The plot thickens, Cavs force game 7

The Cavaliers stood their ground in game 6, protecting their home court and forcing a game 7 back in Oakland on Sunday night.

Lebron James was the spark for Cleveland, finishing with a game high 41 points, along with eight rebounds and 11 assists.

Game 6 was a roller coaster of emotions for the Warriors. The game began with the Cavaliers dominating the first quarter and jumping out to a 20 point lead. The team looked emotionless and lacking the fire they had earlier in the series.

“We got off to a terrible start not getting stops,” said Warriors forward Draymond Green in a postgame interview. “We started the game with way too many jump shots and not putting pressure on their defense.”

Despite all this, the Warriors did mount a comeback, pulling to as close as seven points in the fourth quarter. But the game took a turn for the worst late in the fourth quarter when Warriors guard Steph Curry was called for his sixth foul, then promptly exchanged some frustrated words with the official before being assessed a technical foul. He then threw his mouthpiece while yelling at the referee into the crowd, hitting a fan in the front row.

“He had every right to be upset,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. “He is the MVP of the league, he gets six fouls called on him and three of them were absolutely ridiculous. He steals the ball from Kyrie (Irving) clean at one point and Lebron flops.”

From there the game fell apart for the Warriors and the Cavaliers cruised to a 115-101 victory.

“It’s frustrating,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson in a postgame interview. “We just have to come out on Sunday with the mindset of leaving it all out there on the court, every man on this team.”

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

There are not many positives to take away from this game for Golden State, but the biggest takeaway is that they will have one game to play for the championship and they will be on their home court.

The biggest difference in these two losses for the Warriors has been the play of forward Harrison Barnes. He had been a strong contributor on the offensive end for the Warriors in the first four games of the series, but has done nothing since. Tonight he finished 0-8 from the field, 0-5 from three and had no points.

The Warriors will need him to contribute if they are going to bounce back in game 7. On the other side, Curry was phenomenal, he scored 30 points before fouling out and kept the Warriors within striking distance throughout the game. Curry also set the record for most three’s made in a single series at 28.

“We are more mentally tough that to allow two games not going our way to create any doubt,” Curry said.

With the loss, the Warriors players and coaches are keeping spirits high, knowing that there is still another chance to win it all and they can do it at home.

“We need our crowd on Sunday,” said Thompson in a postgame interview. “I expect them to show up, be loud early. We feed off them.”

For the 19th time in NBA history, the NBA Finals will come down to a game 7.

“If you start out every season and you say we get a game 7, one game to win the championship, I’ll take it every time,” Kerr said. “I can’t wait for Sunday and I think we will be fine.”

Without Draymond, Warriors lack knockout punch

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

Kyrie Irving and Lebron James put the Bay Area party on hold Monday night, as the duo combined for 84 of the Cavaliers 112 points as they send the series back to Cleveland.

The Warriors, who have been dominant at home this whole season was stunned by the Cavaliers, who have had trouble finding any positives in Oakland this year.

The suspended Draymond Green was clearly missed by the Warriors, who had trouble finding any offensive consistency throughout the night. A lot of the Warriors offense comes from their defense, which seemed non-existent on this night.

“We were not very good defensively,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview. “We were without Draymond, so there is no point in harping on that. We had to play better and we didn’t.”

Green, who has been known as the “heartbeat” of this Warriors team had been playing like the MVP of this series before he was suspended and Golden State could not replicate his production. The Warriors are now 0-2 this season in games without Green.

“The defense was the problem for us tonight,” Kerr said. “Draymond wasn’t here, we didn’t play well enough to win, I am not going to into it more.”

A huge part of the Warriors offense that seemed to be missing without Green was communication, both on offense and defense, players and Kerr all mentioned how that was a big piece that was missing tonight.

“Communication,” Kerr said when asked about what was missing tonight. “Just not picking up the right man, not talking on our switches.”

The Warriors high octane offense was able to go stride for stride with the Cavaliers in the first half, but went ice cold in the second.

“We could never get into a rhythm,” said Warriors center Festus Ezeli in a postgame interview. “Some of those (Cavaliers shots) you just gotta shake your head.”

Klay Thompson was on fire in the first half, scoring 26 points, but only scored 11 in the second. Along with Thompson, Steph Curry was not his usual self, he finished a cool 8-21 and missed nine three’s.

“Obviously it feels good when your shot goes in,” said Thompson in a postgame interview. “In the second half I think I settled for too many bad shots, obviously it is frustrating, you want to win here more than anything for your fans.”

The rest of the Cavaliers team seemed to be bystanders to the Lebron/Kyrie show, as they scored only 28 points. But for the Warriors, there was nothing they could do to stop Irving.

