NBA Finals Game 6: 6 Things We Learned

The NBA Finals will go to Game 7 as the Cleveland Cavaliers control Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors.

The Cavs forced a Game 7 with a 115-101 win in game 6. Once again LeBron James proved to be unstoppable as he put up another 41 point game. After once being down 3-1, the Cavs are one win away from a championship.

Here’s what we learned from the biggest win in franchise history.

1. Tristan Thompson has earned every penny of his new contract in the last two games alone.

Thompson has been invaluable all series. His ability to effectively switch onto Steph Curry and Klay Thompson is one of the reasons the Cavs are forcing a game 7. He has also been able to control the boards on both ends of the floor. Getting extra possessions against the Warriors is essential given how good their offense is.

Tristan Thompson has been the most overlooked Cavalier this entire playoff run. The Cavs have many good players that excel in certain situation. For example, a guy like Kevin Love is one of the best power forwards in the league when he’s not playing against any of the 28 other teams. Less extreme examples are role players like Matthew Dellavedova, Channing Frye, and Iman Shumpert. There are matchups and series that they excel in, and other matchups that they can’t play in at all.

Thompson is different in that he can dominate in his area of play in any series. His ability to protect the paint, finish at the rim, create space in the pick and roll, and rebound the basketball are all skills that translate well against all opponents.

Thompson had a terrific game in game 6. He finished with 16 points and 16 boards. Thompson was also 6 for 6 at the line. He led all players by being a +32 in the plus/minus on the night.

There was a lot of complaining about Thompson’s big contract. Part of that is because he doesn’t put up the flashy scoring numbers we generally associate with big contracts. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t worth the money. He is one of the best players in the league at what he does. This series he has proven that he is worth every penny of his contract.

2. The Cavs can hold the Warriors to just 11 points in a quarter.

The Cavaliers’ defense came out playing great. Their intensity on the defensive end of the floor in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game.

Golden State came out cold. They scored 11 points in the first quarter which is their lowest for the season.

Starting out strong defensively is important when you’re playing the Warriors. You can’t let Curry and Thompson get in a rhythm early in the game. It’s hard to get them out of a rhythm once they get into one.

One of the reasons Andrew Bogut starts is to help Curry and Thompson get into a shooting rhythm. His ability to create space by setting effective screens gets them some open looks early. Once they see a couple uncontested looks go in, then they have the confidence to pull up from anywhere on the floor.

The key to the Cavs’ victories in games 3 and 6 was starting out solid defensively. They’ll have to do the same thing at home in game 7.

3. The Cavs still don’t know how to use Kevin Love in this series.

This has been a crazy series for Love. He came out playing well, or at least decent, in games 1 and 2. Then he was on the receiving end of a wayward elbow which resulted in him missing game 3. The Cavs proceeded to win in a blowout in game 3 without him. In game 4 he came off of the bench for the first time in years and played decent. Game 5 and 6 he proved to be nonfactors offensively.

This isn’t a good series for Love, but there has to be a way to use him somewhat effectively. It’s been 6 games and we still don’t really have an answer.

I don’t want to make a big deal out of one player, but it is worth making a big deal about. We’ve seen how good he can be when he’s used right. Just look at the playoffs. He was tremendous throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

It’ll be interesting to see if Jefferson starts in place of Love in game 7. The Cavs have been better this series with Jefferson in. But you could also start Love and have him guard Andre Iguodala who appeared like he couldn’t even move at the end of game 6.

We’ll see how Tyronn Lue manages Love in game 7. I feel like his minutes will depend on how the Cavs are doing. If the Cavs are winning he’ll play less, but if they’re losing and Cleveland needs points he’ll end up playing more.

No matter what happens in game 7, this will be a hot topic all summer.

4. Dahntay Jones can play meaningful minutes in the Finals.

Aside from diehard Cavalier fans, not many people knew who Dahntay Jones was before this game. He was signed just before the playoffs and he hasn’t played any meaningful minutes in the playoffs up until game 6.

While he didn’t do much in game 6, he did provide the Cavs with some energy in the time he was given. He picked up 5 points and a rebound in just a couple minutes of play.

Jones playing isn’t that big of a deal. He wasn’t the reason why the Cavs won. But Jones does illustrate something. The Cavaliers have depth that can match the Warriors. All season we’ve seen Golden State pull guys off of the bench who come in and contribute right away. This time we saw the Cavs give the Warriors a taste of their own medicine.

5. The “Death Lineup” isn’t always deadly.

The Warriors fabled death lineup did not live up to its billing in game 6. They were outscored by 18 points in just 11 minutes of play.

Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Leandro Barbosa all had solid games. Outside of that the Warriors really struggled. Draymond Green had an awful game. He couldn’t replicate his inside defense from earlier this series. He awful provided next to nothing offensively. Harrison Barnes also struggled and went 0 for 8 from the floor.

The Cavs did a great job of not allowing role players, outside of Barbosa, from beating them. The Warriors beat the Cavaliers with their depth in the beginning of the series. The last two games the Cavs have taken away their role players. If the Cavs continue to shut down the Warriors role players, they have an excellent chance of winning this series.

6. You can make a case that LeBron James should be the Finals MVP no matter what.

James was spectacular in the Finals last season. He singlehandedly willed the team to two with absolutely no help. In the process he put up insane numbers that most all-stars could only dream about doing. This year he’s putting up those same numbers, except he’s doing it more efficiently.

He’s now leading or tied all players in Finals points, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals. In the last two games alone he has 82 points, 22 assists, and 18 rebounds. Keep in mind that those numbers are coming in do-or-die elimination games.

LeBron is putting on a Finals performance that will go down in history as one of the best ever. He is going up against the best regular season team in NBA history and a team that some have even called the greatest of all time.

More from King James Gospel

The times of people saying James doesn’t show up in big games are long passed us. If the Cavs go on to lose this series people who don’t like LeBron will point to his Finals record and say that he never performed in big games. That couldn’t be further from the truth. LeBron has been big in the biggest moments. This Finals is just more proof of that.

The Warriors haven’t found a way to stop LeBron the last couple games. If he can play like this for one more game the Cavs will be NBA champions.

The Cavaliers will look to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. The Cavaliers are 4-0 so far in closeout games and are 2-0 in elimination games. We should also keep in mind that LeBron hasn’t lost a game 7 since 2008 which came against the Boston Celtics who would go onto win the championship themselves.

Sunday can’t get here fast enough.