With the Warriors being crowned NBA champions with Tuesday’s 105-97 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the 2014-15 season has officially come to a close.
Here are a few takeaways from a series — and a season — to remember:
1. Smallball is here to stay
Plenty of people — most famously Charles Barkley — have said jump-shooting teams “can’t win championships.” Beyond the fact the last three title-winning teams — the Spurs, Heat and Mavericks — were built around jump-shooting, the Warriors winning this year obliterated that notion.
This championship also is one for Mike D’Antoni and the Suns teams of the last decade, which had a heavy influence on this group — lead assistant Alvin Gentry succeeded D’Antoni in Phoenix, head coach Steve Kerr was that team’s general manager and Stephen Curry is the evolutionary version of Steve Nash. It’s no coincidence D’Antoni’s name came up several times as part of the victory celebration Tuesday night.
2. The Cavaliers will be back
No, Cleveland didn’t break its 51-year championship drought, but it’s likely the Cavaliers are going to have a decent chance over the next few years. LeBron James, at 30 years old, is the oldest of the key pieces of Cleveland’s core, Kevin Love (26) presumably comes back, and the rest of the key Cavaliers rotation pieces — Kyrie Irving (23), Tristan Thompson (24), Iman Shumpert (24), Timofey Mozgov (28) — are entering or firmly in the middle of their respective primes.
Add in owner Dan Gilbert’s willingness to spend in ways that, frankly, Heat owner Micky Arison was not during James’ tenure in Miami, and there’s no reason Cleveland shouldn’t be the favorite to reach the Finals out of the East for the next several seasons — particularly if they manage to hang on to Love.
3. LeBron James is superhuman
As time goes on, people will begin to truly appreciate just how dominant James was in this series, singlehandedly keeping the Cavaliers competitive with a Warriors team that was simply far better — particularly with Irving and Love watching from the sidelines in street clothes.
Just consider this: In the 275 minutes James played in this series, the Cavaliers were outscored by a total of 25 points. In the 23 minutes he sat, they were outscored by 18 points, shooting a pathetic 6-for-35 (17.1 percent) from the floor and going 0-for-9 from 3-point range. Basically, Cleveland couldn’t score when James was on the bench, and when he was on the court, could only do so if he scored himself or created a wide-open shot for a teammate. It was a truly special performance, creating one of the lasting impressions of this season.
4. Versatility is king
In addition to ending the debate over whether 3-point shooting can be the bedrock of a championship team, the Warriors also showed how the ability to be flexible and versatile on defense is a necessity in today’s NBA.
Golden State had the league’s best defense this season, in addition to finishing second to the Clippers in offensive efficiency, because of their ability to switch across several positions. They built that system around players from Draymond Green to Andre Iguodala to Klay Thompson to Harrison Barnes to Shaun Livingston who are somewhere between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-8, athletic and have long arms.
This is why Golden State was so effective in switching to a small lineup in Game 4 of the Finals to counter Cleveland’s massive frontline — a decision by Kerr that swung the series definitively in the Warriors’ favor.
5. Luck always is a factor
As the Warriors bask in the glow of a deserved championship to cap a truly historic season, it’s a reminder that luck always plays a part in determining who is crowned the champion.
Kerr was nearly the coach of the Knicks; Thompson was nearly the headliner of a package for Love; the Thunder missed the playoffs entirely due to injuries to Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka; the Spurs, the team Kerr thought would pose the stiffest test to his team, lost in seven games to the Clippers in round one; the Clippers then collapsed against an injury-riddled Rockets team in round two; the Cavaliers were missing two All-Star-caliber players in the Finals; and Golden State had the least minutes lost to injury of any team in the NBA this season.
None of that is to take away from Golden State’s success — the Warriors were phenomenal from start to finish and are more than deserving champions. But it takes a little luck along the way to win a championship, and Golden State was no different.