Apparently there was an NBA game last night

Oh wow, I guess there was an actual game last night. This was also news to Golden State because they took a massive dump on the court. They showed one glimmer of life in the second quarter and cut the Cleveland led down to 8 going into the half. This was impressive because Cleveland had come out of the gates strong and put a 20 point lead in the books early in the first quarter. Steph and Klay were tremendously terrible in the first half, and for the entire game if you want to get picky. LeBron and Kyrie were playing like their playoff lives depended on it (it actually was).

You ready for a hot take? Of course you are. The Cavs are better without Kevin Love. Oh, everyone is saying that? Well put me in the crew with the rest of them. In his two games, they lost by 33 and 15. They finally get rid of him and they win by 30. Coincidence? I think not! He has been a complete downer since going to the Cavs. His PPG is down by 3.0 and his RPG is down by 2.4. He is like Bosh in Miami. Maybe it's the curse of being a post player with LeBron or maybe everyone was right and he truly was just a big fish in a little pond while in Minnesota.

Apologies for the tardiness on this article. I have been trying to adult today and fully dreaded talking about these two trashy teams. Fuhrer Bird would have crushed them both by this point and I'm hyped for next season. GO PACERS!

All my love,
@corbeech

Warriors Take Game 1, 104-89

Who saw this coming? No, not that the Warriors would win Game 1, but how they won it? Had you told me yesterday that the Splash Brothers would combine for a mere 20 points, I would have thought that the names by the score would be switched. You probably would have too. 

Shaun Livingston had a career night. Coming off the bench, he scored 20 points. As mentioned, the same amount Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for. Crazy! This night was all about the Warriors' bench. They outscored their opponents 45-10. Andre Iguodala chipped in 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. The only bright spot from the Warrior starting five was Draymond Green who scored 16, pulled in 11 boards, and dished out 7 assists.

For the Cavs, things could have gone a lot better. Sure they held Curry and Thompson to poor shooting nights, but Golden State still shot nearly 50% from the field (.494, actually). The Cavs were beaten because they didn't play defense. The Warriors' motto is "Strength in Numbers". They went deep to their bench and it was a next man up type of deal. Double-doubles from LeBron James and Kevin Love we're not enough. The Big Three combined for 66 of the 89 points. If Cleveland hopes to climb back into the series, they'll need to do three things: 1) Play defense, like, actual defense. 2) Find a fourth man to share the load. Take some of the pressure off Kyrie Irving, Love, and James. 3) Win a road game, preferably Game 2. 

Up 1-0, the Warriors will look to continue their quest for back-to-back championships with Game 2 on Sunday. Cleveland shouldn't be in panic yet. One bad game isn't a good start, but the problems can be fixable at least. 

-Dug

@chansm1th

Thursday Morning Wake Up Call

Good morning peoples! Rainy day here, but we aren't going to let it keep us down. We have a pair of matchups to look at tonight, but before we get ahead of ourselves, we had a "thrilling" playoff game last night in the Association. 

Cleveland Crushes Toronto's Will to Live

Good Lord! Cleveland continued their home dominance last night as they walloped Toronto, 116-78. The Cavs' Big Three combined for 71 while Toronto's Twosome went for a mere 27. Toronto looked lost all game. It also didn't help them any that the Cavs shot 57% for the game. The Cavs also won the rebound battle 57 to 38. Kevin Love led all scorers with 25 while LeBron and Kyrie added 23 each. It's a devastating loss for the Raptors. One bright spot is that Game 6 moves back to Toronto. The Raptors will hope to force yet another Game 7 when the two meet again on Friday night. 

Melo Trimble to Return

Late yesterday evening, Melo Trimble announced that he would return to school for his junior year. Maryland lost four players from the team that was a Darkhorse Pick in last year's tournament. Trimble was expected to be a first round pick in this draft, but after a shaky finish to last season, he had slipped into the late second round.

Looking to tonight, we have some playoff action. The Tampa Bay Lightning travel to Pittsburgh for the decisive Game 7 with the winner squaring off against those rotten Sharks for Lord Stanley's Cup. The Sharks sealed their invitation last night when they defeated St Louis 5-2 in Game 6. Puck drops at 8:00. 

Golden State limps home to attempt to head back out on the road as they face elimination tonight in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. Fresh off back-to-back beat downs, it's do or die. OKC will be going for the throat tonight to eliminate the defending champs and their MVP. Hurt or not, if you can't get up for a game like this, you need to just pack it in. However, I don't think OKC will clinch until the series returns back to their home court. Expect Steph & Company to show up tonight, and let people know how hard it is to beat the Champs on their own home court. Tip is at 9:00. 

That's all that I have this morning. Look for updates throughout the day. 

-Dug

@chansm1th