NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors Game 6

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors Game 6

Could tonight be the last night of the NBA season or will LeBron and the Cavs stay alive? Either or, tonight will hopefully be as entertaining of game as Game 5 was. The Cavaliers played with a sense of urgency that had been missing all series. I guess when your season is on the line, there might be a little more fire in one's chest. The Cavs should have that same drive tonight, but using that kind of effort in Game 5 could have some fatigue effects in Game 6.

As I noted in my original NBA Finals preview, Kyrie Irving's rise in level of play will be a huge factor for the Cavs' success, he is truly showing he is a premier PG in the NBA and giving Steph Curry a run for his money. Kyrie's performance in Game 5 is exactly what they needed in that game. Now, I'm not saying he's going to score 40+ again, but if he can just have a slightly above average game, say maybe score 25 or more, while LeBron has near 30, the Cavs' chances of winning grow exponentially. Which brings me to my next topic...Kevin Love.

Kevin Love had a miserable offensive night in Game 5 scoring only 2 points in 33 minutes. He was nearly a non-factor, but he was second on the team, only to Kyrie in +/- of +18. This is why I don't always like the +/- stat. It's deceiving sometimes. In Game 6, Kevin Love should and needs to have a better game. The fact that the game is in Cleveland should boost his confidence somewhat. If he can step up in a way Kyrie did last game, the Cavs will win this game.

The Return of Draymond Green; this has to be the biggest story line of the night. Green and Warrior "fans" claiming they would have won if he'd played. It's all gibberish talk. With the game Kyrie and LeBron had, the Cavs weren't going to lose even if Green had played. Yes, Draymond will have an immediate impact on the game, but his presence alone is not going to be the reason why the Warriors win or lose. The Warriors lost because of their lack of defense and poor bench performance. I could see Speights getting some more playtime tonight due to Andrew Bogut being out and his offensive attributes. A few other things I want to mention with the return of Green and Andrew Bogut being out. This will totally switch up their rotation. The Warriors "DEATH" line-up will be playing even more minutes than usual tonight, due to Bogut being out.

Klay Thompson and Steph Curry

Thompson had an outstanding offensive night, almost as well as Kyrie Irving, but if you look in the box score, he had the worst +/- posting a -21. That is a direct correlation in his defensive ability. I get so frustrated when I hear somebody call him "an elite defender." You don't just go from horrible one on one defender to elite defender in 1 season. Some may think I'm totally wrong about Klay, but I will wait to hear and better yet see a counter argument. As for Steph Curry, once again he looked average having a below par shooting night, after having his huge 38 point game in Game 4, he was over-shadowed by Kyrie's 41 points in Game 5. He has only played like the MVP once in this series. I think he will have another average night again tonight and wait to explode for Game 7.

Cavs win tonight and keep the series alive because LeBron will have another near triple double, Kyrie will have an average game, Kevin Love, JR Smith and the bench will be the difference. My special stat to watch is the number of 3's JR Smith makes. 5 or more and the Cavs win. For the Warriors, I think Klay will have a bad game, Steph will start hot and cool off, and my X factor for the Warriors tonight is Iggy and Livingston. Both need bounce back games. Cavs still win in a very tight game.

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NBA: Free Agency LA Lakers

Now that Kevin Love just opted out of his contract maybe we will finally see the Lakers revamp their roster before Kobe goes out.

I wrote about the Lakers landing a huge free agent last summer, but it never happened, which is why they were so bad last season. I'm hoping with all the free agents this summer LA is bound to pick up one and get back to a respectful team.

If dreams came true for LA:
1) Trade their #2 pick for DeMarcus Cousins
2) Sign Jimmy Butler
3) Sign Kevin Love or LaMarcus Adridge


OK now that probably won't happen but hopefully one of those events will.

If all 3 did happen, imagine the Lakers Roster:

C: DeMarcus Cousins
PF: Kevin Love/LaMarcus Aldridge
SF: Jimmy Butler
SG: Kobe Bryant
PG: Jordan Clarkson

Bench:
Nick Young as back up SG and legitimate scoring threat
Jeremy Lin: back up PG
Julius Randle: has yet to play, but would be in a great position to come off the bench
Ed Davis, Jordan Hill and Ryan Kelly would fight for the back up positions, but provide depth and flexibility.
Wayne Ellington: Back up SF/SG

Lakers need to get rid of Boozer.

