Warriors Find Their Feet To Level Series Against Cavs, But Bogut Rides The Pine

There’s that old adage that goes “a champion team will always beat a team of champions.”

Despite another reasonably quiet night from the Splash Brothers, the Golden State Warriors found their range as a cohesive unit – both on offence and defence – to blow out the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 103 – 82 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, clinching an all-important road win and levelling the series at 2 games a piece.
Star guard Steph Curry enjoyed as good an all-round shooting performance as he’s enjoyed in the Finals thus far – though still well down on his overall postseason averages. His 22 points came off of 8 for 17 shooting, with 4 of 7 drained from beyond the arc. 6 assists and 2 rebounds rounded out the performance – a much better full-game effort in the face of the typically dogged defence of Matthew Dellavedova, who fought hard, but still had to be suffering the ill effects of the severe cramping that put him in a Cleveland hospital on an IV drip following his herculean efforts in Game 3 just two days ago.
Meanwhile, Curry’s Splash brother in crime Klay Thompson was kept reasonably quiet throughout the game, registering just 9 points with 2 assists and 2 rebounds.
Offensively, the Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala was the key to victory, sinking 22 points at 53.3% efficiency and pulling down 8 rebounds as coach Steve Kerr again went with a decidedly smaller, more agile starting 5.
The Warriors centre Andrew Bogut finds himself sliding further and further down the team’s depth chart this post-season, with the team adapting to a need for heightened pace and on-court defensive flexibility. Bogut’s mere 2 and a half minutes of court time in Game 4 hauled in another scoreless effort and 3 quick fouls, before Kerr pulled him to the bench, where he remained for the duration. Another lacklustre individual performance in what’s turning out to be a forgettable postseason for the big man, as already scarce chances dry up even further.
By and large, the big difference between the Cavs and the Warriors in Game 4 was bench production. A 12 point scoring differential in favour of the Warriors put them in the box seat for the majority of the game, with Cleveland only drawing close once in the third quarter.
LeBron James‘ shot making was well down – even on his already shaky postseason shot percentage. And a 20 point game is well below the mark set in the first three games of the series.
Both Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert had atrocious shooting games from the field, whilst sixth man J.R. Smith would arguably have had more impact on the game if he’d stayed on the bench.
The third quarter did provide a little bit of spark for the Cavs in front of a largely silenced home crowd. But the game as a whole was an exercise in reminding everyone that the Golden State Warriors were the benchmark of 2-way basketball throughout the regular season.
If Cleveland are to overcome that in this series, some socks need some serious pulling up.
The series now shifts back to Oakland for Game 5, which takes place at the Oracle Arena on Monday morning Australian time.
Photo: Pool via Getty Images.

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