Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 6 vs. Cavaliers

The Golden State Warriors once again squandered an opportunity to close out the 2016 NBA Finals in Game 6. Here are the five main takeaways from the loss.

To the general NBA fanbase, the phrase “Game 7” represents two of the most exciting words in all of sports. To the Golden State Warriors, “Game 7” is a shudder-worthy proposition that represents their many missed opportunities in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Coming off a 73-win season, the Warriors repeating as NBA champions was the safe bet. In fact, it seemed all but inevitable against a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that wasn’t supposed to match up well. The Cavs didn’t have the depth. They didn’t have the defense to contain Stephen Curry-Draymond Green pick-and-rolls. They just didn’t have the talent.

And yet, here we are. The series is tied 3-3, and though every single game has been decided by double digits, the 2016 NBA Finals have somehow been as even as anyone could’ve guessed:

Now the series shifts back to Oracle Arena for a Game 7 where anything can happen. LeBron James has been more frighteningly unstoppable in his quest than Denzel Washington in Man on Fire, Tristan Thompson is a human boulder on the glass, Kyrie Irving’s And-1 mixtape is coming along nicely and the Dubs have lost two straight games for just the second time in 2015-16.

Coming off a 14-point defeat in Cleveland in Game 6, it’s time to take a look at how the Dubs misfired on their second chance to close out a dangerous opponent and what these takeaways might mean for the decisive Game 7.

Next: No. 5

5. Barnes Is Killing The Dubs

Remember after Game 4 of the NBA Finals? When Harrison Barnes was a damn near hero in the Bay Area after averaging 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the two Cleveland contests and supplied the dagger three-pointer to put away Game 4?

My, how quickly things can change.

Through the first four games of this series, Barnes was averaging 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on excellent .513/.429/.667 shooting splits. In the two games since, his numbers have plummeted to 2.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game on a putrid 2-of-22 shooting from the floor and 1-of-11 shooting from three-point range, with many of those attempts being wide open.

In Game 4, Barnes reached what the Warriors are hoping is rock bottom, going 0-for-8 from the field for zero points. You know those open looks Golden State used to punish opponents for giving up in their efforts to contain Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson? Barnes bricked them all Thursday night.

The Warriors’ Death Lineup is at its most dangerous when Barnes is making defenses pay for giving him openings. It’s at its most vulnerable when he’s a complete non-factor who can be completely ignored like he was in Game 6.

No matter what, Barnes is going to get paid this summer. But in order to keep Cleveland’s defense honest, “Playoff Harry B” is going to have to make some kind of triumphant return against all odds in Game 7.

Next: No. 4

4. Iggy’s Back Could Be The Difference

The Golden State Warriors have been playing with their food, but now they’re left with a nasty taste in their mouths all the same: the taste of letting a dangerous foe hang around in a series.

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The reason you should close out your opponent as quickly as possible? Because every series is one injury, one call, or one shot away from changing entirely.

The Dubs are learning this the hard way, and Andrew Bogut’s season-ending injury may have just been the tip of the iceberg. In Game 6, Andre Iguodala — the Warriors’ designated LeBron-container — went back to the locker room a few times and received treatment on the bench for a stiff back.

He looked rigid like a breadstick for long stretches, and though that’s not the chief reason LeBron James dropped 41 points once again in Game 6, it does not bode well for the Dubs if their best defender for the King is banged up for Game 7.

With two days between Game 6 — when Iggy was able to somewhat play through the pain — and Game 7, will the extra time be enough for rehab and recuperation? Or will it just give that kind of finicky injury more time to tighten up and spasm?

Against an all-time great who is the leading scorer in NBA playoff history in elimination games, the Warriors’ defense needs to be at its best. Iguodala’s status for Game 7 could very well determine whether the Warriors cap off their 73-win season with a championship…or watch it collapse into pieces.

Next: No. 3

3. LeBron Cannot Be Stopped

In the 2015 NBA Finals, LeBron James was the best player in the series, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. Yet somehow, he’s been even better in 2016 against a superior Warriors team.

Through the first six games of this series, King James is averaging 30.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.2 blocks per game on .514/.400/.697 shooting splits.

Over the last two games, with his Cavs facing elimination, James has turned in two of the greatest playoff performances of his illustrious career. In Game 5, it was a 41-16-7-3-3 stat line on 16-of-30 shooting. In Game 6, he was somehow even better, dropping a 41-11-8-4-3 line on 16-of-27 shooting.

Ever since Klay Thompson’s comments about the NBA being a man’s league, James has been a man among boys. Actually, that doesn’t quite do it justice. He’s been the proverbial Boogeyman, an absolutely terrifying monster under these boys’ beds.

Draymond Green’s absence in Game 5 played a part in this series lasting longer than it probably should have, but King James has commanded the respect of a team that thought its work was all but done.

In Game 6, he singlehandedly held off every comeback attempt by the Warriors in the second half.

