Legend Rajon Rondo shot during the regular season.
In the Finals, Stephen Curry shot 22.6% on three-pointers when the nearest defender was 4-6 feet away. That's staggering. And it's not that small of a sample size either - he took over 5 of these per game. For comparison's sake, he shot 39% in this situation in the regular season.
Steph also shot 44% on three-pointers when the nearest defender was closer than 4-feet away, so figure that one out. He just couldn't hit the open looks when he had them, and that's pretty damning for a guy who people like to pretend is bad in the clutch.
Furthermore, on the legacy bit, think back about the last five years of Warriors basketball. After the Warriors beat the extremely shorthanded Cavaliers in 2015, Steph made a tongue-in-cheek apology about "sorry we beat the team in front of us. Sorry we weren't injured" etc. and honestly, I thought it was a pretty funny thing to do. He's right. All you can do is play the other team and try to win, and that's what they did. More power to them.
So then the next June they were at full-strength/health and lost with basically the same lineup and the best team in NBA history. Then they got the 2nd best player in the NBA to come hang out for three years, ramping up a constant debate over whether Durant was better than Curry. They won two pretty easy titles with KD as the guy, and then lost him for this year's Finals. Fair or not, this is still a Finals loss for Curry and means he's 1-2 without Durant, and that one was against a Cavs team which featured LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, and a roster of guys who are not NBA starters.
Does this actually tell us anything about Curry? I kind of think it does not. It tells us that this is a complicated equation with a lot of moving parts, and one shot here or one shot there make all the difference. The Dubs were 27 missed threes from missing the Finals altogether in 2018, so it's not that simple.
For what it's worth, in Finals of the past, Steph has been statistically very good, but not quite as good as regular season, which is to be expected, I think. It's hard to say whether or not he was good or bad in these if you just look at the stats, but people remember what they want to remember. Examples:
- 2019 Finals, 41% overall, 34% on threes. The healthiest/best player on his team, underperforms against aggressive defense
- 2018 Finals, 40% overall, 41.5% on threes. Dubs throttled Cavs, JR Smith forgets score
- 2017 Finals, 44% overall, 39% on threes. Good again, Dubs throttled Cavs
- 2016 Finals, 40% overall, 40% on threes. Statistically played well, but didn't feel like it. Also failed to score over Kevin Love to win game 7
- 2015 Finals, 44% overall, 38.5% on threes. Beat a depleted Cavs team for first championship
So...he's still really great at shooting a basketball. It's supposed to be harder to make shots in the Finals, unless you're this next guy.
2) The Finals MVP thing.
Here's a very big if: If Klay doesn't get hurt, the Warriors very probably win that game last night. They'd have a puncher's chance going into game 7 as well. If the Warriors won in 7, Steph Curry - in my opinion - still would be without a Finals MVP. Klay was just unreal this series.
It sucks that Klay tore his ACL. It sucks that he'll be out for a long time. It sucks that the NBA is on summer break. But it did not suck to watch Klay Thompson. My god. 24-41 (58.5%!!) on three-pointers in five games? The guy is incredible.
I can't tell you how many texts got sent about his shooting form, his uncanny ability to square his shoulders, his ability to get his upper body in perfect position regardless of what's going on below his waist, and how seemingly every shot was going in. His defense was maybe not as great as it's ever been, but it was pretty damn good too. I don't even know what to say about him other than just...wow. And how he's a free agent too? What a weird summer for the Warriors' free agents.
3) The Raptors were so funny to watch down the stretch.
We all know that Kawhi is a robot, and the fact that the most emotion he showed in the entire game was when he wanted his 0.0 seconds left bucket to count. But there were about 3:00 down the stretch where there were two apparent truths about the Toronto Raptors:
- They really wanted Kawhi to be a superstar because they were playing hot potato with the basketall, afraid to make mistakes
- Fred VanVleet was like "if nobody wants it, I'm just gonna go ahead and take care of this
How in the world did FVV show up with more stones than Lowry, Siakam, Danny Green, and maybe even Kawhi down the stretch? That was bananas. Those other dudes would be running the arc doing dribble handoffs and FVV would have to be like "ugh. Screw it. I'm just gonna rip this from 27 feet." AND THEN HE DID THAT. Incredible.
4) How great was Serge Ibaka in this series?
I don't know what it is about him, but I've always had a soft spot for Serge. I was really glad to see him show up out of nowhere in game 3 (I think) and just start blocking every shot imaginable. He had six blocks in just under 21 minutes. That was the guy we saw in Oklahoma City five years ago and have been a little bummed to not see since. He turned into a bloated contract and a bad investment, then came up huge in the Finals. What can you do? It was great.
5) It's a very strange time for the Warriors.
They are now closing down Oracle Arena having lost the Finals *in that building* twice in the last four years, despite being massive favorites. I don't really know what to make of it, but that's the truth. In fact, in their five year "dynasty" they only clinched a championship at home once.
Oracle was wild in that first year or two, but things changed and they just lost three straight home games in the NBA Finals. I don't know what else to say about it, I guess.
6) What a great trade for Kawhi.
I know this is not very thought-provoking, but come on. Trade away your franchise's most beloved player for a guy who is still nursing an injury and hasn't played basketball in 16 months?
And then it turns out that this new guy is pretty close to his pre-injury self and leads your team to an unimaginable NBA championship?
Good trade.
7) Believe it or not, the league is in a worse place if the Warriors are worse next year.
The best situation for the NBA is to have a monstrous team atop the league and then everyone else chasing them. Teams have to make moves to catch the Warriors. They had to try to get past LeBron in the east. They had to chase these things and do everything in their power to get there.
With things possibly being wide open, what happens? Everyone hangs out and looks at each other, trying to figure out what's next and what they need to do to become the best team? It's a little anti-climactic.
8) Speaking of anticlimactic...
That was the most uninspiring final 8 seconds of basketball I've ever seen. Once Steph missed (and then stood still watching everyone go after the rebound and ensuing loose ball as it rolled about 7 feet from him), Toronot was on the verge of their championship moment, and then it just dragged on and on and on and on. It sucked the wind out of the sails. There was no "3...2...1...!!!!!!" thing or a missed shot or anything like that. It was kind of a bummer.
I have to go to work now.
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