Final thoughts
And that will do it from here at the Guardian. Thanks for following along with the NBA Finals with us, please check out our game report below and stick with us as we wrap up the NBA season and look ahead to the future!
Kevin Durant: MVP
I was wrong. Kevin Durant gets awarded the MVP trophy for the second straight year! I’d say, “mixed” reaction from the fans that still remain there in Cleveland.
Steve Kerr: Klay Thompson “is a machine.”
“We have the greatest fans in basketball” plays better when you’re not in the opponent’s arena.
Adam Silver is up now with the Larry O’Brian trophy, which Steph Curry raises into the air.
We’re going to have to start talking about where these Warriors are as far as the best NBA teams of all time are. It’s utterly ridiculous to see this combination of talent: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green… Utterly ridiculous. It’ll be interesting to see who ends up being the MVP here.
This final game is probably going to overshadow what LeBron James did just to bring the Cleveland Cavaliers to this point. He was utterly dominant for most of this postseason, his team just had no real chance against these Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors have won their second straight championship, and their 3rd in four years!
The Cleveland Cavaliers shake hands with the Golden State Warriors, except for LeBron, who has already made his exit.
Golden State Warriors win the NBA title and sweep the series
Warriors 108-85, Final
Ante Zizic scores for the final points of the 2018 NBA Finals, if anybody asks! The Golden State Warriors win!
Updated
Warriors 108-81, 1:40, 4th quarter
The Warriors are already celebrating on the sidelines. The b-squads get their final licks in here. Kevon Looney scores for Golden State. Cedi Osman, in for LeBron, digs in a Jose Calderon assist. Zaza Pachulia makes some free throws….
Warriors 104-79, 2:47, 4th quarter
Rodney Hood makes a layup assisted by Kyle Korver, mostly invisible for most of this series. Durant finishes up his scoring with a final layup. Korver misses one more time for the road. Klay Thompson has the ball and Steve Kerr is going to pull his starters here, it looks like.
Exit LeBron
Warriors 102-77, 4:03, 4th quarter
And LeBron is out. Everyone here stands up to applaud as they should. He gets “MVP” chants,” and he’s definitely been the best player in this postseason if not, sadly for Cleveland, these Finals.
Warriors 102-77, 5:06, 4th quarter
Even more unfair? Curry hits another three-pointer. That might seal things up, MVP-wise. LeBron finally scores here again.
Warriors 99-74, 6:19, 4th quarter
Warriors take a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Draymond Green comes in with a layup. This is just unfair.
Email from Nicholas Bonnell:
Dubs fan here. Hope LeBron plays for Pop next year with Kawhi. Multiple games vs Warriors and Tickets would be fun.
Seems doubtful but who knows where he’s going next at this point.
Warriors 97-74 Cavaliers, 7:04, 4th quarter
Nance makes a free throw. On the other end, Andre Iguodala makes an emphatic dunk. The Warriors are not putting the breaks on.
On the other end, Durant blocks Hood. Just domination.
Warriors 95-73 Cavaliers, 8:58, 4th quarter
Steph Curry gets fouled in the act of shooting a three. He makes all three on the line. LeBron comes back into the game, maybe for the last time as a Cavalier
Rodney Hood’s still playing here, he completes an old fashioned three-point play.
Warriors 92-70 Cavaliers, 9:45, 4th quarter
George Hill hits a three pointer, which is then answered by Steph Curry, aiming for that Finals MVP trophy.f
Warriors 89-67 Cavaliers, 11:11, 4th quarter
Rodney Hood starts the 4th with a layup. Curry hits a three pointer in the next Warriors possession, though.
Warriors 86-65 Cavaliers, 12:00, 4th quarter
“I see Cleveland checked out by the third quarter.” Well I’d like to say I was surprised here, but these Finals felt over before Game 4 began and despite the Cavaliers’ impressive second quarter, the Warriors adjusted and completely stifled them in the third. And we’re basically done here.
Warriors 86-65 Cavaliers, end of the 3rd quarter
Shaun Livingston adds to the Golden State third quarter total by making two free throws. Holy heck.
Warriors 84-65 Cavaliers, 2:12, 3rd quarter
LeBron is automatic on the line, at least, making the two free throws he’s given. It feels like he’s not entirely present here. The Warriors get the ball, and three straight rebounds, before Klay Thompson hits one from three.
