The day before the NBA Finals tipped off between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, Klay Thompson mentioned the toaster that has magically kept the team from losing a game in months when he has played.
However, the Warriors easily prevailed last night despite this possible jinx attempt. They are now 13-0 this postseason, the first team in NBA history to get this far in the playoffs without a loss.
Thompson's toaster talk
When Klay Thompson was asked the day before the Finals about the Golden State Warriors winning streak, he response was that "The toaster has been working." The Warriors lost to the San Antonio Spurs on March 11 and the next day Reddit user RDollaz had Thompson sign his toaster at an autograph session.
Since then, the Warriors have been 28-1, with their one loss coming on April 10 to the Utah Jazz. However, that was the one game that Thompson has not played in during this run. Therefore, they have been undefeated with Thompson in the lineup since he signed the toaster.
However, Thompson appeared to only jink himself as his playoff slump got worse. Last night he was 3-16 from the field, 0-5 from three and finished with only 6 points. He did play amazing defense, shutting down whoever he guarded on the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were 1-12 shooting when Thompson was the primary defender and 10 of those shots were contested.
Curry and Durant step up
With Thompson being a non-factor and Draymond Green also having a horrible offensive game (3-12, 9 points), Steph Curry and Kevin Durant stepped up being time for the Golden State Warriors.
Curry shot 11-22 from the field and was 6-11 on three-pointers. He had 28 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals for the game. He also became only the fifth player to make at least 300 threes in the NBA playoffs after last night.
Durant shot 14-26 from the field, including 3-6 from three and 7-8 from the free throw line.
He had 38 points and also pitched in 8 rebounds and assists. Durant became only the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 25 points in his first six NBA Finals games. The only other players to accomplish this were Rick Barry, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal.
Why the Cavaliers lost
Despite LeBron and Kyrie having their usual great games and Kevin Love playing really well the Cleveland Cavaliers still got smoked.
The reasons behind this are quite simple as the Golden State Warriors shot 7.6% better from the field, while also attempting 20 more shots. The Warriors also dominated the game in terms of assists (31-15) and steals (12-0). Lastly, the turnover battle was huge as the Cavaliers turned it over 20 times. The Warriors only turned it over 4 times, which tied an NBA Finals record for fewest turnovers in a game.
