Game 1 of what was seemingly the most expected, yet lopsided matchup is in the books. What a game it turned out to be. The world's two best players, Steph Curry and Lebron James, dueling it out over four quarters and an overtime. The two were All-Star Game captains against each other as well. The Cavaliers were outmatched in almost every way. Except for one: they have the king. Lebron was otherworldly, and it is past time to start investigating whether he was created in a lab for the sole purpose of excelling at basketball. He's physically stronger than everyone else, and last night he was close to unstoppable.

The problem for Cleveland was, however, that everyone else on the roster was fairly stoppable. Let's not kill Lebron's teammates like everyone else has and does, though. Last night, although none of them were great, they didn't have to be, and they contributed.

Cavalier performances

Considering that Lebron himself was a -13, it is important to note that only J.R. Smith had a worse +/-. Of course, that is a little misleading because Lebron was amazing and was -13 and Jordan Clarkson was, well, Jordan Clarkson and he recorded a +8. The point being that Lebron's teammates, while not being spectacular, were not bad. They were serviceable, and clearly, that's all Lebron needs from them to keep them in the game.

Kevin Love, despite not shooting above 50 percent (9-20), recorded a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Larry Nance, Jr. almost had a double-double off the bench as well. Kyle Korver contributed with a late three-pointer, and George Hill had a few clutch baskets as well.

Warrior performances

Steph Curry was phenomenal.

29 points at a 48 percent clip with five three's and nine assists. Draymond Green nearly came away with a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Klay Thompson, despite leaving in the first half with a leg injury, finished with 24 points and five three's. Kevin Durant got the benefit of a friendly whistle en route to 26 points.

Shaun Livingston was perfect on all four shots from the field off the bench.

The only Warrior that played poorly was the one you would least expect to, Kevin Durant. He shot poorly, was greatly benefitted by the friendly whistle, and disrupted the Warriors offensive flow by going iso more than a few times. If Steph Curry had been anything short of amazing, the Warriors would have shockingly lost Game 1 and Durant would be largely to blame.

That crazy last few minutes

With two minutes remaining, Kevin Love pulled down an offensive rebound and nailed a three to bring the Cavs to within one. After a few misses, Lebron James drove and finished and-one with 50 seconds remaining to put the Cavs up two.

They were 50 seconds from stunning the basketball world.

With 37 seconds left, Kevin Durant drove Lebron slid over and took a charge. With Cleveland up two, with the ball, it was looking more and more certain that they would pull it off. And then the referees happened. They decided to review the call. After the replay, it was clearly a blocking foul on Lebron, but I can't believe they reviewed it. The call they made, after the review, was absolutely correct. But at that juncture of the game, how in the world do you decide that? Cleveland fans have a legitimate gripe with the referees on this one. That gave Durant two free throws, which he sunk, to tie the game.

That would not deter Lebron, however.

Within five seconds he had reclaimed the lead on a layup. Steph Curry then answered with an and-one of his own to give the Warriors a one-point lead with 23 seconds left. MVP chants rained down on him.

With just 4.7 seconds remaining, George Hill was fouled and went to the line. He made the first to tie it. The second, however, hit front rim and bounced directly into J.R. Smith's arms at a perfect spot for another shot. Smith decided to dribble the ball all the way out and then at the literal last second pass to George Hill who couldn't get a shot off. Smith claimed after the game that he did know the score, but the game video says otherwise.

What's even more unfortunate is that this is not the first time J.R.

has made a blunder like this. While playing for the Knicks, he also forgot the score.

Another question is why did no one call a timeout? Once J.R. dribbled the ball out, it seems logical that one of the coaches or four other players on the court could've called timeout. By the time Lebron tried to call one, it was way too late. Of course, we can't ignore the possibility that the Cavs just thought J.R. was being J.R. The guard, who was a tendency to make a shot more difficult than it has to be, could've been dribbling out to attempt a contested fadeaway three at the buzzer. What a moment that would've been! Move over Jordan, there's a new iconic Finals game-winner.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, it simply played out as one of the most boneheaded mistakes in Finals history.

In overtime, the Warriors did what they do. The scored seven unanswered points, to start, and ended up winning by ten. Tristan Thompson was ejected as tensions rose during the final seconds. For Cleveland, everything they needed to go right went right. Lebron was Superman. His teammates were not kryptonite. KD had a bad game. They had it almost in the bag. After that, though, everything that could've gone wrong went wrong. A career 80 percent free throw shooter missed. A 13-year veteran forgot the score. And then they couldn't buy a basket in overtime and a starter was ejected.

Summary

Lebron did everything he could to beat the Warriors on their floor, delivering one of the greatest Finals performances ever.

He's the first to score 50 in a Finals game and lose. Sadly, what will most likely be remembered is J.R.'s blunder. From here, Cleveland can go up or down. It would make sense that they would be dejected and demoralized after this and get blown out in Game 2. Or, they can be energized knowing that they should've won, and they have the ability to beat Golden State.

Cleveland almost stole one on the road in the NBA's toughest environment. Maybe they can actually do it in Game 2. If not, there's still cause to think that at home, they can win both of those games. And if that's the case, then we have a whole new series. The series that most analysts predicted would end quickly could be one for the ages. And the boring fourth rematch between, arguably, the best team ever and, arguably, the best player ever has already proven to be better than we expected.
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