There’s really no reason to play this upcoming quarter, is there?
Warriors 81-63 Cavaliers, 3:00, 3rd quarter
Durant goes to the line, makes both of his free fhrows. The Warriors bring in some of their bench players.
Warriors 79-63 Cavaliers, 3:39, 3rd quarter
The Third Quartering has begun, and the Warriors may not even need it. Thompson makes a long two and Ty Lue calls a timeout for Cleveland.
Warriors 77-63 Cavaliers, 4:58, 3rd quarter
LeBron finds Jeff Green for a layup, but Curry responds by making a shot of his own (assisted by Green).
Rodney Hood makes a three-pointer for Cleveland, but we might already be in “too late” territory here.
Warriors 75-58 Cavaliers, 5:52, 3rd quarter
There’s a foul on Durant… but J.R. Smith manages to get a technical foul here. Yeah this isn’t happening. Curry makes the tech. Klay Thompson buries a three. Yeah it’s damn quiet right now in Cleveland.
Warriors 71-58 Cavaliers, 7:00, 3rd quarter
Out of the timeout, Kevin Durant hits a jumper. LeBron attempts a three in response, and it’s no good. That feels like the game.
Warriors 69-58 Cavaliers, 7:50, 3rd quarter
Welp. Durant easily scores a long jumper, like it’s nothing. The Warriors miss their next two shots though and after LeBron finds Love near the basket for an easy score, the Warriors take a timeout.
Warriors 67-56 Cavaliers, 9:18, 3rd quarter
It could take just one Warriors run to effectively end the Cavaliers season. We talked about getting to the basket, well that was three straight rebounds there for Golden State.
Bad news for the Warriors: they get two straight fouls. LeBron gets to the line and makes both free throws. Hill tries to get one of those three pointers…. not a great decision, but Love tips it in.
Warriors 67-52 Cavaliers, 10:16, 3rd quarter
McGee somehow manages to finagle a Curry miss into a basket and Cleveland take a desperation timeout.
Warriors 65-52 Cavaliers, 10;54, 3rd quarter
Klay hits the first basket of the second half and Steph Curry adds one of his own.
Second half starts!
Warriors 61-52 Cavaliers, 12:00, 3rd quarter
And we’re back. Warriors are two quarters away from another championship.
And back! One of the key things for the Cavaliers has been scoring around the rim. They’ve been doing great there. The problem, of course, is that those shots aren’t worth as much as those long-distance shots the Warriors are making. It might just be a simple math problem here.
Halftime thoughts
The Cavaliers are pulling every rabbit out of their hat here, but at the end of the first half, the Warriors have a pretty solid lead. It feels like Cleveland is going to need to pull off a trick or two to steal this one but it’s still within reach. Considering how they looked the first few minutes, it felt like this one could have been over awhile ago.
We’ll be back here shortly to prepare for the second half.
End of the first half
Warriors 61-52 Cavaliers, end of the 1st half
Disaster for Cleveland. Steph Curry unleashes a three pointer to end the first half.
Warriors 58-52 Cavaliers, 15.5 seconds, 2nd quarter
Durant adds to the Warriors lead on the free throw line, making two of them. Oh wow, McGee gets his 9th block of the half by coming out of nowhere to reject Smith’s shot. Golden State takes a timeout.
Warriors 56-52 Cavaliers, 1:20, 2nd quarter
JaVale is the Wild Card this series, it seems. He immediately answers Cleveland’s shot but J.R. Smith, who is just a Wild Card in general, hits a three pointer.
Warriors 54-49 Cavaliers, 1:50, 2nd quarter
Out of the timeout, Durant misses a three pointer. The Cavs get the ball back, Love tries a three… that’s all air. Green scores for the Warriors.
On the other end, Tristan Thompson responds.
Warriors 52-47 Cavaliers, 2:50, 2nd quarter
LeBron gets to the line, where he hits one of two free throws. And, oh hey, Steph Curry hits another three pointer. That’s not great for Cleveland. Speaking of not great for Cleveland: George Hill. He misses two straight free throws and gets called for a foul. Warriors take a timeout.
Warriors 49-46 Cavaliers, 3:54, 2nd quarter
Warriors get the ball back on a questionable call (well LeBron is questioning it, at least) and Andre Iguodala hits a three pointer. Love misses on the Cavs end. Curry gets to the hoop on the Warrirors end and you can tell that momentum has shifted.
