Golden State Warriors are your 2018 NBA Champions. Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals, and earned their second consecutive championship and third in the last four years, after getting a rather comfortable 108-85 win in Game 4 at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.

Warriors grabbed the lead early on in the first quarter with an 11-0 run and never looked back. At moments Cavs managed to get in a striking distance, being just one point behind on multiple occasions in the second quarter. But the Warriors came out in the third with guns blazing and strolled in the fourth quarter to claim a deserved win to become 2018 NBA Champions.

A Golden Era… the @warriors capture third title in four years (via @SekouSmithNBA/@NBAcom) https://t.co/A8IsaggeTr pic.twitter.com/PNEDPPGSPP

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2018

According to Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, this was the hardest championship to win for his team.

“This was the hardest year we’ve had of the three championships by far.” – said Kerr after the game. “Just the length of the journey. These guys are not just incredibly talented but they’re selfless. They love each other, they play for each other and you can see the result.“

Kevin Durant had another stellar performance, getting a triple-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, which ultimately got him his second consecutive Finals MVP award. Stephen Curry added 37 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The BEST of #NBAFinals MVP @KDTrey5 for the @Warriors in the championship round! pic.twitter.com/vJUIHWAMtM

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2018

LeBron James also had a good game by NBA standards, but he didn’t put out a performance everyone expected from him. He only had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists which ultimately wasn’t enough to carry the Warriors. It is important to note that he played through a hand injury. Once again he had a limited help from his teammates with Kevin Love being the Cavs second leading scorer with 13 points.

The BEST of @KingJames for the @Cavs in the #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/oakORxSRsu

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2018

The post Golden State Warriors Are Your 2018 NBA Champions appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After two games in Oakland’s Oracle Arena, the 2018 NBA Finals moved to Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night. But little has changed. Although Cleveland Cavaliers looked great at the beginning of the game, Golden State Warriors still managed to get away with a 110-102 win.

Cavs clicked on all cylinders in the first half, ending it with a six-point lead, while the Warriors struggled and it almost looked like we could end up having a competitive series in the 2018 NBA Finals. Then came Kevin Durant and brought the Warriors back into the game in the third quarter. The teams exchanged leads in the fourth quarter multiple times, but then Durant decided it was time to end it all with one minute left in the game. He drilled a 34-foot 3-pointer with four seconds left on the game clock and just demoralized the Cavaliers who didn’t manage to find a way to recover.

Kevin Durant ended the game with 43 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists. He has also had a very efficient game, shooting 15-of-23 from the field and drilling six out of his nine attempted three-pointers. No other Warriors player managed to score more than 11 points.

“I try not to think about just scoring, but, you know, we struggled to shoot the ball early on and I felt like I had some good looks,“- said Durant after the game. “I started asking for more of them, and I was able to knock down some shots for us.“

Durant’s performance particularly impressed his Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

“That was amazing what he did out there tonight,” – said Kerr. “Some of those shots, I don’t think anybody in the world can hit those but him. He was incredible.“

Warriors will look to use this momentum and try to win Game 4 of 2018 NBA Finals on Friday night, which would bring them their second consecutive NBA title and third in the last four years.

The post Kevin Durant Scores 43 Points as Warriors take 3-0 Lead Over Cavs appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Reigning champions Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of 2018 NBA Finals on Thursday night. For those who haven’t watched the game, this information isn’t any surprise given the fact that the Warriors entered the series as heavy favorites. But those who watched the game know that they needed a combination of luck, doubtful calls from the referees, inexplicable move from Cavs’ JR Smith and five minute overtime in order to get the 124-114 win in front of their home crowd.

To everyone’s surprise, the Golden State Warriors never managed to build a large lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the Game 1 of 2018 NBA Finals. After a tied score at the halftime, Warriors had another of their game-changing third quarters and entered the fourth quarter with six points lead. Still, LeBron James was a man on the mission and brought back the Cavs into the game but his greatness simply couldn’t overcome the mistakes of the referees and his teammates. Referees made three controversial calls against James in the fourth quarter, but the most crucial one came in the last minute of the regular time.

Cavs were up two with 40 seconds remaining on the clock, and Kevin Durant drove to the basket in an attempt to make it a tied game. He was met by LeBron James, who took the hit and Durant was charged with an offensive foul. Still, the judges decided to review the play in order to see whether James was in the restricted area, although it was obvious he was few feet outside of it. The call was then overruled, with James getting called for a foul and Durant receiving free throws.

Then, 4.7 seconds before the end of the game and with score tied, JR Smith managed to grab an offensive rebound out of George Hill’s missed free throw and instead passing the ball or calling a timeout, he let the clock run out and made a late pass to Hill, thus sending the game in overtime. Apparently, Smith thought Cavs were in the lead and are about to win the game.

