THE odds makers are right. The Golden State Warriors are favored to win the NBA crown.
With their 104-91 victory yesterday, the Warriors now have two chances to nail their first title in 40 years.
Their first try comes on Wednesday, when the Cleveland Cavaliers hosts the Warriors at Quicken Loans Center.
It will be desperation time for Cleveland, which lost two in a row now: first at its home court in Game 4 to lose a 2-1 momentum, and second in Game 5 at Golden State’s Oracle Arena for the Warriors’ decisive 3-2 margin in the best-of-seven Finals.
What did I say at the start?
LeBron James will be the big difference for Cleveland.
He was in the first three games, when he shouldered home Cleveland to back-to-back victories in Games 2 & 3 with point-productions of 39 and 40 points, respectively.
James must have lost gas after firing 123 points in the first three games (40 points in a losing Game 1 for Cleveland) as he could only come up with 20 insignificant points in Game 4 that Golden State won by a landslide 103-82 victory.
Yesterday was another classic case of James trying so hard to be another Hercules, almost like a suicidal terrorist bomber attempting to annihilate an entire enemy flank.
He was a loser—pathetically.
I give him credit, though, capturing his second triple double with his 40-point-14-rebound-11assist effort.
But it was yet another gory reminder that basketball isn’t a one-man job.
It is, and will always be, a five-man swat team, with each one contributing his share in ensuring a successful operation.
For a while there, J.R. Smith was ready to provide the usual support badly missed by James early in the series.
But after firing eight points in the first quarter and collecting 14 points early in the second quarter on a total of 4-of-7 three-point shooting, he disappeared without a trace.
James did everything he could to turn back a Warrior crew that was literally ablaze in the second half after a mere 51-50 Golden State edge at halftime.
In the end, a gang against a lone ranger would prevail, with gang leader Stephen Curry (36 points) firing 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter.
A Game 6 miracle is what Cleveland hopes to happen now to force a deciding Game 7.
Otherwise, the Cavs, as the inimitable Ramon S. Ang said, are “doomed.”
(alsol47@yahoo.com)