Injury question marks keeping NBA Finals interesting
OAKLAND, Calif. — Well, there’s always Game 2 for the Warriors’ Andre Iguodala.
And still maybe Game 1 for the Cavaliers Kevin Love.
On the eve of the start of their attempt to win a repeat championship and a third in four years — all against the Cavaliers — the Warriors announced Wednesday that Iguodala, the 2015 Finals MVP, will miss Game 1 then be re-evaluated before Game 2 because of a bruised left leg. Iguodala is making progress but is still plagued by pain from the bone bruise and nerve inflammation around his knee.
“Just trying to get back as soon as possible so just keep grinding away at the process,” said Iguodala, who claimed he expects to return — “not that far away” — during the series. “Just trying to figure out how to move in general. Making some progress. It’s slower than we expected.”
Iguodala, one of Golden State’s best defenders who would figure to get a lot of LeBron James on his plate, missed the last four games of the Western Conference finals victory over Houston.
And the other key injured player in the series, Love, was excused from Wednesday’s media availability session as he remains in the NBA’s concussion protocol. Love missed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals win over Boston after he collided in Game 6 with the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum. His status remains undecided for the Finals start, but coach Tyronn Lue was hopeful the forward would be ready.
“I hope so. I’m still not sure,” Lue said Wednesday at Oracle Arena. “He’s going to go do some things today and see how he feels. But he is in the protocol still, so we’ll see how he feels.”
Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith repeatedly stressed his respect for the Warriors. He was asked if he were surprised the champs rallied from 3-2 down and beat the Rockets on the road in Game 7.
“Anybody tells you they were surprised by that, they’re lying. Ain’t no way,” Smith said. “If anything, I was surprised it got to that point with them.”
The Cavs’ Jeff Green had gratitude as his prime theme Wednesday. Sure, he’s grateful to be in the Finals. He’s also grateful to be alive. Six years ago, he underwent heart surgery.
“When I had to go through the surgery, I always sat around and tried to figure out why, what was the reason,” Green said. “So I had to figure out the ‘why? What was God’s plan?’ This is it, to spread my story.”
The Warriors’ Nick Young begged off the Twitter controversy surrounding 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo. The exec was accused of using “burner” accounts to criticize his players, among others.
“No comment,” Young said laughing. “No burner account. I just get hacked a lot.”
There was a lot of talk about LeBron James’ basketball IQ. Someone said he was the “Mount Everest” of NBA players for IQ. But Draymond Green also is considered a cerebral player, so Warriors coach Steve Kerr had a little fun with that notion.
“Draymond’s is more like Mt. Fuji, I would say,” Kerr said laughing. “Just trying to give you something to work with. Draymond is an incredibly sharp basketball mind. He sees the game as it happens, before it happens, even. He’s kind of a move or two ahead of everybody on the defensive end. It’s amazing to have him out there.”
Said Green, “I’ve just been blessed to have great coaches in my life and be blessed with a gift from God.”