“You tip your hat to them, they had a great night,” said Curry in a postgame interview. “Made some tough shot, made some open shots (...) they did what they needed to do to win the game for their team.”

To add to the woes of losing game 5, the Warriors dropped another man early in the second half. Center Andrew Bogut had a nasty fall after blocking a shot as he fell to the ground, grabbing his knee. His availability for game 6 is up in the air, but forward Shaun Livingston said he looked better after the game.

The good news for Warrior fans is Green will be in the starting lineup on Thursday night in Cleveland, where they will try to win their second straight championship. Last year’s title also came in game 6.

“We are still in a great position,” Thompson said. “It stings real bad, but we will come back stronger.”

Sharks fight just not enough, Penguins win the cup

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

They fought hard to the bitter end, but the storybook season for the San Jose Sharks has come to an end on their home ice, at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins defense was just too much for the Sharks offense and the superb goaltending of rookie Matt Murray shut the door on San Jose’s comeback.

Pittsburgh has one its franchises fourth Stanley Cup and its first since 2009. San Jose is still in search of its first cup in franchise history.

“I think first off, you have to give full credit to Pittsburgh,” said Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer in a postgame interview. “I thought they came out and played a hell of a series. They played their game for much longer stretches than we were able to.”

The game winning goal came off the sick of Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, who scored within a minute after the Sharks had tied the game in the second period.

“They had better execution, they made more plays,” said Sharks forward Patrick Marleau in a postgame interview. “It was a great taste for the younger guys to see what it takes to win the trophy.”

Sharks forward Logan Couture provided the bright spot on the night for the team in teal, he scored his 30th point of the postseason to tie the game at one in the second period. It was no surprise that the offense for the Sharks would come from Couture, who had been on a torrid scoring pace in the playoffs.

Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist added the dagger to Sharks fans hopes with an empty net goal with only a minute left in the third.

Pittsburgh started out of the gates hot, like they have in five of the six games this series and scored the first goal eight minutes into the first period on the powerplay. Penguins forward Brian Dumoulin scored the goal.

A big story in this series was the disappearance of the Sharks power play. That trend continued in game 6 and became one of the deciding factors in the outcome.

“It sucks. That’s the bottom line,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “It sucks. We thought we had the team, going through the teams we did in the West. It’s just tough right now.”

Despite allowing the two goals, Sharks goalie Martin Jones was sparkling in net, he made huge saves down the stretch to bail out the Sharks defense to keep the game close.

“We put in a lot of work and it sucks to come up short,” said Sharks forward Patrick Marleau in a postgame interview. “

What plagued the Sharks throughout the game was their inability to sustain pressure in the offensive zone. Credit the Penguins defense for clogging the passing lanes and giving San Jose headaches when trying to tie the game.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was named the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP, finishing the postseason with 19 points.

“They played great, that team over there,” said Couture in a postgame interview. “Can’t take anything away from what they did. They beat us.”

Pittsburgh proved one of the oldest cliches in playoff sports, defense wins championships. While they have a potent offense, it was the Penguins defense that won them the series over the Sharks.

“On our end, I’m very proud of our group,” DeBoer said. “ I thought our guys emptied the tank, gave us everything they possibly could.”

The Sharks will take a look at their roster this offseason and see what they need to do in order to get back to the Finals next year, a feat that is very difficult to achieve.

Steph Curry heats up, Warriors one win away from repeat

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

The Steph Curry that Warrior fans have been waiting for finally took shape Friday night in Cleveland. The MVP scored a game high 38 points on 11-25 shooting and seven three’s.

The Warriors improved to 14-0 in the postseason when Curry scores at least 30 points.

“I’ve seen him do it for five years now,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson in a postgame interview. “Nobody in the game can keep up, (...) when you have Steph’s range and handle, we’ take that shot everyday.”

Golden State now sits one game away from reaching the NBA pinnacle for the second year in a row. They can do so for the first time in franchise history on their home court.

The Warriors have been the best team in the league at adjusting after a loss this season and did so without missing a beat tonight. Cleveland came out firing in game 3, putting the Warriors on their heels and pressing their defense. In game 4, the Warriors became the aggressors.

“Sometimes our best offense is our defense,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in a postgame interview.

The Warriors defense was much more active, led by forward Draymond Green, who finished with a team high 12 rebounds.

“In the end we out rebounded them, which seems crazy because of how it looked in the first half,” Kerr said. “All of our guys played really well and we just competed well.”

