NBA Finals 2017: 5 most heated moments in the Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry
With Cavs vs. Warriors part III right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at five of the most heated moments in the NBA’s best rivalry.
Rivalries are one of, if not the greatest parts of sports. They create the best storylines, make for the most entertaining games, and add some much needed animosity. Rivalries can run so deep that they can transcend the games/players themselves and impact the fans as well.
There are some ones — Yankees vs. Red Sox, North Carolina vs. Duke and Cowboys vs. Redskins — that can tear families apart. Just kidding, it’s not that serious, or is it?
In an NBA period where rivalries are few and far between, the Cavaliers and Warriors have given the fans something entertaining for the last few seasons. Despite the huge impact the media has had in turning this into a rivalry, there have been no shortage of actual heated moments.
The Cavs and Warriors are preparing to meet each other in the NBA Finals for a third consecutive season. Their third consecutive finals meeting is an NBA-first. In anticipation of this rematch, let’s look at some of the moments that have built this rivalry.
5. Christmas Day, 2016
Referees are human, and all humans make mistakes. Sometimes that is hard to understand, especially when a mistake arguably costs a team a game. Even worse? When there are two mistakes within the last two minutes of a game.
Such was the storyline of this highly competitive Christmas Day game between the Cavaliers and the Warriors. With 1:43 left in the fourth quarter, the refs missed a call on LeBron for hanging on the rim after a dunk. Clearly some special perks come with having the title “King James.” LeBron should have received a technical for this offense, even the NBA said so.
Despite this, the Warriors held a 108-105 lead with about 40 seconds left in the game. That is when Kyrie Irving decided to take the game into his own hands. He split the defense and finished well at the rim to cut the lead to one point. After the Warriors failed to score, the Cavs had the ball with 13 seconds left. Again, it was Kyrie Irving who hit an amazing turnaround fade-away over Klay Thompson to give the Cavs a 109-108 lead.
The Warriors had three seconds to find a game winner. On the inbounds play, the Warriors got the ball to KD who subsequently got tangled up with Richard Jefferson and tumbled to the floor. The refs called nothing, and the Warriors didn’t even get a half-good look before time expired. In the same Last Two Minute Report, the NBA admitted that the refs missed a call on Richard Jefferson.
These two missed calls ended up arguably costing the Warriors the game — if either were called, the Warriors would have shot free throws. This game set the stage for this year’s finals matchup and is hopefully a better foreshadowing than the game between them in January.