The Sunday Mail
NBA Most Valuable Player Steph Curry and Golden State coach Steve Kerr will not allow the Warriors to relax even after NBA Finals foe Cleveland lost star guard Kyrie Irving.
The Cavaliers said on Friday that versatile playmaker Irving suffered a fractured left kneecap in over-time during Golden State’s 108-100 victory on Thursday over Cleveland in the opener of the best-of-seven championship series, dealing superstar LeBron James and his teammates a major setback in their quest for the title.
But, Curry warns overconfidence is not a luxury the Warriors can afford.
“We can’t assume . . . it’s going to be a cakewalk for us to get a championship,” Curry said. “It’s still going to be a challenge. It’s still going to be tough. We have to control what we control and do what we do.”
The Warriors had the NBA’s best record at 67-15 and have a deep bench while the Cavaliers are hurting, but James still scored 44 points in the opener and both he and Iman Shumpert had last-possession shots to win for Cleveland in regulation time.
Thinking things will be easier now, Kerr said, is a sure way to make things harder.
“The minute we start thinking that way we’re in big trouble,” Kerr said.
“That never enters our mind. We have to do what we did Thursday night, only better. We have to compete like we did but we’ve got to execute better. I think that will come.
“We aren’t going to allow ourselves to go down that path, that’s for sure.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green takes optimism from Golden State’s victory despite what he saw as a sub-par effort.
“We have to make sure we come out with an even better focus level than we did in game one because this is a very important game. If you can get up 2-0 in the series, that’s always huge,” Green said.
I still don’t think, although we won, that we played well at all. I think we have a lot more to give than we did. So that’s kind of exciting.”
The Cavaliers inserted Australian Matthew Dellavedova when Irving missed two games in the Eastern Conference final against Atlanta. — AFP.
