NBA | Losing interest in Cavs-Warriors? Hey, it was bound to happen

Seems to be only a matter of time before LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers fall yet again to the Golden State Warriors in an NBA Finals series, especially with Game 3 in Oakland, Calif., tonight.

by Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

Is it worth the time?

Your time … my time … anyone’s time?

At this point, with the Golden State Warriors coasting with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven 2016 NBA Finals and the Cleveland Cavaliers being about as invested in continuing things as a partner who has checked out of a relationship, business or personal, you have to wonder.

Maybe putting aside a couple hours tonight to watch Game 5 wouldn’t be all that wise.

Seems to me the writing on the wall has been permanently imbedded courtesy of hammer and chisel.

The Warriors won’t lose this series.

Doesn’t really matter why, whether it’s due to their own brilliance, the Cavs’ ineptitude or some cosmic fate that has predetermined that this edition of Warriors will go down as one of the greatest professional sports teams of all time.

Not for nothing, but this matchup got old real fast. Much, much faster even than last June when the two squared off in the league’s signature event with the Cavs in a supposedly depleted state thanks to losing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injuries. Back then, Cleveland showed a little spunk, some fight, a bit of heart. This time, woof …

As big of a proponent of LeBron James’ game as there is resides right here, but there is no defending his almost laissez-faire attitude toward this series, pretty much from the moment it started. It was like he accepted the notion put out there by Vegas before the opening whistle to Game 1, that his squad had no shot, so no sense in killing himself.

The numbers don’t lie, they just confuse. His 24.8 points, 11 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game through the first four games this time around clearly show that he is the best player on the floor – yeah, even with reigning MVP Steph Curry on the other side. What they don’t show is how little impact he and those stats have had on the series.

Put it this way, if Cleveland was going to have a chance against Golden State, if only to make a matchup such as tonight’s fifth installment worth our time, James needed to dominate, not just in the box score but on the floor itself. Each game, each possession, offensively, defensively, with no letup. In short, he had to theoretically kill himself.
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Despite being more than capable, he hasn’t thus far, and here we are in regards to the 2016 NBA Finals Game 5 …

Why bother?

Thing is, when the teams tip off tonight at 9, you got plenty of other options on the tube, ranging from new TV series on the major networks to reruns of old standbys on the secondary ones. You got Monday Night Raw on USA, too, and the 200,769th showing of Dirty Harry on AMC, a Tyler Perry self-tagged movie somewhere, and, of course, news shows masquerading themselves as political shows and political shows masquerading themselves as news shows everywhere.

Me? Usually prefer HGTV when going the non-sports route, but with Tiny House, Big Living on tap there at that time, probably will choose the best option of all:
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Sleep.
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The numbers (for LeBron James) don’t lie, they just confuse. His 24.8 points, 11 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game through the first four games this time around clearly show that he is the best player on the floor – yeah, even with reigning MVP Steph Curry on the other side. What they don’t show is how little impact he and those stats have had on the series. Put it this way, if Cleveland was going to have a chance against Golden State, if only to make a matchup such as tonight’s fifth installment worth our time, James needed to dominate, not just in the box score but on the floor itself. Each game, each possession, offensively, defensively, with no letup. In short, he had to theoretically kill himself. Despite being more than capable, he hasn’t thus far, and here we are in regards to the 2016 NBA Finals Game 5 … Why bother?