If you had seen the final score of Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday without actually watching the game, you probably would have figured Klay Thompson and Steph Curry had big nights. After all, the Warriors scored 104 points and beat the Cavaliers handily, 104-89. But it wasn’t the team’s most notable stars who led the team to victory, but rather a superb effort by the bench.
The Warriors’ bench outscored the Cavs’ bench 45-10 in the win. Reserve Shaun Livingston led the team with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Seven players scored in double figures for Golden State, including three bench players, but Thompson and Curry only combined for 20 while shooting a combined 29.6 percent.
After the Game 1 win, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked to explain his star players’ off nights.
“Klay (Thompson) got in early foul trouble, that took him out of rhythm,” said Kerr. “Steph (Curry) just had one of those nights … (his shot) just wasn’t going. He had some turnovers, so it happens. Even the best players in the world have bad nights.
“But it didn’t hurt us because of our bench and our overall play with our defensive effort and taking care of the ball.”
As Kerr noted, the Warriors only committed nine turnovers compared to 15 for the Cavaliers. They also held Cleveland to just 38.1 percent shooting with strong defense by Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala among others.
If the Warriors could win by 15 in a game where Curry and Thompson shoot so poorly, imagine what will happen when they get hot.