Cavs couldn’t recover from all of this and Warriors seized the opportunity to take the lead in 2018 NBA Finals.

As expected, LeBron James had another exceptional game, scoring 51 points and adding eight rebounds and assists. Kevin Love also showed up, contributing with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

On the Warriors side, Kevin Durant had 26 points, nine rebounds, and six assists while Stephen Curry added 29 points, six rebounds, and nine assists.

The post Warriors Take 1-0 Lead in 2018 NBA Finals with Overtime Win against the Cavaliers appeared first on SportzBonanza.

We will see Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors going head to head in the 2018 NBA Finals, which will mark the fourth straight time these two teams meet in the finals. This is the result of highly entertaining and thrilling Conference Finals, which wrapped up on Monday night with Warriors win against the Houston Rockets in the Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. The night before, Cavaliers managed to overcome the Boston Celtics in the Game 7 of Eastern Conference Finals.

Cleveland Cavaliers managed to advance to the 2018 NBA Finals thanks to the sheer determination of LeBron James, who once again showed why he is the best basketball player in the world. Celtics, who were without their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, were the favorites to close out the series in front of their home crowd on Sunday night in Game 7, but their young players cracked under the pressure with James delivering another brilliant performance.

You could say that the Golden State Warriors, on the other side, had a little help from lady luck in their series against the Houston Rockets. Chris Paul, Rockets’ second-best player, suffered a strain hamstring injury in Game 5 of the series and didn’t play in the next two games. Warriors managed to come back from a 2-3 deficit after that and will be looking to win their second straight NBA Championship and third in four years.

2018 NBA Finals is scheduled to begin on May 31st with Warriors having home advantage and set to host Game 1 and Game 2 in their Oracle Arena.

Unfortunately, it looks like this won’t be such a thrilling end of 2017-18 NBA season. Golden State Warriors are entering the series as heavy favorites thanks to their core of four All-Star players, all of which are relatively healthy. Cleveland Cavaliers, on the other side, only have two All-Stars in LeBron James and Kevin Love, with the latter one still recovering from a concussion. The rest of the Cavs’ supporting cast failed to make a major impact during these playoffs and it is hard to see them stepping up now.

The post Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors Grab their Spots in 2018 NBA Finals appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It was February 8, 2018. Cleveland Cavaliers were in a slump. LeBron James – the best basketball player in the world – was allowing his team to get swiped by the likes of Orlando Magic. No offense to Magic fans, but no one takes this team seriously anymore.

People started panicking. The Cavs returns for Kyrie Irving in form of Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder were just shadows of former themselves, while newcomers like Derrick Rose never managed to fit in. There was trouble written all over this team. Perhaps only Nick Wright continued to believe that James could win the Eastern Conference with such squad. The guy managed to give the Warriors a tough time even with Matthew Dellavedova as his point guard. Why wouldn’t he be able to go through the Toronto Raptors or Boston Celtics by himself?

The Cavs general manager Koby Altman, however, didn’t want to test the capabilities of his star player to this limit. He started flipping players and draft picks, determined to clear the air in the locker room and also give James something to work with. Thomas, Crowder, Rose, Dwyane Wade, Channing Frye, and Iman Shumpert were all out of the door. Their replacements in Rodney Hood, George Hill, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. looked just the opposite. Taller, more athletic and most importantly; younger.

Now, after watching two games of the new Cavs, it is likely that they will book another appearance in the NBA Finals, and it might not even be close. The rest of the Eastern Conference had a shot to make some problems to James before this overhaul. Now, they will have to wait for James to retire or to go to Western Conference (San Antonio Spurs preferably) for NBA Finals appearance to be realistic.

In those two games, it looked like the Cavaliers game had more flow although the new players only had half of a practice together. Then, Cavs looked dangerous in all aspects of the game including fast breaks, scoring in the paint, and behind the 3pt arc. Also, the team looked happy playing together. There was no Isaiah Thomas frowning because James has a ball in his hands, or Crowder’s game sinking into the oblivion with each passing minute. These new players are willing to accept lesser roles, knowing that LeBron James is the boss and best player on every basketball court he steps on. Finally, and most importantly, LeBron James looked engaged once again. He was cheering his teammates, tossing fist bumps here and there, and was genuinely looking to get these guys incorporated into the team. James just got some fresh blood to accompany him on this crusade, and that’s the last thing his opponents wanted.

Now, does this Cavaliers team have a chance against the Golden State Warriors?
It might not be so far-fetched. But let’s not jump to conclusion.

