No more miracles?

Golden State coach Steve Kerr said recently it was a miracle that the Warriors even had a chance of making sports history by becoming the first team ever to sweep the playoffs with an unbeaten record. And if the Warriors beat Cleveland in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on the road last Friday (Saturday morning, Manila), it would’ve been more than a miracle to accomplish the feat.

Game 5 is scheduled at the Oracle Arena in Oakland this morning (Manila time) and if the Cavaliers win, that would be a miracle. Cleveland’s challenge is to surpass what it did to Golden State in last year’s Finals, coming back from a 1-3 deficit to capture the crown. The Cavs are now down, 1-3, but there’s a slight difference from their previous predicament. Last season, Cleveland won Game 3 after losing Games 1 and 2. This time, the Cavs dropped the first three contests and took Game 4. The similarity is Cleveland will play Game 5 at the Oracle and the Cavs are in a do-or-die situation.

The series could’ve easily been tied, 2-all, at this stage if only Cleveland held on to win Game 3. The Cavs were up, 113-107, with 2:32 left then went blank the rest of the way while the Warriors detonated an 11-0 bomb. The killer was Kevin Durant’s go-ahead triple with 45.3 ticks left. How Cleveland let it slip away on the Cavs homecourt is unforgiveable. That will haunt the Cavs forever.

Cleveland’s win in Game 4 was expected. LeBron James wouldn’t be denied at least one victory in the Finals. In 2007, the Chosen One was helpless in preventing San Antonio from sweeping the Cavs in the Finals. The memory of that painful setback is something James will never forget and will never want to repeat. James has suffered defeat in four Finals, twice with Miami and twice with Cleveland but has tasted triumph in three Finals.

It took a superhuman effort from James and Kyrie Irving for Cleveland to claim Game 4, 137-116, behind 24 three-point shots and a 49-point first period. James collected a triple double while Irving fired 40 points. Kevin Love scored 23 and J. R. Smith chipped in 15 from 5-of-9 triples. Smith scored a total of three points in Games 1 and 2 so his explosion in Game 4 was somewhat of a surprise. Steph Curry, averaging 25 points in the Finals, was held to 14 in an uncharacteristic comedown.

What happened in Game 4 was an aberration. The officiating was atrocious and so was the commentating on TV. It’s unfair to the NBA’s global TV audience that Hubie Brown is doing analysis on ESPN Radio while Jeff Van Gundy is talking about Taco Bell on the international channel. The confusion on whether Draymond Green had one or two technical fouls was something unheard of in previous Finals. The referees claimed they called a technical foul on Kerr, not Green, in the first half but the stadium announcer said it was on Green and the official scoresheet reflected it. So who made the mistake? The referees or the stadium announcer or the official statistician? There was also a marked inconsistency in the way the referees were allowing physical contact.

But in Game 5 this morning, things will settle down and the NBA will go back to basics, meaning no more glitches. That will also mean no more miracles, no more superhuman efforts and no more Cleveland comebacks. James is averaging 31.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 10.5 assists and 41.4 minutes in the Finals. Irving is averaging 30.3 points and 40 minutes. The only other Cav in double figure points is Love with 18.4 and he’s logging 32.8 minutes a game. Clearly, they’re overextending themselves in a short rotation. They gave it their all in Game 4. They won’t be able to do it again in Game 5.

Golden State’s minutes are more evenly distributed. Durant is averaging 34.3 points and 39.6 minutes. Curry is averaging 37 minutes, Klay Thompson 37.1, Green 33.3 and Andre Iguodala 25.8. The Warriors’ versatility offers a lot of rotation options for Kerr and when they go small, the Cavs are hard pressed to keep in pace. Clearly, the Cavs will want to slow the tempo down, force a physical half-court battle and grind it out. Golden State won’t be drawn into that kind of game. The Warriors will run and open up the court. They’ll spread the floor to create opportunities for Durant to attack or for the Splash Brothers to hit free threes. Richard Jefferson did a relatively effective job in defending Durant in Game 4 but that small measure of success won’t be duplicated.

Golden State has established a record of going 15-0 in the playoffs, the best start of any pro sports franchise in the postseason. The Warriors fell short of a historic 16-0 sweep of the playoffs but they’ll settle for a championship in five. James has made it a habit to play in the Finals as this is his seventh straight and eighth overall appearance but winning the crown is never a sure thing with the King. He’s gone down twice via 4-2, once via 4-0 and once via 4-1 while he’s won twice via 4-3 and once via 4-1 in seven overall Finals outings so far. Whether the Cavs win the title or not this year, James’ reputation as the best basketball player on the planet remains unquestioned. The problem is in the NBA Finals, it’s not a case of the best player winning the title but a case of the best team.