Just remember this is a hypothetical dream scenario that has little to no chance of ever happening, but it sure would be a way to get the Lakers back to championship caliber.

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NBA Eastern Conference Top 5 teams

After about 6 weeks of the NBA season, I have came to some thoughts. The Eastern Conference is totally up for grabs between Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, and the Wizards. Those 5 are the only good teams in the East. I left the Miami Heat off because without LeBron they are now just an average Eastern Conference team. Now let me breakdown the 5 teams I mentioned.

Atlanta Hawks: I don't know how they are on a 9 game winning streak, but whatever they are doing keep doing it. They are .5 a game behind Toronto for the #1 seed. I don't see them as being a real contender for the Eastern Conference Championship, but they will be tough to go through if they keep playing as they are for the rest of the season.

Chicago Bulls: On paper they look really good and they are really good. They have maybe the most complete team in the East. They are the favorite to a lot of journalist to win the East and they certainly can, but their playoff success depends on the health of Derrick Rose. Last night, he looked really good against a very good Western Conference team, the Portland Trailblazers. Dropping 31 was a great sign for him and the team. As a fan of the game I hope he gets back to his MVP form, but that's highly unlikely. Rose has struggled this season. He is shooting a very low FG% and 3P%. Those number's need to increase closer to 48% and 35%. I would say the biggest concern that I can see are the amount of free throws attempted. He has only one game this season with 10 FTA. His average FTA is only slightly lower than his career FTA, but I personally think that the scoring PG that he is should be getting to the FT at least 6 times per game. It's early in the season, so there is a lot of time to improve and get back to his peak, but that will take proper rest from coach Thibodeau in terms of minutes played and games played. The addition of Pau Gasol has been a great compliment to both Jokim Noah and Taj Gibson. The emergence of Jimmy Butler as premier defender and legit offensive threat has been impressive. The Bulls are a serious contender that could possibly knock King James off his throne.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Sitting at the #5 seed in the East, you would think this team will make it to the playoffs and then bow out in the first or maybe second round. That is not the case. The Cavs just ended a remarkable 8 game winning streak that truly showed us (the fans and league) what this team is capable of doing. After their sluggish start, they finally showed that they can be a sound defensive team and high powered offensive team that we all could predict when the new Big 3 (James, Irving, Love) teamed up. Blatt has finally figured out a game plan that will play to his team's strengths. With a defense first mindset, the Cavs can easily rise to a #1 o#2 seed in the East. Last night was an MVP like performance from Mr. James. 17/24 from the floor is quite spectacular. LeBron is playing great, it's his teammates that need to step up as it's always his teammates that need to step up where ever he goes. DeJaVu? When the Big 3 are all clicking, this team is pretty tough to stop, but it's the guys like Tristan Thompson and Varejo that are the X factors of the Cavs winning these regular season games. Thompson is a very important key to the Cavs success. If Thompson, Love, and Varejo can control the boards, the Cavs will be very successful. Getting Delladova back is a huge addition for the Cavs. He will be able to take some pressure off Kyrie Irving when Irving is on the bench or at the SG position.

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Lebron's Homecoming

Well that was ugly. I know it was just this first game of the season, but that had to be so disappointing to the city of Cleveland. Lebron looked like he had never played with his teammates and he didn't want to upset them by playing like his usual self. He literally played like an average SF in the league that was just there to get occasional shots. It seemed as if the game plan was for him to play off his teammates rather than his teammates play off him. If the Cavs want to be serious championship contenders David Blatt is going to need to change his game plans.
This was a rare outing from Lebron and I expect a huge game from him tonight, but it wont be easy going to the revamped Chicago Bulls for their home opener and Derrick Rose back. Kyrie will have his hands full with Rose and vice versa.

Can't wait to watch ESPN @ 7:00 PM CT Cavs at Bulls

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