OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dunks the ball against Harrison Barnes #40 of the Golden State Warriors in the second half in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 13, 2016 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Bob Donnan – Pool/Getty Images)
The Cheat SheetBy Jay Rigdon on

If we were to rank days of the week, I’m not sure where Tuesday would end up. Obviously you have your weekend days first; Saturday, then Sunday. And then Friday, and then Thursday.

Wednesday isn’t great, but you’re over the hump, and it’s also on occasion a de facto Friday (before Thanksgiving and other holidays.) Which leaves Monday and Tuesday. Now, Monday is a common punching bag, and at first I almost put it last by default. But, it’s important to remember that Monday includes both Memorial Day and Labor Day each year, which are fantastic warm-weather holidays. And when you think about it, Tuesday has a lot of the same negatives that Monday does. So, it’s settled. Tuesday is the worst day of the week.

Today is Tuesday.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving Each Hang 41, Cavs Win 112-97

OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving ecstatic and overjoyed after win (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The Cavs went into Oracle and won a fun game, 112-97. LeBron and Kyrie scored 41 apiece, and LeBron’s overall line (41 pts, 16 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks) accurately reflects his dominance. Kyrie’s 41 came on just 24 shots from the field. It was a masterful display of efficiency, as the Cavs took advantage of Draymond Green’s forced absence.

Warriors fans chanted “Free Draymond” throughout the night (sigh), and a few taunted LeBron’s, let’s say, dramatic tendencies:

It was a back and forth contest early, and one of the postseason’s breakout stars, Shaun Livingston, added another highlight:

It was a three-point game early in the second half when Andrew Bogut came down awkwardly:

The diagnosis was a sprained knee, which doesn’t sound good for the Aussie big man.

With Bogut and Green both unavailable, the Warriors defense suffered, and the Cavs turned things on to pull away, outscoring Golden State by 16 points in the second half. The Warriors didn’t look themselves, scoring only 13 points in the fourth quarter, and only making 14 of 42 three-point attempts. Their bench only contributed 15 points, and Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut combined for 5, meaning Steph, Klay, and Iggy combined for the remaining 77.

That’s not representative of the balance the Warriors used to win 73 games, and I think Draymond’s absence was felt dearly at both ends of the floor. Klay had 37, including a logo-deep bomb:

Steph had 25, but only shot 8-21 from deep, meaning he had one free throw in addition to his threes. That’s not his balanced game, and part of me still thinks he’s dealing with a lingering injury. But let’s not focus solely on the Warriors, as the Cavs definitely deserved the win, and they’ll have a chance to force a game 7. Of course, once again the Cavs played well despite (because of?) relatively little contribution from Kevin Love.

However, though he only had 2 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist, he did have plus/minus of +18, which was good for third on the team; his floor-spacing presence really does help clear things out for LeBron and Kyrie to attack the basket.

That said, this is highly accurate:

Poor Kevin. It will all be over soon. Perhaps as soon as Thursday; Game 6 tips at 9 PM Eastern.

Quick Hits

Art Briles
WACO, TX – DECEMBER 5: Head coach Art Briles. I don’t have anything funny here.  (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

-Hey, remember when Baylor removed head football coach Art Briles after various scandals involving the covering up of crimes? It was a strong statement of forthcoming reform. Except, now, maybe, not so much, as powerful boosters are reportedly pushing for a mere one-year suspension. Hooray. This reminds me of Sepp Blatter’s strategy with FIFA, which was to announce sweeping changes and ride the wave of PR, and then assume everyone would forget about it. A slightly more advanced version of pointing behind someone and shouting “Hey, look over there!”

And then, while that person’s head is turned, covering up a crime committed by one of your players.

-The Celtics are reportedly aggressively shopping the third overall pick in this summer’s draft. It’s certainly a valuable asset, even though the top-two prospects are considered a cut above. If they can somehow turn the pick and maybe a few other younger players into a star, while maintaining the general core of the roster, Brad Stevens could mold that team into a contender very quickly.

-F1 driver Sebastian Vettel swerved to avoid a few seagulls, avoiding a Randy Johnson incident.

-Ireland drew Sweden 1-1 yesterday, but of greater interest for a tournament that has struggled with ugly fan violence was the scene featuring Irish and Swedish fans rocking out to ABBA:

Irish people are awesome, and though I don’t have firsthand experience with the Swedish people as a whole, I’ve only heard good things.

-Brazil’s Minister of Sport is predicting the Rio Olympics will be a success. In other news, the head of the White Star Line has a great feeling about the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

-DraftKings and FanDuel might be merging.

-I always enjoy our Game of Thrones recaps. I wasn’t such a fan of this week’s episode, as even fewer things were resolved than usual.

-A guy had a ridiculous disc golf throw, of 850 feet. That’s pretty impressive. (Get back to me when he has a hole-in-one playing ACTUAL golf.)

-The Wall Street Journal looks at how the Warriors are influencing pickup ball. I’ll note here that I’ve been shooting far too many long 3’s for decades now, and I didn’t need Steph to validate me. (People play by 1’s and 2’s! They’re worth twice as much! Do the math.)

-The Cubs and Nats are playing a potential playoff preview series. (Yay alliteration!)

-At Fangraphs, Dave Cameron breaks down the Pirates no good very bad weekend.

-New trailers for Madden and Fifa dropped, and they both look great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEmQEFCBp2c

 

A Fake Headline I Wish Was Real

Putin Challenges Obama to Game of Risk; “Just For Fun,” Says Russian Leader

One Last Breath of Gratuitous Procrastination

I highly doubt that raccoons make good pets in general, but this little guy seems well-trained:

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About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.

View all posts by Jay Rigdon