Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Well, Andre Iguodala gets that game ball. What a tremendous effort. Game 4 of the NBA Finals was a must-win for the Golden State Warriors, and they sure played like it tonight. Coach Steve Kerr made adjustments, and they were effective. They started Iggy, had David Lee play kind of a sixth-man role and they trapped LeBron James all night. They did not make him comfortable at all, and the end result showed. Timofey Mozgov was the leading scorer for the Cleveland Cavaliers and that is ridiculous.
Those are the exact adjustments championship teams make, and I’m so glad the Warriors came to battle tonight. Rebounding was a struggle for the first three games for them, but Kerr gave them the opportunity to beat Tristan Thompson‘s aggression with the speed of his undersized group. That sure paid off. Not only that, but they played much better defensively too. They swarmed the Cavs every time down the court, and because of that they got many transition buckets. That’s how the Warriors play basketball. Their speed, mixed with Golden State’s strength of numbers, eventually leads to victory.
Iguodala might have played extremely well, but this was a group effort for sure. Hats must be tipped to the MVP of the league in Stephen Curry. His struggles were pretty historic when you think about it in the first two games, but his game is back with a vengeance now.
These finals are Golden State’s to lose, but now Cleveland must make some adjustments. This is playoff basketball at its finest. When LeBron James is on the court, he really should touch the ball several times on offense. That opportunity alone must not be missed, especially when the Cavs are lacking in star power at the moment. After LeBron though, comes the services of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and James Jones. All three players didn’t do enough. The effort in the paint kept Cleveland alive, but after a while the better play from Golden State held true.
Game 5 will definitely be a must-watch. Golden State finally found their rhythm, and you best bet King James will have something to say about Cleveland’s lackluster performance in Game 4.
Samuel Martell is Oklahoma City’s beat writer at www.RantSports.com. To stay connected, ‘follow’ him on Twitter, ‘like’ him on Facebook, or ‘add’ him to your network on Google.
