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On Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors reached NBA supremacy, knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Looking back at the series as a whole, LeBron James, Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry were all deserving of the NBA Finals MVP. Certainly, all three players had a considerable impact on the series, but in the end, Iguodala took home the award.
Although Iguodala’s insertion into the starting lineup in Game 4 may have altered the outcome of the series, Curry was more deserving of the award.
However, the star did not receive a single vote for Finals MVP. Iguodala, on the other hand, garnered seven votes, and James finished with the other four votes. If the seven voters who voted for Iguodala wanted to vote for a player on the winning team, that is understandable. However, their choice of Iguodala was a mistake.
Still, Iguodala’s 2015 NBA Finals performance was more than impressive. In the series, he shot 40.0 percent from behind the arc, 6.7 percentage points better than his career regular season mark. He distributed the ball as well, averaging 4.0 assists and only 1.0 turnover per game. Defensively, he performed about as well as any defender could have being isolated versus James, although Cleveland’s superstar still finished with with one of the most historical Finals performances ever.
That said, much of Iguodala’s success offensively has to be credited to Curry. For much of the series, Curry was trapped by two Cleveland defenders when handling the ball in ball screen situations, leaving the screener with a four-on-three situation behind him. Curry consistently fed the roller, who found open shooters all over the court because of Golden State’s ability to make quick passing decisions.
In many instances, this turned out to be Iguodala, who knocked down the jumper at a higher rate than his previous numbers would have predicted.
Because Golden State was forced to move the ball at least once after Curry passed to the roller, his assist number during the series can easily be misinterpreted. Although he averaged only 6.3 assists during the series, Curry racked up 19 hockey assists in the NBA Finals as well. When this number is considered, his assist number jumps to 9.5 per game. Without Curry creating for him on a consistent basis, Iguodala and his other teammates would have failed to find the quality of shots that they did in the series.
In comparing their usage, it becomes clear that Curry was really the only consistent playmaker for the Warriors’ offense. He notched a usage percentage of 28.5 in the series, easily the top mark on the team. Iguodala, on the other hand, tallied a percentage of only 18.9, good for fourth on the team among qualified players.
Not only was Curry a surgeon with the ball, but he was also a game-changer when the ball was not in his hands. When Curry was off of the ball, the Cavaliers’ defense was focused on him, denying him the ball and making sure not to help off of him. Curry’s presence once again created ample space for driving lanes for the Warriors offensively, as it has done all season.
Furthermore, Iguodala was largely unguarded in the series when Golden State was on offense. When Mozgov was on the floor for the Cavaliers, he was mostly matched up with Iguodala for the latter part of the series, as Cleveland let Iguodala roam free on the perimeter. Fortunately for Iguodala, head coach David Blatt chose to live with little ball pressure on Iguodala when Mozgov on the floor.
Still, with Iguodala rarely guarded on the perimeter and Curry being chased around, the sharpshooter still managed to post an incredible line. He averaged 26.0 points per game while remaining efficient as well, shooting 44.3 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from behind the arc and 88.5 percent from the free throw line.
Although the offensive impact of both players are fairly easily to recognize, Iguodala’s value on the other end of the court is a bit more difficult to surmise. However, by looking at the individual on and off court statistics of these two players, the comparison is a bit easier.
With Curry on the floor during the NBA Finals compared with him on the bench, the Warriors were 14.3 points per 100 possessions better on offense according to NBA.com/Stats. On the other hand, Golden State was 8.6 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Iguodala on the floor compared to when he was on the bench.
This suggests that Curry’s offense was more valuable than Iguodala’s defense, which most likely has to do with the Warriors possessing several players capable of guarding James for stretches on defense. On the other hand, there are zero players on Golden State’s roster who can run the offense and create constant havoc for a defense like Curry can.
In the end, it is fair to say that the Warriors’ offense would have suffered more without Curry than Golden State’s defense would have without Iguodala, especially given Klay Thompson‘s struggles for much of the series. In the NBA Finals, Thompson shot only 30.0 percent from deep, a far cry from his regular season number of 43.9 percent.
With all of this being said, Curry received zero votes for Finals MVP, an atrocity that is not being talked about enough throughout the basketball community.
Nicholas Sciria is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Nick_Sciria, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
