OAKLAND -- Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a list of principles and rules laid out for his team, and one of them led directly to a scuffle that lit a raging fire beneath the NBA Finals.
Those thoughts of boredom regarding this series are off the table, swept away Saturday night by the tumultuous events of Game 1, a rousing 124-114 Warriors overtime victory over the Cavaliers at Oracle Arena.
The prickliest activity occurred between Draymond Green and Cleveland center Tristan Thompson, who was displeased enough to swing a thick forearm on Shaun Livingston for pulling up to shoot as the shot clock wound down and the Warriors leading 122-114 with 2.6 seconds on the game clock.
That forearm to Livingston's armpit area resulted in Thompson being whistled for a flagrant-2 foul and ejected by referee Tony Brothers.
Thompson was then escorted off the floor and peace subsequently restored.
"That was some bull----," Thompson said afterward of Livingston's shot.
Sports
Perhaps, but it's also precisely what Steve Kerr coaches his players to do.
"I'm all for that," Kerr said. "I'm on a one-man crusade to dispel these idiotic NBA rituals. If there is a shot-clock differential, you shoot the ball. The game is telling you you're supposed to shoot. If anybody is offended because you're playing the game the way the clock and the rules are telling you to play, then that's silly.
"If the shot clock is off, you run the clock out," Kerr added. "If the shot clock is on, you take a shot. I don't know why there is any sort of ritual that tells you you're supposed to stop playing. We're going to shoot. We're not taking a turnover. I've told our guys that for four years. We don't take turnovers at the end of the game. You shoot, and then the other teams the ball and they can run it out or whatever they want to do."
Stephen Curry, who seconds earlier was involved in a verbal spat with LeBron James that resulted in James slightly shoving Curry, echoed his coach.
"If there's time on the clock and the shot-clock differential, whatever, just play it to the end," Curry said. "I don't think we would get on our feelings if somebody came down and finished out a possession and got a shot up."
The Curry-James dustup occurred after James blocked a layup attempt by Curry with 34.1 seconds remaining. James barked, Curry barked back and the two carried on, with Klay Thompson eventually coming over, until James shoved Curry and they were separated.
"Just words exchanged on a good block, and keep it moving on my end," Curry said. "And it's going to happen. There's going to be chatter. We've gotten very familiar with each other over the last four years. So, I guess it's kind of part of the game.
"But at the end of the day, it's a bunch of nothing."
Maybe Curry is right in thinking this will all be forgotten by Sunday when the teams meet for Game 2.
But there is the very strong likelihood that this will linger, that emotions will run high. Curry and James, opposing All-Star Game captains three months ago, have gotten into it before, specifically in the 2016 Finals.
Thompson and David West have history, going nose-to-nose in the 2017 Finals.
And now we have Green-Thompson, with Green basically dancing around the issue.
"I contested a shot that shouldn't have been taken," said Tristan Thompson, holding his ground.
"It is what it is. Life goes on," Green said. "He got a flagrant-2 for the foul (on Livingston), we move forward and get ready for the next game."
That those involved were reluctant to share specifics about the physical details or the content of the heated conversations tells us where these NBA Finals are headed: Tempers are going to flare, and maybe hot enough that more than sweat is spilled.
The code of silence generally foreshadows the possibility of street justice.
"We have history with these guys and it's started in Game 1," Tristan Thompson said. "That's what the playoffs are about -- toughness, energy, grit. Only two teams left standing, so whoever wants to die and fight for that trophy will get it."
Yeah, this series got a bunch more interesting, as the 2018 NBA Finals some projected as a cure for insomnia will have folks moving to the edge of their seats.
| Game | Result/Schedule |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114 |
| Game 2 | Oakland -- Sunday, June 3 at 5pm |
| Game 3 | Cleveland -- Wednesday, June 6 at 6pm |
| Game 4 | Cleveland -- Friday, June 8 at 6pm |
| Game 5 | Oakland -- Monday, June 11 at 6pm |
| Game 6 | Cleveland -- Thursday, June 14 at 6pm |
| Game 7 | Oakland -- Sunday, June 17 at 5pm |
