Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors has home court advantage against the Cleveland Cavaliers leader David Blatt.
The stage is set for what should be a fantastic best of seven game series against the last two basketball teams standing.
The opening round of the finals had a classy start as 10-year-old Nayah Damasen wonderfully sang the national anthem. She has been singing for the Warriors since she was 8-years-old. Warriors pulverized the Cavaliers in the Overtime period, but the first four quarters was wire to wire round balling.
The Warriors come into the series with the leagues MVP in Stephen Curry and Blatt has arguably the best player in the entire game in LeBron James. James like Curry can bring 'it' in all aspects of the game. James, unlike anyone else it seems has the ability to make his four counterparts on the court play above themselves, just like Michael Jordan used to do in the 90s NBA. Without James the Cavaliers are a first round playoff exist at best, and the same could be said about Warriors.
Aside from which team you were cheering for, whether they won or lost, did game one live up to the hype? Upon recap, yes. After four quarters of regulation play the score was knotted at 98. In the first quarter alone there was nine lead changes and the score was tied three times.
The Cavaliers offensive prowess on getting rebounds was the key to their 20-9 run to end the first quarter for a 29-19 lead to start the second period. In the second quarter, the Warriors had a 29-12 run and finished plus 2 in the rebounding aspect as opposed to finishing -8 on the boards after the first 12 minutes of play.
Notables in the 2nd period of play was Curry nailing a 3-pointer to tie the game at 36 with 4:25 to play in the half. The Warrior bench players were also stellar, scoring 18 points by half time. J. R. Smith was the only bench player to score for the Cavs by half time, (entire game) but his three 3-pointers, including the quarters final basket were daggers, giving the Cavs a 51-48 half time lead.
In the 3rd period, both teams traded baskets, but it was the the final seconds in the quarter that ignited the excitement. Andre Iguodala stole the ball from King James and sprinted to the hole for a sweet layup to knot the game at 73 to start the last quarter of regulation.
The Warrior bench outscored the Cavalier bench 39-9 tonight and with less then 31.9 seconds in the 4th, no team scored, and the stage was set for a 98-98 overtime showdown.
By the start of over time there was a total of 18 lead changes and 10 ties. The Warrior defense held the King and company to a mere two points in the extra period and waxed them 108-100 to win the first game of the series. Game two is also at the Orcale Arena on Sunday night; 5 p.m here on the west coast.
