The Bernstein Brief: First Result Ominous For Cavs
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) If you had told the Cavaliers that they'd limit the Warriors backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to a combined total of four 3-pointers and 20 points in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, you could forgive them for thinking they'd win it.
Alas, they did not. And the 104-89 loss on Thursday night only highlighted how steep their championship mountain is for the Cavs to climb.
Largely overlooked due to the performance of Golden State's bench was the success the Warriors' defense had at limiting the 3-point shots that powered Cleveland's run through the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Warriors closed out under control multiple times to run the Cavs off of preferred looks created by initial dribble-penetration, forcing either LeBron James or Kyrie Irving to create something individually as the shot clock counted down.
They both can do that, because they're great players, but it's not a recipe for beating this Warriors team four times.
The Cavs took twice as many free throws, won the rebounding battle, neutered their opponent's top two weapons and still were effectively dismantled. For them, it's a sobering start.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.