National Basketball Association

The Starting Five: These NBA Finals were worth the wait

Published Jun. 9, 2015 2:21 p.m. ET

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We take this break from overreacting to examine this week's burning issues around the league:

Although arguing over impossible-to-validate comparisons is part of our sporting culture, please don't fail to sit back and embrace what we're witnessing.

Regardless of how LeBron James' "Decision" molded your opinion of him, at least appreciate that we've never seen an athlete with his combination of size, power, speed, agility, skill, stamina (as long as the air conditioning holds up), intelligence and team-oriented commitment.

Watching him attacking the basket is like watching a runaway freight train negotiating an obstacle course.

You can acknowledge this and still give your vote to MJ as the greatest in NBA history.

And instead of either dismissing Golden State's Game 2 defeat as an aberration or using it to fully dismiss their title shot, relax for a moment and realize that they rallied from a gut punch by the Memphis Grizzlies to demonstrate their own toughness . . . enhanced by improved ball movement.

Will it be duplicated now?

Finally, it would be a shame if your eagerness to debate prevented full enjoyment of what we've spent this entire season waiting for: A potentially outstanding Finals series.

Scoring is trending upwards in the NBA, but it's got a ways to go to match the fast-paced 1980s.

With the Warriors dragging Mike D'Antoni's fast-paced, widely-spaced offensive concepts (with liberal doses of Gregg Popovich's ball-movement manifesto mixed in) into the 2015 Finals, the current NBA sometimes is looked upon as having surrendered to speed and finesse.

But let's trot back 30 years to the days of Magic and Larry and not-quite-completely-bald rookie MJ. During the 1984-'85 season, NBA teams averaged 110.8 points per game — that's 10 more than the league average this season.

It also should be pointed out that 257 3-point attempts were squeezed off per team (yeah, that was in 82 games) 30 years ago. This season's 3-ball-crazy NBA gives us 1,838 3-point attempts per team.

So how did teams managed to score so many points 30 years ago? Well, one reason could be pace of play. This season, there was an average of 93.9 possessions per 48 minutes.

In the rough-and-ready, hand-check-happy, low-post-mugging NBA of '84-85, these supposedly disadvantaged offenses managed to average 102.1 possessions per 48 minutes.

By 1994-'95 — with the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons and triangle-deployed Chicago Bulls as tempo-killing catalysts — the pace was only 92.9.

A point guard whose name you likely will be hearing early on draft night: Murray State's Cameron Payne.

Rising in mock polls along the pre-draft stump, we find Cameron Payne checking in as this year's edition of the unexpectedly in demand hot-shot point guard.

Let's see how many boxes he can tick off: Like Steph Curry, Damian Lillard and even Elfrid Payton before him, the 6-foot-2 lefty arrives following a stellar run at a mid-major school — in this case Murray State.

Like Curry and Lillard, