WE HAD some breakdowns, LeBron James admitted after the NBA Finals Game 1 shame dealt the Cleveland Cavaliers by the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
James also vowed instant recovery, without necessarily pointing to the shock drubbing carried out by the so-called subs on the Golden State bench led by Shaun Livingston during the NBA Finals series opener at the Oracle Arena.
It’s rather odd though that the shining efforts of these so-called relievers on the Warriors bench have come to be highlighted only now.
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The full appreciation for the Golden State shock troopers was rather delayed.
They did not get deserved big ovation, but Livingston & Co. were very, very big in the recent Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City.
The turnaround in the final match of the Western Conference championship was openly credited on solid team third quarter defense put up by the Warriors on the floor.
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Yes, defense. But a bulk of the the deciding points were specially delivered by Livingston et al. in that crucial period.
At least, coach Steve Kerr has been claiming his relievers have always been ready to take charge, with a single press of the emergency button, since season’s start.
Coach Kerr has also made it clear he was neither keen nor comfortable referring indefinitely to these bench firemen as subs or relievers.
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Anyway, it won’t be right to rank veteran Andre’ Iguodola among Kerr’s shock troopers.
He may have not officially been a starter, but Iguodola has always been a solid team mainstay based on all-around prowess consistently contributed.
Iguodola scored many baskets in the Finals opener, but these also helped blur out his own defensive gems in the closing minutes.
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Iguodola put LeBron James under lock, practically out of the game, in the crucial closing minutes of the NBA Finals opener.
Now, there’s no telling if LeBron’s coach would be able to come up with a remedy against Iguodola who, by now, should earn the title anti-James specialist.
Iguodola appears ready to once again make James disappear in very crucial stretches by wrapping a sticky, muscular defensive net all over the Chief Cavalier.