Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston Comment on Win vs. Cavs in Game 1 of NBA Finals

Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry is usually the star of the show for the Golden State Warriors, but reserve Shaun Livingston and the rest of the bench carried the team Thursday in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Golden State defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 104-89, even though Curry was 4-of-15 from the field for 11 points. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson added nine points on 4-of-12 shooting, but the Golden State bench outscored Cleveland’s 45-10, per Warriors PR.

Livingston scored a team-high 20 points, and Curry recognized the bench's efforts after the game, per NBA on ESPN: “We definitely get a boost when our bench guys come in and change the game.”

Curry singled out Livingston but praised the overall team effort in his expanded comments, per NBA TV:

Seven Warriors scored in double figures, and Andre Iguodala (12 points) and Leandro Barbosa (11 points) joined Livingston as critical reserve contributors. Draymond Green was also solid with 16 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Livingston wasn’t ready to accept the individual glory after the win, per the Warriors: “It could be anyone on any given night.”

The bench spearheaded the most important stretch of the game, as Iguodala, Barbosa and Livingston helped increase a 74-68 lead at the end of the third quarter to an 88-72 advantage with 8:35 left in the contest, all while Curry was resting.

Los Angeles Clippers reserve and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford seized the opportunity to praise the bench’s play:

Livingston discussed the stretch when Golden State pulled away during his postgame interview:

The scary thing for the Cavaliers is that they lost by double digits even though their stars put up solid numbers while Curry and Thompson struggled. LeBron James just missed a triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Kyrie Irving (26 points) and Kevin Love (17 points and 13 boards) helped carry the load.

The fact that the Cavaliers missed a chance to steal one on the road while both Thompson and Curry were off is worrisome for Cleveland because those two stars likely won’t play as poorly in Game 2 on Sunday.

If Curry and Thompson play up to their normal standards and Livingston and the rest of the bench contribute like they did in Game 1, the Cavaliers won’t have much of a chance against the team that beat them in last season’s NBA Finals as well. Golden State will likely also play with a sense of urgency since it won Game 1 last year and proceeded to take its foot off the gas and lose Games 2 and 3.

The 73-9 Warriors were almost unbeatable all season. That’s not going to change in the Finals if the bench is playing at such a high level, especially if Curry starts to play like the offensive force who averaged 30.1 points per night in 2015-16 on his way to his second consecutive MVP award.