Cavs Force Game Seven, LeBron Looks Like MVP

The fans in Cleveland told Steph Curry goodbye as he walked off the court in the fourth quarter, and minutes later they chanted “M-V-P” to LeBron James.

Curry was ejected for throwing his mouthpiece after a night of frustration ended with a final foul call. He yelled at the officials and lingered on the court for a while before leaving his team in the midst of their Game Six loss. LeBron stole the MVP’s thunder, and he’s carrying the momentum heading into Game Seven.

Cleveland jumped out to a 31-11 lead after the first quarter, and the Warriors were only able to cut the lead to single digits a couple times in the 115-101 victory for the Cavs. The home crowd fed off the energy of their King and he didn’t disappoint the citizens of Believeland.

James scored 41 points (16-27 FG) for the second straight game, and he was two rebounds away from a triple double. Several of his 11 assists went to Tristan Thompson (15 pts, 16 rebs), who provided incredible energy down low.

Thompson was the fuel for the fire, and Kyrie Irving (23 points) chipped in with J.R. Smith's four three-balls to seal the deal.

“Even though we’re a young group, we got a lot of young guys that love the moment, and I know I do, for sure,” LeBron told Craig Sager after the win. “I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to help us win. We’re going against a very, very great team, and we can’t allow ourselves to make mistakes. We still have to clean up some things, even in Game Seven.”

It was the final game in Quicken Loans Arena for the season, and the Cavs shut the door with style.

LeBron asserted his will offensively and defensively, highlighted by a block on Curry that was punctuated with posturing and attitude. Curry still scored 30 points (8-20 FG, 6-13 3-pt), but he was ejected from the first game of his career after losing his patience with more than four minutes to go in the game.

Steve Kerr called the six fouls called against Curry “ridiculous,” but he didn’t use the whistles as a cop out.

“This is the MVP of the league, and we’re talking about these touch fouls in the NBA Finals,” Kerr said. “Let me be clear, we did not lose because of the officiating. They totally outplayed us and Cleveland deserved to win, but three of the six fouls were incredibly inappropriate calls for anybody, much less the MVP of the league.”

He even said he was happy Curry threw his mouthpiece, and he said he wasn’t concerned about the NBA possibly suspending its MVP for the final game of the season.

The Warriors suffered the loss, but to make matters worse, Andre Iguodala tweaked something early in the game and was playing through pain for the rest of Game Six. Will he be healthy enough in Game Seven to slow down LeBron, who is playing like a train at full steam? Golden State will already be without center Andrew Bogut, so the last thing they need is to lose Iggy.

Klay Thompson started the game off shooting 3-of-12 from the floor, but he ended up with 25 points (9-21 FG). He was the only player, aside from Curry, to have a real offensive impact.

After sitting out Game Five due to suspension, Draymond Green returned and laid an egg in Cleveland. He had 10 rebounds and six assist, but he only registered eight points after running his mouth and saying the Warriors would have ended the series already if it weren’t for his suspension.

Speaking of non-contributors, Harrison Barnes put a goose egg up in the scoring column (0 pts, 0-8 FG), and the ghost of Kevin Love (7 pts, 3 rebs) only touched the floor for 12 minutes. These two might as well just start a game of checkers on the sideline, because they’re not helping either of their teams.

Golden State played the best regular season in the history of the NBA, but they’re in danger of finishing it on a sour note. Cleveland body slammed them to force Game Seven, and LeBron can smell the fear blossoming on his opponent.

No team has ever bounced back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, but LeBron thinks there is a first time for everything.

“Records are meant to be broken. At the end of the day, we’re a team that’s been persevering all year, the outside noise and everything,” James said. “At the end of the day, let’s just go and play and see what happens.”

Steph Curry might be the MVP, but LeBron James is reminding everyone he’s still the baddest man on Earth when it comes to dominating the basketball court. He’s one game away from rewriting history, and one game away from protecting his crown as The King.

--(Full Box Score)--