• Iman Shumpert has shared his insight on the Stephen Curry vs. Kyrie Irving matchup from the 2016 Finals
• Shump said the Cavaliers thought Curry was scared of guarding Irving
• Irving hit the title-sealing three while being guarded by Curry, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are arguably the biggest team rivalry of the last decade due to the various Finals matchups they’ve had. The 2016 Finals will always be the peak of this rivalry.
Iman Shumpert won a title with the Cavs in 2016 when the franchise came back from 3-1 to beat the 73-9 Warriors. Shumpert revealed that the Cavs thought Stephen Curry had gotten afraid to guard Kyrie Irving.
“We realized Steph wasn’t trying to match up with Kyrie. All we took it as, ‘Oh, you scared of this dude? You scared of buddy?’ So, we just fed him. If Steph came and guarded me, if they tried to do a triple switch. Whatever they tried to do. If I go down here and set this screen, Steph would try and go on me, while I’m in the corner. I would bring my screen up too. Now you got a double screen, but you finna have to guard Kyrie.”
Irving ultimately sealed the title for Cleveland with a big three at the end of the game, hitting that shot over Curry. He ended the game with 26 points as Curry struggled and could only put up 17 points in that do-or-die Game 7.
The Warriors Came Back With A Vengeance
The Cavaliers would only win one Finals game against the Warriors after 2016, getting beaten 4-1 in 2017 and then getting swept in 2018. The reason for the same is that the 73-9 Warriors reinforced their team by replacing Harrison Barnes with Kevin Durant. After Durant joined, there was no beating Golden State for Cleveland.
LeBron James put his everything into trying to beat the Warriors but never succeeded after 2016. Irving would leave the Cavaliers in 2017 and never make it past the second round again, while James finally got his playoff revenge over the Warriors by eliminating them in the second round in the 2023 playoffs as a part of the Lakers.
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