He scored 18 straight for the Cavs bridging the third and fourth quarters at one point, his alley-oop jam from J.R. Smith was a third quarter dagger and his block on Curry — and subsequent trash talk — was not only the play of the game, but summed up the entire series in one GIF:

Heading into Game 7, the Warriors will need a healthy Iggy to check James. They’ll need LeBron to misplace the jump shot he’s rediscovered, they’ll need to force him back into a facilitator role, they’ll need Green to protect the rim when he drives and they’ll need to hope that at some point, this cyborg of an NBA player gets tired.

As of right now, LeBron James is singlehandedly punking the greatest regular season team in NBA history. It takes a singularly legendary player to do that.

Regardless of what happens in Game 7, regardless of who wins the series and regardless of who earns Finals MVP honors, we should remember the 2016 NBA Finals as the year the world finally appreciated LeBron for the once-in-a-lifetime player he is, because what he’s doing in this series is nothing short of exemplary.

Next: No. 2

2. Warriors Have History On Their Side…

LeBron James is bearing down on the Warriors, but even a top-10 all-time great must acknowledge NBA history. Though the series may be tied at 3-3, history is certainly on Golden State’s side heading into Game 7.

For starters, no team in NBA Finals history has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win it all, with those teams going 0-32. The only two teams to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 in the Finals both lost Game 7s on the road. Oh, and there’s this too:

Recent history is kind to the Warriors as well. They’ve gone 50-4 in 2015-16 at Oracle Arena where Game 7 will be played, and one of those losses came in Game 5 of this series — a game played without Draymond Green.

Green has to be pissed after failing to have a big game following his costly suspension. Klay Thompson should be pissed about another mediocre shooting performance and dropping back-to-back games. The league MVP should be pissed about the way his Game 6 was cut short, not to mention the incoming fine and LeBron’s tone-setting block that clearly left an impact.

The Dubs were handed their second losing streak of the 2015-16 campaign Thursday night, but they haven’t lost three consecutive games since Mark Jackson was in charge. The chips are down, and none of that history matters if LeBron comes out and drops another 40-bomb on the Dubs.

Blue Man Hoop

But we have literally never seen a team win 73 games before, and we have never seen a Finals team regroup from a 3-1 deficit.

Dating back to 1950, the team that won fewer regular season games than its Finals opponent has only won the title 16 times. The largest discrepancy between regular season wins that’s ever been overcome in the Finals was 12 games — ironically enough, a feat achieved by the 1975 Golden State Warriors, who won 48 games and beat a 60-win Washington Bullets team.

During the regular season, the 2015-16 Warriors won 73 games, given them a 16-game separation from the Cavs in the win column, which would be the largest discrepancy ever surmounted in NBA history.

Anything can happen in a do-or-die Game 7, but if you asked any Warriors fan before the season if they’d put the season on the line in one game at Oracle Arena, where they’d be 50-4 heading into that contest, they’d take that in a heartbeat.

Next: No. 1

1. …But Their Historic Season Is Slipping Away

After watching the Golden State Warriors come back from a 3-1 series deficit in the Western Conference Finals, no one should doubt this team. That being said, LeBron James and the Cavs seem to have the advantage unless things drastically change in Game 7.

All season long, it seemed all but inevitable that the Dubs would cruise to the title. They won an NBA-record 73 games, posted a historic +10.8 point differential and enjoyed perhaps the greatest offensive season in NBA history from the reigning MVP, Steph Curry.

They shattered the regular season team record for made three-pointers, were a historically great offense while also boasting a top-five defense, and honored Steve Kerr with a much deserved Coach of the Year Award.

And yet, the Warriors are 48 minutes away from all of that meaning diddly squat.

The fact of the matter is, they only have themselves to blame. Draymond Green’s suspension was the tipping point, the nut tap heard ’round the world that he’ll never live down if this 73-win season fades into obscurity with a Game 7 loss.

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If not for that suspension and the bold words that left the mouths of Klay Thompson and Marreese Speights in response, this series would already be over. The Dubs had all the momentum heading into Game 5, facing a Cavs opponent that had all but given up in Game 4.

Instead, the Warriors were missing their most important two-way player, and even worse, had given LeBron James plenty of bulletin board material in some ill-fated attempt to puff out their chests and act as though they were the affronted party.

The squandered their chance to close at home in Game 5 like everyone thought they would. Green’s return didn’t shield the Warriors from the continuing hellfire that LeBron rained down upon them in Game 6, and now the Dubs enter Game 7 hoping that the King is all out of ammunition.

Andrew Bogut is done for the series. Harrison Barnes’ confidence is shot. Iguodala is banged up. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry have been hit or miss all series. Draymond Green failed to deliver in Game 6 after letting his team down. LeBron is a monster and Kyrie Irving has gotten comfortable.

More hoops habit: 2016 NBA Finals: Game 6 Recap And Highlights

The Warriors hold the unquestioned distinction as the greatest regular season team of all time. But unless this once unstoppable team comes out prepared with its best effort in Game 7, that “regular season” distinction will forever stick out like the sore thumb that prevented them from joining the “greatest of all time” conversation.