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Brenneisen: Warriors’ Depth Too Much for Cavs’ One-Man Show

Brenneisen: Warriors Depth Too Much for Cavs One-Man Show

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Golden State’s motto “Strength in Numbers” has proven to be true after dropping Andrew Bogut out of the starting lineup and winning Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Warriors will continue to display how it takes an entire team to win versus one player carrying the entire weight, a la LeBron James and the Cavs, en route to winning the 2015 NBA Championship.

Switching a starting lineup this late can sometimes backfire on a head coach, but Steve Kerr essentially had no choice after his team dropped two straight games. Though they were close games, it was clear that Golden State needed to change things up a bit.

The Warriors are already smaller than Cleveland with Bogut in the lineup, so not having him there may have disrupted things. But the former Ute essentially performed identically coming off the bench. He did not score any points, but the most he has scored this series is four, so not too big of deal.

The new lineup with Andre Iguodala starting on the wing worked a whole lot better. He scored 22 points and had a more-favorable matchup with the Cleveland guards, and even LeBron James, than Bogut did against the Cavs frontcourt. In a decisive game where Golden State desperately needed a win to avoid going down 3-1, Kerr knew what he was doing when his team needed to find another source of scoring.

On the other bench, Kyrie Irving being ruled out for the rest of the Finals is a loss for everyone, and not just the Cavaliers. As a fan of a good game, I like to see the best players out there no matter who I’m rooting for, or against. However, despite Irving’s absence not being a problem in Games 2 and 3, James and company will miss the point guard’s abilities the rest of the way.

James scored 123 points in the first three games, needing to step up after losing not just Irving, but also Love earlier in the Playoffs. However, scoring 40 points each game can be tiring, and James cannot do everything for Cleveland. The King will probably have another stellar game in the series, but it’s unlikely he can continue to keep this trend up.

Sure, scoring 20 points wouldn’t be bad for James, but it’s just not enough for this Cavs team to pull off the upset.

What’s with all the hate on Stephen Curry? There is nothing wrong with the way he is playing, scoring in decent numbers and controlling his offense. That said, he can do more, and he knows he can. Some are even claiming that James should have received the MVP Award, instead of Curry, because of his performance so far in the Finals.

But this does not have an effect on Curry. The real MVP continues to play with ease, and although he is not putting up numbers like James, Curry’s heroic efforts always come through in the end.

Another thing the Cavaliers will never be able to match is Riley Curry, the adorable daughter of the Warriors point guard. She takes away a lot of the attention, and rightfully so, with some of her antics. She seems to relieve the actual players from some attention they may not necessarily want. No one can look past her.

Riley may not come out to press conferences when the Warriors lose, but even then there is always something she is doing to attract the spotlight. Sure, she has nothing to do with the actual game, but how can Steph let her down? That’s right, he can’t.

The Warriors dominated the entirety of Game 4, somehow finding a way to win in James’ hometown, something I did not think they were up to doing after dropping two games in a row.

They didn’t just win — they made a statement, winning by 21 points when every other game in the series has been close. They hardly need to make any more adjustments moving forward. Even if they do, the Warriors will be able to figure it out together. Every player on this squad knows what it takes to win, and they know the sacrifices required to win a championship.

It’s a tied series at 2-2, and hopefully it will go to seven games. In the end, Golden State will be the new NBA champions, no doubt. James going home and hoping to win the title was great and all (not really), but he is not going to have a storybook ending. It’s time for someone new to win, for a change.

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@kbrenneisen[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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