The post Opinion: Cleveland Cavaliers Have no Challengers in the Eastern Conference appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Golden State Warriors are your 2018 NBA Champions. Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals, and earned their second consecutive championship and third in the last four years, after getting a rather comfortable 108-85 win in Game 4 at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.

Warriors grabbed the lead early on in the first quarter with an 11-0 run and never looked back. At moments Cavs managed to get in a striking distance, being just one point behind on multiple occasions in the second quarter. But the Warriors came out in the third with guns blazing and strolled in the fourth quarter to claim a deserved win to become 2018 NBA Champions.

A Golden Era… the @warriors capture third title in four years (via @SekouSmithNBA/@NBAcom) https://t.co/A8IsaggeTr pic.twitter.com/PNEDPPGSPP

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2018

According to Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, this was the hardest championship to win for his team.

“This was the hardest year we’ve had of the three championships by far.” – said Kerr after the game. “Just the length of the journey. These guys are not just incredibly talented but they’re selfless. They love each other, they play for each other and you can see the result.“

Kevin Durant had another stellar performance, getting a triple-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, which ultimately got him his second consecutive Finals MVP award. Stephen Curry added 37 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The BEST of #NBAFinals MVP @KDTrey5 for the @Warriors in the championship round! pic.twitter.com/vJUIHWAMtM

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2018

LeBron James also had a good game by NBA standards, but he didn’t put out a performance everyone expected from him. He only had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists which ultimately wasn’t enough to carry the Warriors. It is important to note that he played through a hand injury. Once again he had a limited help from his teammates with Kevin Love being the Cavs second leading scorer with 13 points.

The BEST of @KingJames for the @Cavs in the #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/oakORxSRsu

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2018

The post Golden State Warriors Are Your 2018 NBA Champions appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After two games in Oakland’s Oracle Arena, the 2018 NBA Finals moved to Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night. But little has changed. Although Cleveland Cavaliers looked great at the beginning of the game, Golden State Warriors still managed to get away with a 110-102 win.

Cavs clicked on all cylinders in the first half, ending it with a six-point lead, while the Warriors struggled and it almost looked like we could end up having a competitive series in the 2018 NBA Finals. Then came Kevin Durant and brought the Warriors back into the game in the third quarter. The teams exchanged leads in the fourth quarter multiple times, but then Durant decided it was time to end it all with one minute left in the game. He drilled a 34-foot 3-pointer with four seconds left on the game clock and just demoralized the Cavaliers who didn’t manage to find a way to recover.

Kevin Durant ended the game with 43 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists. He has also had a very efficient game, shooting 15-of-23 from the field and drilling six out of his nine attempted three-pointers. No other Warriors player managed to score more than 11 points.

“I try not to think about just scoring, but, you know, we struggled to shoot the ball early on and I felt like I had some good looks,“- said Durant after the game. “I started asking for more of them, and I was able to knock down some shots for us.“

Durant’s performance particularly impressed his Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

“That was amazing what he did out there tonight,” – said Kerr. “Some of those shots, I don’t think anybody in the world can hit those but him. He was incredible.“

Warriors will look to use this momentum and try to win Game 4 of 2018 NBA Finals on Friday night, which would bring them their second consecutive NBA title and third in the last four years.

The post Kevin Durant Scores 43 Points as Warriors take 3-0 Lead Over Cavs appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Reigning champions Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of 2018 NBA Finals on Thursday night. For those who haven’t watched the game, this information isn’t any surprise given the fact that the Warriors entered the series as heavy favorites. But those who watched the game know that they needed a combination of luck, doubtful calls from the referees, inexplicable move from Cavs’ JR Smith and five minute overtime in order to get the 124-114 win in front of their home crowd.

To everyone’s surprise, the Golden State Warriors never managed to build a large lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the Game 1 of 2018 NBA Finals. After a tied score at the halftime, Warriors had another of their game-changing third quarters and entered the fourth quarter with six points lead. Still, LeBron James was a man on the mission and brought back the Cavs into the game but his greatness simply couldn’t overcome the mistakes of the referees and his teammates. Referees made three controversial calls against James in the fourth quarter, but the most crucial one came in the last minute of the regular time.

Cavs were up two with 40 seconds remaining on the clock, and Kevin Durant drove to the basket in an attempt to make it a tied game. He was met by LeBron James, who took the hit and Durant was charged with an offensive foul. Still, the judges decided to review the play in order to see whether James was in the restricted area, although it was obvious he was few feet outside of it. The call was then overruled, with James getting called for a foul and Durant receiving free throws.

Then, 4.7 seconds before the end of the game and with score tied, JR Smith managed to grab an offensive rebound out of George Hill’s missed free throw and instead passing the ball or calling a timeout, he let the clock run out and made a late pass to Hill, thus sending the game in overtime. Apparently, Smith thought Cavs were in the lead and are about to win the game.