Along with the Warriors great defense, the Cavaliers offense did not carry over from game 3. The first half was filled with Lebron James at the helm, attempting to drive in, then kicking out to a shooter who would miss. The only thing that kept Cleveland in the game was second chance points.

“The way we started the game,” Curry said in a postgame interview. “The starters controlled the tempo in the first quarter, it wasn't great basketball by any means but on the road we gave ourselves a chance.”

The Cavaliers hit an surge before the half, capitalizing on some careless Warrior turnovers and took a five point lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Curry came alive. The Warriors battled back to cut the Cavaliers lead lead to one, but guard Kyrie Irving did not let the Warriors comeback go uncontested.

“You gotta respect the fact that they didn't want to go down,” Thompson said. “We wanted it, we didn't want to have to come back to Cleveland.”

However, Curry was too much for the Cavaliers to handle and the Warriors took a 79-77 lead into the fourth. He finished the third quarter with 11 of his 25 points.

“We had a lot less breakdowns,” Curry said. “All-around mental toughness and effort, but we still got to rebound better.”

In the fourth, defense was the defining factor for the Warriors. They stretched their lead to nine and Curry iced the game with clutch free throws at the end.

“Defense is a constant night in and night out,” said Warriors forward Andre Iguodala in a postgame interview. “We want to make it as tough as possible for the opponent.”

The Warriors made an NBA finals record 17 three's in game 4 and Curry said it was just the shot they were most confident in tonight.

“You got to make them and you got to have confidence,” Curry said. “We got guys stepping up when they need to.”

“Roaracle” will be alive Monday night, packed with Warrior fans hoping to see their team win its first title on home court.

“It's going to be our biggest game of the year,” Curry said. “Just because we are going home, does not mean we can relax.”

Martin Jones leads the series back to San Jose

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

The best road team in the NHL lived up to the bill on the biggest stage Thursday night with a big win in Pittsburgh to send the Stanley Cup final back to San Jose.

Down 3-1 in series, the Sharks win a must-win game 4-2 on the back of their goalie Martin Jones, who had a game for the ages, 44 saves and none of them cheap. Those 44 saves are the most in a game ending in regulation in the playoffs since 1988.

“Just not this series and not tonight but he’s been doing this all year,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “He’s the backbone of our team and we just feel so much confidence coming out of him, but just a fantastic performance by him tonight.”

Jones is 7-2 in the playoffs this postseason in games after a loss for the Sharks. He brought a calming presence to his team that needed a big lift from him in order to win this game. Despite the 4-2 win for the Sharks, the entire game was controlled by the Penguins, they outshot the Sharks 46-21, but Jones was the difference maker.

The Sharks wasted no time in this game taking their first regulation lead of the series. Defenseman Brent Burns got the team on the board just over a minute into the game with a strong play behind the net before firing a wrist shot past Penguins goalie Matt Murray.

“It was huge, it was huge,” Thornton said. “We haven’t played with a lead this whole series, to get the first goal and then the second goal, they came back and scored two quick ones but we rallied and scored that third one.”

The lead did not take long to grow, just under two minutes later, on a shot by Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, forward Logan Couture tipped it home past Murray. Couture had an incredible game for the Sharks, he finished with a goal and two assists, having an important role in three of the Sharks four goals.

“All day we were a loose group,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in a postgame interview. “The thought behind it was ‘we want this one, we want this one’ and we did not want it to end tonight.”

Couture, who did not have a great season for the Sharks this year has been a difference maker this postseason, eclipsing 29 points so far.

“He’s been a rock for us all season,” Pavelski said. “All playoffs he has been solid, shows up and is finding the puck, finding some ice and it was definitely something we needed.”

The lead however was short lived. The Penguins fired back with two goals within 22 seconds of each other to tie the game back up at two. Sharks players said postgame that when the Penguins tied it they felt no pressure, they knew what they had to do.

“Relax, relax, it is a long game and there are going to be ups and downs,” Thornton said. “We have been doing this for so long that there is no panic in our game.”

The Sharks knew the game was far from over when the Penguins tied it and their resiliency showed later in the first period when unlikely playoff hero Melker Karlsson buried a wrist shot past Murray to put the Sharks up again.

The 3-2 lead stuck for the Sharks through the second and third periods, aided by an empty netter by Pavelski late in the third to increase the lead to 4-2. That goal was first for Pavelski in these Stanley Cup finals.

“We are excited to get back home and try to force a game seven,” said Sharks forward Chris Tierney in a postgame interview. “We’ll just take it one game at a time.”

The Sharks still have a long way to go if they want to hoist the Stanley Cup, but they kept their hopes alive with this big victory in game 5, setting up game 6 on Sunday at the SAP Center.