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| Infographic by Kavin Mistry |
It will not be a fairytale ending to the Golden State Warriors historical season as their dreams were crushed by Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 7 of the Finals.
A back and forth affair between the Cavaliers and Warriors provided extra heartache for both fan bases as the game was tied at 89 with two minutes to go. Fans in Oracle Arena were on the edge of losing their minds as Irving hit a go ahead three-point basket late in the fourth quarter.
That three-pointer became a part of Cleveland history as it propelled the Cavaliers to their first NBA title in its history. Euphoria erupted from the bench of the Cavaliers as the clock hit triple zeros and the Warriors were left sulking after blowing a 3-1 series lead.
The Warriors have not lost more than two games in a row the entire season (including the postseason) and picked the worst possible time to hit a three game slide.
Game 7 came in like most expected, the Warriors got off to a much better start than they did in games 5 and 6, pushing the pace and finding the right shots.
The Warriors took a seven-point lead into the half and looked poised to close out another championship, this time in front of their fans.
Cleveland did not let up, their defense played much better in the second half and shut down the Warriors offense in the fourth quarter for the third game in a row.
Beyond the collapse of the Warriors by losing three straight games the story in this game was the fourth quarter. The Warriors were unable to score in the final two minutes of the game, which lead to their ultimate demise.
Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson’s reaction during his interview said it all. Thompson said he was lost for words and did not know how to process what had happened.
“It’s not over,” said Steph Curry in a postgame interview. “It’s obviously not how we wanted the season to end this year, but we are a very confident and optimistic group.”
The team, while disappointed, understood that someone was going to be on the wrong end of the script in this Finals, and will work hard during the offseason to get back to the Finals.
“Just an incredible run that obviously didn’t end the way we wanted to,” said head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. “But I am so lucky to coach this incredible group of players who are so committed to each other.”
Kerr was very proud of how far the team has come as a group this season and said that he is so lucky to be the coach of this team.
“Tough one to swallow,” said Warriors center Festus Ezeli in a postgame interview. “I gotta bring more to the table (...) bad attention to detail.”
Despite the heartbreak of all the players, the Warriors did congratulate the Cavaliers on a great series, saying they played better and deserved to win.
The team will have a very interesting offseason, starting with figuring out what to do with their free agents and whether or not they will resign players such as Harrison Barnes and Ezeli.
Even though the Warriors lost, the team rewrote history numerous times this season, including winning the most regular-season games in NBA history with 73.
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