Last Updated on June 16, 2015 9:14 pm by admin
CLEVELAND (AP) – The Latest from Game 6 of the NBA Finals (all times local):
9:10 p.m.
Timofey Mozgov remains in the starting lineup for the Cavaliers. Let’s see how long he gets to stay on the floor now that Game 6 has tipped off.
The 7-foot-1 center spent almost all of Game 5 on the bench as Cavaliers coach David Blatt went with a small lineup to match up with the one the Warriors were using. Mozgov started but was pulled early and limited to just 9 minutes in that one.
He had scored a career-best 28 points in Game 4 while easily shooting over smaller defenders, so Blatt could leave him out there this time in hopes the Russian big man can do it again.
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9:01 p.m.
Just passing 9 p.m., a late time to start a game.
Steve Kerr knows it.
His pregame press conference included a plea to NBA officials to begin the games earlier and cut down on all the waiting time the teams have to endure.
Kerr had joked last week in Cleveland that it felt like the games were starting at 11 p.m. It was so much easier Sunday for him in Game 5 in Oakland, California, where the 5 p.m. local start meant he was at work in the arena by early afternoon.
He knows that can’t always happen, but he would love something better than he faced before Game 6.
Kerr says, ”I used to work in TV, so I understand. But just like, 8 o’clock would be OK. 8:15 even.”
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8:50 p.m.
About 20 minutes before game time, the Cavaliers’ in-arena host urged fans to put on their wine jerseys.
The Cavaliers’ official colors are wine and gold, so the giveaway T-shirts hanging over the seats in the arena were a maroon color.
But some Cavs fans were already wearing Cavs jerseys or hats, and they looked nothing like what LeBron James was wearing in Game 6 – or when he played here from 2003-10.
Same fans in the arena were wearing orange and blue, the colors when Mark Price played in the 1990s. There were even some with the black and blue from the late 1990s.
To see how much the Cavaliers’ uniforms have changed through the years check out -http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/history/uniform-history.html and see if you remember them all.
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8:35 p.m.
Kevin Love is already working toward next season.
As the Cavaliers are attempting to prolong their postseason run without him, the former All-Star forward ducked into the weight room inside Quicken Loans Arena for a workout. Love recently underwent surgery on his left shoulder, which was yanked from the socket in the first round by Boston’s Kelly Olynyk.
Love has said he intends to exercise his player option and remain with the Cavs, who traded No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for him last summer.
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8:20 p.m.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry received a loud ovation from several dozen Golden State fans when he took the floor 90 minutes before Game 6.
Curry and his teammates appeared relaxed as they prepared to try and close out the Cavaliers and win their first NBA title since 1975.
While Curry shot, one fan was wearing a No. 30 Davidson jersey – the point guard’s alma mater.
Curry and the Warriors arrived at Quicken Loans Arena at 6:30 p.m., casually walking into the building as if this is just another game. It is hardly that.
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8:05 p.m.
The Warriors and Cavaliers are paying the price to try and win the NBA title.
NBA teams that didn’t make the playoffs have been on vacation for exactly two months.
Tuesday’s Game 6 will be the Cavaliers 20th game since their regular-season finale on April 15. The 102nd game of the season will tie the franchise record set in 2006-07, when they were swept by San Antonio in their only other NBA Finals appearance.
Coach David Blatt says after all that basketball, ”you can talk and you can also talk too much” when it comes to what he tells his players, saying he has to specific and let them play their game.
The Warriors are playing their 103rd game and entered the night with an astounding 82-20 record. Coach Steve Kerr says the long grind is a ”great test of your patience and your will and your perseverance, because it really is a roller coaster ride as you go.”
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7:43 p.m.
Only one trophy matters to LeBron James.
After posting historic statistics through the first five games of the NBA Finals, there is a growing sense that James could be named the series MVP even if the Cavaliers don’t beat Golden State for the championship. Jerry West is the only player to win MVP honors in the finals with a losing team, doing it with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969.
James wouldn’t feel good about the personal accomplishment, saying ”I’m here to win a team prize, and that’s to win a championship, not to win an individual prize.”
He entered Game 6 averaging 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the series – the best numbers ever posted in the game’s biggest event.
A four-time MVP during the regular season, James was named the finals MVP in 2012 and 2013 with Miami.
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AP Sports Writer Tom Withers contributed to this report