Or not. J.R. Smith cares not for your narratives, hitting a three pointer to make it a one poses sin game.
Warriors 44-43 Cavaliers, 5:32, 2nd quarter
Cavs’ defense completely falters, allowing a Bell layup on the other end. LeBron responds with a jumper. Warriors’ ball, Durant gets fouled by Nance. He makes both free throws. One point game, Golden State with the advantage.
Warriors 40-41 Cavaliers, 6:27, 2nd quarter
Well the lead was fun while it lasted. Green finds Jordan Bell, who makes a layup for the Warriors after the timeout.
BUT Nance, having the game of his life, responds with a dunk
Warriors 38-39 Cavaliers, 6:59, 2nd quarter
AND LEBRON WITH THE DUNK! CAVS LEAD!
And J.R. Smith picks up a foul. The Cavaliers take a timeout, perhaps to figure out exactly how all that happened.
Warriors 38-37 Cavaliers, 7:32, 2nd quarter
Jeff Green for the tie…. misses. Kyle Korver, however, picks up the third foul on Klay Thompson, and gets three free throws. He makes two out of three.
Warriors 38-35 Cavaliers, 8:05, 2nd quarter
Yeah except David West immediately scores to make up for putting LeBron on he line. Nance gets to the rim, where he’s been doing good work, and finishes. Draymond Green tries to respond with a three…. and yeah, that’s no good. Cavs have some momentum.
Warriors 36-33 Cavaliers, 9:39, 2nd quarter
Draymond Green with a layup. LeBron james responds with his own, and he gets fouled by David West. He completes the three point play
Warriors 34-30 Cavaliers, 11:06, 2nd quarter
Jeff Green with a three pointer! Larry Nance Jr pushes in his own miss! Four point game!
Warriors 34-25 Cavaliers, 12:00, 2nd quarter
And the second quarter begins!
We might just have three quarters left here, so it might be a good time to post some highlights:
Warriors 34-25 Cavaliers, end of the 1st
LeBron makes a layup and, after a lot of back-and-forth, that’s it for the scoring in the first quarter. Cleveland are already in a hole.
Warriors 34-23 Cavaliers, 1:35, 1st quarter
Nick Young hits a three. That’s brutal. James gets to the line and he makes two free throws. Unfortunately for his team, Durant and Iguodala score and the Cavs start to stumble behind.
Warriors 26-21 Cavaliers, 2:54, 1st quarter
Love gets fouled and gets to the line, where he makes both. Cleveland needs points whenever and however they can get them… So it’s good that Curry fouls Smith, although that first attempt pops out. His second is solid.
Warriors 26-18 Cavaliers, 3:59, 1st quarter
LeBron scores to keep the Cavaliers running, but Durant jams one home in response. This could get out of hand…
Love with a three! Desperately needed one there.
Warriors 24-13 Cavaliers, 4:31, 1st quarter
Thompson cuts the bleeding a bit by making a LeBron-assisted basket but Green hits a three and Durant dunks and Cleveland has to call another timeout.
Warriors 19-11 Cavaliers, 6:03, 1st quarter
Durant apparently was arguing that a travel should have been called, the official thought differently and t’d up Durant. Love misses the free throw though… and Igudoala and Curry make back-to-back threes. That could have gone better for Cleveland.
Warriors 13-11 Cavaliers, 6:37, 1st quarter
Okay here we for for Cleveland. Love makes a technical free throw, James makes his first shot of the game and it’s a three-pointer for Kevin Love! They have life! (And a technical foul on Durant.)
Golden State will take a timeout.
Warriors 13-5 Cavaliers, 7:34, 1st quarter
Thompson tips a ball in for Cleveland’s second scoring opportunity. This is starting badly for them.
Warriors 13-3 Cavaliers, 8:47, 1st quarter
It’s a Golden State onslaught ending with McGee and Curry with back-to-back baskets and the Cavaliers take a time out. Out of that… Curry makes an acrobatic three
Warriors 8-3 Cavaliers, 9:53, 1st quarter
Smith hits a three ointer to start the scoring for the Cavaliers, but it’s all Wariors from there on out..
Warriors 2-0 Cavaliers, 11:00, 1st quarter
McGee misses his first shot, but Curry tips it in.
Opening tip!
