The Cleveland Cavaliers losing Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals was one of the biggest missed opportunities since Blockbuster refused to buy Netflix for $50 million over 18 years ago.
How did that one work out? Well, Blockbuster proceeded to disappear faster than the dude who made the Laffy Taffy, while Netflix now has an estimated market cap value of well over $20 billion.
LeBron’s crew needed that Game 1 win to institute a vital paradigm shift in the psychology of this series, but lost the chance to capitalize when George Hill missed his free throw and J.R. Smith wigged out like Tyrone Biggums on his classroom visit during the closing minutes of regulation.
LeBron James Full Game 1 Highlights vs Warriors 2018 NBA Finals – 51 Pts, 8 Ast, 8 Reb
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LeBron James‘ performance, with his astounding 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, will live forever as one of the greatest individual efforts the Finals has ever witnessed, right up there with Magic‘s 42, 15 and 7 as a rookie in 1980’s Game 6, Isiah‘s 25 points in the 3rd quarter in 1988’s Game 6, Elgin Baylor’s 61 points and 22 rebounds in 1962’s Game 5, Bill Russell’s 30 points and 40 rebounds in 1962’s Game 7 and Walt Frazier’s 36 points and 19 assists in the Knicks’ 1970 Game 7 win.
For Game 1’s first 47 minutes and 55 seconds of regulation, the Cavaliers played a perfect game. But they folded in the final five seconds before getting smacked in overtime.
Golden State was about as shook as Charlie Murphy when Rick James asked, “What did the five fingers say to the face?”
what did the five fingers say to the face?
Rick James asks Charlie Murphy a qustion
But the Warriors regrouped to snatch victory from the claws of defeat, led by Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, who scored 29, 26 and 24 points respectively.
If LeBron and the Cavs can duplicate their effort in Sunday night’s Game 2, they have a shot to tie up the series. But as one of my college professors was fond of saying, “If” is the biggest two-letter word in the English language.
Golden State is 9-1 at home this postseason. They’re 18-1 in Oakland over the last two postseasons, and LeBron’s crew faces an uphill struggle in trying to even the series before heading back to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 next week. The Dubs assisted on all five of their made field goals in overtime, and held the Cavs to just a single made field goal in the first 4:32 of the five-minute extra session.
As good as Cleveland and LeBron played in Game 1, they’ll have to be better in Game 2.
Kevin Love will at least need to replicate, if not improve upon, his excellent 21-point, 13-rebound output, J.R. Smith will need to ease on down the road with Dorothy to the land of Oz in search of a brain, they’ll need to duplicate their rebounding prowess as a whole, Larry Nance Jr. can’t be a one hit wonder like Oran Juice Jones after his important Game 1 contributions, and they’ll need monster efforts from Tristan Thompson, George Hill, Jeff Green and Kyle Korver.
2018 NBA Finals Game 1 Mini-Movie
Game 1 of this NBA Finals matchup dynasty was a thriller! We take an in depth look at the story behind it all and the best from Game 1! The Golden State Warriors came out on top in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals pulling away in overtime to defeat the Cavaliers 124-114, despite LeBron James’ 51-point performance.
Expecting all of the above in one game is a lot to ask, but that’s what it’s going to take.
