Cavaliers-Warriors is something to be treasured | Opinion

OAKLAND — The Warriors dispensed of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals opener Thursday night with a timely eruption of dagger three-pointers, exquisite passes, transition field goals and suffocating defense.

Theirs is the beautiful game, remember, played by really cool, really stylish customers.

So who were those guys in the waning minutes of overtime? Still stylish, but not necessarily cool. While LeBron James fumed about an overturned block/charge call, Tristan Thompson was ejected for tagging Shaun Livingston with a forearm on an inconsequential late field goal attempt, and George Hill and J.R. Smith attempted to overcome a blown game-winning opportunity, the Warriors stood on the court and surrounded the visitors like an angry band of brothers.

Steph Curry jawed at James, then at other Cavs, then went back at the man who scored 51 points, grabbed eight rebounds, passed out eight assists. Klay Thompson, who left the game briefly in the opening half with a leg injury, walked around and around in a circle, a hulking figure with his shoulders squared, ready for battle. Green jumped right in — of course he did — and flapped his arms and his gums, and answered Thompson’s shove with a forceful thrust of his own. Kevin Durant was somewhere in the scrum, too, sort of a stalking free safety.

“Just words exchanged on a good block, and keep it moving on my end,” Curry said later, calmly downplaying the confrontation. “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.”

For all the pre-series chatter about a likely sweep, and grumbling from some fans about yet another rematch between the teams, Game 1 reminded that NBA rivalries are irresistible and to be cherished, and the longer the lifespan, the greater likelihood the relationships become increasingly contentious.

The 1980s Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers matchups were so insanely popular and entertaining, the league scheduled annual preseason games between the teams, only to do away with the practice when the contests became too physical and threatened the health of several of the league’s greatest stars. Kevin McHale’s famous clothesline tackle of Kurt Rambis in the 1984 Finals, for instance, even led to rule changes and a permanent strain in the two players’ relationship.

While there is little chance that Warriors-Cavs will escalate to the level of those old school Celtics-Lakers squads — today’s players break bread off the court and work out together during the offseason — the sudden and uncharacteristic chippiness adds a new and different element to the narrative. Yet if the Warriors were the more animated in the closing minutes, LeBron afterward was a one-man firestorm, seething over a series of late developments.

The leader of a two-man team (Kevin Love is the other half) was enraged about the block/charge call that resulted in two Durant free throws and upset about another foul he was assessed earlier on a clean strip of the Warriors forward. Then there was Love’s inability to contain Curry on a three-point play, George Hill’s failure to convert the go-ahead free throw in regulation, and the classic J.R. Smith gaffe.

After the veteran guard rebounded Hill’s miss with just under four seconds remaining, he dribbled toward midcourt, as if intent on running out the clock. As the horn sounded, an aghast LeBron looked at Smith and threw up his arms in frustration.

The conflicting accounts of the possession furthered the confusion. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue bluntly said his player “thought it was over. He thought we were up one.” Smith insisted he was aware the game was tied and “tried to bring it out and get enough space to maybe get a shot off. I looked over at LeBron and he looked like he was trying to get a timeout, so I stopped and the game was over.”

James refused to contradict Smith, who appeared to mouth “I thought we were ahead” when the two discussed the matter. But James became unusually agitated and abruptly left the interview room when pressed about what Smith knew or didn’t know.

It remains to be seen how a furious LeBron responds Sunday in Game 2, though it is hard to imagine he could be any more dominating. His legacy has long been intact, but his performances throughout these playoffs, including two buzzer-beating victories and an epic seventh game in the conference finals, continues to grow his legend.

LeBron is spectacular, these Warriors are special. Cavs-Warriors is a series to be savored, a rivalry to be remembered. Talk about NBA parity can wait for another day.