Cavs couldn’t recover from all of this and Warriors seized the opportunity to take the lead in 2018 NBA Finals.

As expected, LeBron James had another exceptional game, scoring 51 points and adding eight rebounds and assists. Kevin Love also showed up, contributing with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

On the Warriors side, Kevin Durant had 26 points, nine rebounds, and six assists while Stephen Curry added 29 points, six rebounds, and nine assists.

The post Warriors Take 1-0 Lead in 2018 NBA Finals with Overtime Win against the Cavaliers appeared first on SportzBonanza.

We will see Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors going head to head in the 2018 NBA Finals, which will mark the fourth straight time these two teams meet in the finals. This is the result of highly entertaining and thrilling Conference Finals, which wrapped up on Monday night with Warriors win against the Houston Rockets in the Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. The night before, Cavaliers managed to overcome the Boston Celtics in the Game 7 of Eastern Conference Finals.

Cleveland Cavaliers managed to advance to the 2018 NBA Finals thanks to the sheer determination of LeBron James, who once again showed why he is the best basketball player in the world. Celtics, who were without their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, were the favorites to close out the series in front of their home crowd on Sunday night in Game 7, but their young players cracked under the pressure with James delivering another brilliant performance.

You could say that the Golden State Warriors, on the other side, had a little help from lady luck in their series against the Houston Rockets. Chris Paul, Rockets’ second-best player, suffered a strain hamstring injury in Game 5 of the series and didn’t play in the next two games. Warriors managed to come back from a 2-3 deficit after that and will be looking to win their second straight NBA Championship and third in four years.

2018 NBA Finals is scheduled to begin on May 31st with Warriors having home advantage and set to host Game 1 and Game 2 in their Oracle Arena.

Unfortunately, it looks like this won’t be such a thrilling end of 2017-18 NBA season. Golden State Warriors are entering the series as heavy favorites thanks to their core of four All-Star players, all of which are relatively healthy. Cleveland Cavaliers, on the other side, only have two All-Stars in LeBron James and Kevin Love, with the latter one still recovering from a concussion. The rest of the Cavs’ supporting cast failed to make a major impact during these playoffs and it is hard to see them stepping up now.

The post Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors Grab their Spots in 2018 NBA Finals appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It was February 8, 2018. Cleveland Cavaliers were in a slump. LeBron James – the best basketball player in the world – was allowing his team to get swiped by the likes of Orlando Magic. No offense to Magic fans, but no one takes this team seriously anymore.

People started panicking. The Cavs returns for Kyrie Irving in form of Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder were just shadows of former themselves, while newcomers like Derrick Rose never managed to fit in. There was trouble written all over this team. Perhaps only Nick Wright continued to believe that James could win the Eastern Conference with such squad. The guy managed to give the Warriors a tough time even with Matthew Dellavedova as his point guard. Why wouldn’t he be able to go through the Toronto Raptors or Boston Celtics by himself?

The Cavs general manager Koby Altman, however, didn’t want to test the capabilities of his star player to this limit. He started flipping players and draft picks, determined to clear the air in the locker room and also give James something to work with. Thomas, Crowder, Rose, Dwyane Wade, Channing Frye, and Iman Shumpert were all out of the door. Their replacements in Rodney Hood, George Hill, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. looked just the opposite. Taller, more athletic and most importantly; younger.

Now, after watching two games of the new Cavs, it is likely that they will book another appearance in the NBA Finals, and it might not even be close. The rest of the Eastern Conference had a shot to make some problems to James before this overhaul. Now, they will have to wait for James to retire or to go to Western Conference (San Antonio Spurs preferably) for NBA Finals appearance to be realistic.

In those two games, it looked like the Cavaliers game had more flow although the new players only had half of a practice together. Then, Cavs looked dangerous in all aspects of the game including fast breaks, scoring in the paint, and behind the 3pt arc. Also, the team looked happy playing together. There was no Isaiah Thomas frowning because James has a ball in his hands, or Crowder’s game sinking into the oblivion with each passing minute. These new players are willing to accept lesser roles, knowing that LeBron James is the boss and best player on every basketball court he steps on. Finally, and most importantly, LeBron James looked engaged once again. He was cheering his teammates, tossing fist bumps here and there, and was genuinely looking to get these guys incorporated into the team. James just got some fresh blood to accompany him on this crusade, and that’s the last thing his opponents wanted.

Now, does this Cavaliers team have a chance against the Golden State Warriors?
It might not be so far-fetched. But let’s not jump to conclusion.

The post Opinion: Cleveland Cavaliers Have no Challengers in the Eastern Conference appeared first on SportzBonanza.