OAKLAND — The biggest play that stood out in Game 1 of the NBA Finals wasn’t an acrobatic dunk or a Steph Curry three-pointer.
It happened to be another dirty play.
Late in the third quarter the Warriors were in the beginning stages of a 15-0 run, racing out in transition, just burying Cleveland alive. Andre Iguodala received a pass and started to blow by Matthew Dellavedova. Until suddenly, Iguodala collapsed to the ground.
Where’d he get hit?
“Where most men don’t want to be hit,” Iguodala said in the locker room after the 104-89 win.
Iguodala reacted by jumping back in Dellavedova’s face and the game momentarily paused as tempers flared. No flagrant foul was called.
We would say Iggy reacted appropriately?? pic.twitter.com/ZuL5yorKeH
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 3, 2016
“You know, I’m not going to judge him, or say anything negative about him,” Iguodala said. “He’s out there hard competing. There’s a lot of emotions going on out there…
“I respect a lot of guys’ hustles in this league. You’ve got guys who have to be a little physical, a little dirty to make a life and to feed your family. So I can only respect that.”
That respect had a massive tone of shade attached to it. Iguodala is cunning with his words, always prefacing any diss with the word “respect.” But it’s clear he wasn’t happy with that type of behavior.
Iguodala did not downplay that the incident fired him up. The Warriors only led 71-68 when that happened, and then went on a 22-6 run after Delly’s untimely mistake.
Anderson Varejao told The Vertical that Delly does need to play this way to stay in the NBA.
I think it’s pretty clear what the Warriors think of Cleveland’s pesky little guard.