Warriors 0-0 Cavaliers, 12:00, 1st quarter
And we’re off! For maybe the final time.
Cavaliers starters:
George Hill, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, LeBron James (for today at least)
Warriors starters:
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, JaVale McGe
National Anthem
Cleveland goes with the “have a military guy sing the anthem” move. It’s hard to criticize, which is exactly the point. He does a fine rendition, even if he’s not Carlos Santana.
The depressing moment when you agree with Charles Barkley. Game 4 can just start anytime here.
After Game 3, Charles Barkley said the Cavs' chances of avoiding a sweep were "slim to none, and slim got shot yesterday." Will he be proved right tonight? https://t.co/KGfRE26xke
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2018
The Warriors are taking the court for warmups, to a chorus of boos. I have the sneaking sensation that the fans are going to be more involved with this game than anybody on the court.
The fans in Cleveland aren’t incredibly optimistic:
I have also been told by several Cavs fans who saw my credential that I should start “reporting” a “rumor” that LeBron is staying in Cleveland.
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) June 9, 2018
“Take a risk,” they said. “It’ll be good for your career."
Predictions
While I’m hoping that the Cavaliers manage to pull if off tonight, I’m saying that this is it for the NBA season. In fact, I see Cleveland checked out by the third quarter. To go one step further, I see LeBron as checked out of Cleveland by the end of the game. I don’t know where he’s going, I don’t think he knows where he’s going, but this is the last time you’re going to see LeBron as a Cavalier for quite a while, maybe ever.
Honestly, I’m hoping that the Cavaliers win tonight because I want to delay the whole “LeBron James Free Agency Experience” by a few more days. I can’t believe we’re going through this for a third straight time. I am experiencing something approximating a midlife crisis here just pondering it.
I keep thinking that the Cavaliers have to be playing with everything on the line tonight. Then, of course, there’s the counter-argument...
As much as I would like to think pride is on the line tonight, I find it hard to believe most of these Cavs are looking to fly across country to get their asses kicked in game 5
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 (@RedsArmy_John) June 9, 2018
Preamble
A part of me wants to blame J.R. Smith. Had he attempted a shot, and not held the ball and let the game go to overtime, maybe the series is 2-1 right now and the Cleveland Cavaliers have a chance to tie things up tonight. As it is, the Golden State Warriors have a 3-0 lead, something no team in NBA playoff history has managed to drop. I mean, that will happen eventually, some NBA team will find a way to lose four straight after putting up a seemingly insurmountable lead, but it won’t be these Warriors and it won’t be against these Cavaliers.
So, eventually the Warriors will win this series, is what I’m saying. Then what are we here for then? Well, if the Warriors win today, I think it goes a long way in establishing them as one of the greatest basketball teams ever put together, maybe even the greatest. If LeBron James leads the Cavaliers to victory, we get to see one of the greatest players ever, maybe even the greatest, get what could very well be his final win with the team that drafted him. Just because we have a good idea about how the story will end doesn’t mean we know how it’s all gonna go.
So, the NBA season will last at least one more game. we do know that. Follow it along with us! If you want to contribute to the liveblog, feel free to send us your comments via email (to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via Twittter (to @HunterFelt). It’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers! The game’s scheduled to start at 9pm EST, we’ll be back before then.
Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Oliver Connolly on the Warriors’ magnificence:
There was a moment in Game 2 when it was evident the Cleveland Cavaliershad no chance in the NBA finals; that the talent deficit was so great that the series wouldn’t be a contest. LeBron James barrelled towards the rim. He held off a pair of Golden State Warriors’ defenders to finish with a lay-up. Warriors coach Steve Kerr went wild. Arms circling. Face contorting. He wanted his players to up the tempo to match Cleveland’s speed and tenacity.
But they didn’t. And it didn’t matter. Stephen Curry dribbled the ball over mid-court at a pace a tick above a walk before hoisting a shot from 25ft. Three points. It was easy.
And therein lies the Warriors Problem: they’re better than you even at half speed. Even with James, one of the greatest players of all time, on your team. Even with the players ignoring their coach’s orders. Even when one of their stars has a miserable night: when Kevin Durant underperformed in Game 2, Curry stepped up. And when Curry was missing three-pointers on Wednesday night in Game 3, Durant scored 43 points to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead in the series.
You can read the full article below:
