Good morning. We have that and more in Saturdayโs NBA newsletter.
It would be impossible to capture all of the absurd things that happened in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, not the least of which was the fact that the Cavaliers won by blowing the doors off on offense. The Warriors' dream of a perfect 16-0 postseason is dead. Game 5 is set for Monday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
Here are seven things that made Game 4 ridiculous. My personal favorite moment was LeBron going off the backboard to himself for the alley-oop. This has happened in the All-Star Game a few times (praise be to T-Mac) and rarely in regular season games. But in an elimination game in the NBA Finals? LeBron is a real one.
A close second is Draymond Green getting ejected in the third quarter for a second technical foul ... only for the referees to realize they meant to call a second quarter tech on Steve Kerr, not Green. But they didn't communicate the issue properly to the scorerโs table (or apparently check it at the half). So Draymond stayed in.
Even beyond that, the refs were a disaster. Kyrie Irving, however, was spectacular. Even Tristan Thompson bounced back in a big way with the Kardashians in the building and filming for their reality show. (Speaking of which, kudos to Jeff Van Gundy for accurately arguing that blaming Khloe Kardashian for Thompson's trouble is ridiculous.)
At the end of the game, Cleveland fans began chanting "Cavs in 7!" A little while later, Draymond declared in the postgame press conference that Clevelanders aren't "the sharpest people."
LeBron and Kevin Durant picked up double technicals for barking at each other.
Finals wedgie!
Dwyane Wade, always on the bleeding edge of male fashion, was buried in a mountain of jokes for what we wore to Game 4. Per usual, Gabrielle Union had the best clown. Hassan Whiteside ripped it pretty good too.
Steve Kerr absolutely destroyed the dumb "[former champion or 60-win team] could beat the Warriors" trope with a smile on his face. Hail Steve Kerr.
Dahntay Jones picked up another technical foul from the bench. He's now been assessed $9,000 in penalties this season. He earned $9,127 by being signed at the last minute of the season. So he's taking home $127 from the Cavaliers before taxes.
Marvel debuted the Black Panther teaser trailer during Game 4, and it looks awesome. (This will become a Black Panther newsletter in February 2018.)
There's no real way for the NBA to break up the Warriors until 2023.
Let's briefly move to things that are not the finals.
Okay, quasi-finals related: LeBron, Draymond, and 2 Chainz doing a half-hour episode of The Shop for Uninterrupted. So good.
The 3-on-3 will be in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Here's each NBA team's best three-man team. Here's Emmet Ryan on what long odds FIBA had in getting 3x3 into the Games.
Why is Markelle Fultz working out for the Kings, who pick No. 5?
Gordon Hayward might be considering the Miami Heat in addition to the Jazz and Celtics.
Next newsletter is Monday.
