WHERE were the “Splash Brothers?” Stephen Curry had 17 points, Klay Thompson, 14 points.
With those productions, even Ronald Tubid would outshine both—easily.
With those productions, it’s time to rename them “Spent Brothers?” Their bullets might have been all fired in Golden State’s 73 record wins in the regular National Basketball Association (NBA) season.
And, with all those productions—puny that they are—they were both practically absent in Game Seven. Even as Curry played 39.16 minutes and Thompson 42 minutes.
In contrast, the “Bash Brothers” from the opposing side were pretty much very visible. LeBron James had 27 points, Kyrie Irving, 26 points. James played 46.49 minutes, needing just 1:11 minutes of respite in his Warrior-bashing binge that also saw him grab 11 rebounds and issue 11 assists.
And how about Irving’s tectonic trey with mere ticks remaining in Monday’s Game Seven?
It was only Cleveland’s sixth shot sank out of 25 tries from afar as against Golden State’s 15-of-41 triples made. But then, Irving’s heave in front of Curry’s outstretched arms at right quarter court, made it 92-89—suddenly sending a hometown crowd at Oracle Arena to cemetery-like silence.
Irving’s killer of a triple came after a Cleveland timeout at the 1:09 mark, after Thompson drove for an 89-all tie following James’s lone triple of the night on a one-of-five shooting from three-point country.
James preceded his beyond the arc shot with three straight charities, as his 6-0 blast erased Golden State’s 87-83 lead sparked by a 7-0 Warrior bomb from Curry’s triple and back-to-back baskets by Thompson and Draymond Green.
It was actually Green who picked up the three-point shooting slack from the Splash Brothers as he hit 6 of 8 three-pointers for a game-high 32 points on a smoking 73-percent field-goal shooting. This was on top of his 15 rebounds, missing a triple-double by just one with his nine assists.
But clearly, Green, great that he was in Game Seven, couldn’t do it alone. His terrific effort fell short—fatigue even taking its toll as when he fouled James out of desperation with under 11 seconds left, Cleveland up 92-89.
After James’s split made it 93-89 with 10.6 ticks left in the game, the Cleveland celebration was just moments away from erupting.
So tight was the battle that there were 20 lead changes, with Golden State having the last taste of the handle at 87-83.
But a closing 10-2 Cleveland burst anchored on James’s seven-point blast, embellished by Irving’s lead-grabbing triple, all but warped the Warriors’ repeat feat as the Cavs avenged their six-game loss to Golden State in the 2015 NBA Finals.
In returning as healthy as an ox this year, Irving, who got injured early on and missed 95 percent of last year’s Finals, was as big a star as James himself. But, a gentle fellow and gratitude-driven that he always is, Irving, whose total of 90 points in the last three games was eclipsed only by James’s 109, heaped practically all the praise on the King Cav.
“We made history all because of James, our leader,” Irving said. “Tonight, he will take us home as winners.”
With their victory—their first since their NBA debut 52 years ago—the Cavs also rewrote the record books as they became the first team to win the crown 4-3 after 32 other teams had failed to bounce back from a 1-3 hole in NBA Finals history.
Well, James shares the spotlight once again, as he also became the first to score a triple-double in an NBA Finals game from the winning team—not to mention he won his third Finals Most Valuable Player in seven title playoffs; he nabbed his first two as a Miami Heat before coming home to Cleveland in 2014.
Now, did I not say here that James being the planet’s best basketball player today is always superior to the reigning NBA season MVP that is Curry? Definitely, the world’s best versus a league’s best is a complete mismatch. At least, this season. That’s all, folks.
THAT’S IT. I salute Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa) President Popoy Juico for his keen sense of fairness, broad-mindedness and nationalism when he restored Mary Joy Tabal to good standing in the Patafa. Mary Joy quit Patafa in disagreement over her coach’s training technique. But she didn’t quit the marathon, training by herself and proceeding to beat the 2:45 qualifying time for the Rio Olympics with her 2:43.29 clocking in the Ottawa Marathon. For being self-reliant, Mary Joy should be hailed a model in an era when many athletes love to rely on others while pursuing their dreams. Mary Joy has brought joy to Philippine sports and we should all learn from that.