If Warriors were truly better team why couldn’t they close out Cavs in game 6 and 7 of 16 Finals?

[Bkallday718]

A couple people made an interesting point on the Draymond truth about recruiting KD thread where people harbor on the Draymond suspension in 16 Finals and pretend like game 6 and 7 didn’t happen. Well this thread where we can break down what happened game 6 and 7 and not pretend like it didn’t happen.

So what happened in game 6 and 7 of this series? They won 73 games and had Draymond for both of these games. Why couldn’t they close out the series?

[The4thHorseman]

Especially when Draymond put up 32-15-9 in game 7.

Not sure if he's had that kind of game since then.

[Zvaart]

Short memory is short.

Bogut went down, Iguodala hurt his back, among other things.

I think they also ran out of gas after chasing that silly record.

[SeattleJazzFan]

they were a better team, but the Cavs had LeBron. the rest is history

[The4thHorseman]

Short memory is short.

Bogut went down, Iguodala hurt his back, among other things.

I think they also ran out of gas after chasing that silly record.

I get that Bogut going down hurt them some, but not to an extent that some say.

In the OKC series pior, it went 7gms. If Bogut was so instrumental for rim protection and paint presence, then why did he only avg. 18mins a game that series? OKC had Ibaka (36mins per game) and Steven Adams (28mins) in the starting line-up.

[Bkallday718]

Especially when Draymond put up 32-15-9 in game 7.

Not sure if he's had that kind of game since then.

Exactly but they pretend like game 6 and 7 didn’t even happen. They pretend like game 5 was a do or die game. You would’ve thought game 5 was game 7 by the way people word it.

[eminence]

Steph struggled in game 7, couldn't get loose from the D and missing shots. Had foul trouble in game 6. Klay not particularly efficient in either game.

Guys 4-6 (Iguodala, Barnes, Livingston) forgot how to throw the ball in the ocean, 15 ppg on 32.3 ts% combined in games 6/7.

[eminence]

Especially when Draymond put up 32-15-9 in game 7.

Not sure if he's had that kind of game since then.

It's the second highest scoring game of Dray's career (RS or PO). Only higher was game 3 against Portland of that same season where he went for 37.

[BayWarrior]

Because anything can happen in a 7 game series. Do you think the better team has won every 7 game series? GS had one of the best years ever, Cavs rose to the occasion and won, period, end off story. With Lebron on your team, you always have a punchers chance of pulling an upset. If GS wasn't the better team then why is it considered an upset?

[G35]

Short memory is short.

Bogut went down, Iguodala hurt his back, among other things.

I think they also ran out of gas after chasing that silly record.

I get that Bogut going down hurt them some, but not to an extent that some say.

In the OKC series pior, it went 7gms. If Bogut was so instrumental for rim protection and paint presence, then why did he only avg. 18mins a game that series? OKC had Ibaka (36mins per game) and Steven Adams (28mins) in the starting line-up.

That is all opinion.

Draymond is a great team defender. But without a rim deterrent, his effectiveness is lower.....

[cpower]

Have you ever heard something called probability? Yes we were the favorite and would have won the game 60% of the time, but 2016 aint one of them. If there is parallel universes and the exact game is happening across all universes, you will find us winning exact 60% of the time (or whatever that probability is)

[AbeVigodaLive]

Short memory is short.

Bogut went down, Iguodala hurt his back, among other things.

I think they also ran out of gas after chasing that silly record.

I get that Bogut going down hurt them some, but not to an extent that some say.

In the OKC series pior, it went 7gms. If Bogut was so instrumental for rim protection and paint presence, then why did he only avg. 18mins a game that series? OKC had Ibaka (36mins per game) and Steven Adams (28mins) in the starting line-up.

Two ways to look at it... both might have some merit.

1) "Meh. It was just Bogut. He didn't play much anyway."

2) Take away the final minute of Game 6 (Spreights hit two three pointers down by 19 vs. all reserves)...
Festus Ezeli, Mareese Spreights and the corpse of Anderson Varejo combined for this stat line:

2 - 12 fg
5 points
10 rebounds
47 minutes

And it included a 0 - 7 fg performance in Game 7 in 23 minutes. The Warriors were outscored by 15 when any of those three were on the court.

[bbalnation]

I believe in momentum when it comes to sports and other aspects of life.

Reminder: the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead & it was a real kick to the groin.

[sp6r=underrated]

The Warriors were the better team. Sometimes the best teams don't win.

[Roger Murdock]

The better teams don’t win

The teams that play better win

Cavs played better than the Warriors in games 5/6/7 and won despite being a worse team. It happens.

Same reasons why the Thunder had a 3-1 lead on the Warriors. They were worse but outplayed them.

If the Cavs / Warriors played first to 15 wins or something I dont think there’s a chance in hell we win the series. We just out played them when it mattered

[Raps in 4]

Because they weren't? The pre-KD Warriors and the Lebron Cavs were pretty evenly matched in terms of talent. Regular season record doesn't mean ****.

[C3H6N6O6]

Warriors were the better team but I can confidently say that Warriors would have lost again in 6 or 7 games in 2017 if they didn't get KD.
Cavs had figured out how to defend Warriors by the end of 2016 finals and had a lot of confidence. It would still have been a tight finals but I would have put my money on Cavs winning the 2017 finals if KD doesn't go to Oakland.

[Rodwilliams]

Warriors were the better team but I can confidently say that Warriors would have lost again in 6 or 7 games in 2017 if they didn't get KD.
Cavs had figured out how to defend Warriors by the end of 2016 finals and had a lot of confidence. It would still have been a tight finals but I would have put my money on Cavs winning the 2017 finals if KD doesn't go to Oakland.

Agree but how do we even know Warriors make it back to the Finals if they don’t get KD?

[eminence]

Warriors were the better team but I can confidently say that Warriors would have lost again in 6 or 7 games in 2017 if they didn't get KD.
Cavs had figured out how to defend Warriors by the end of 2016 finals and had a lot of confidence. It would still have been a tight finals but I would have put my money on Cavs winning the 2017 finals if KD doesn't go to Oakland.

I would note, that regardless of whether KD came, GS did have a lot of money to work with that offseason. Decent chance the team would've come back with another solid guy that could've put them over the top if not to the level of dominance they had with KD. Horford or some such.

[KazuoOda]

Years later and we still talking about this.
I still hate GSW but it was a fun rivalry.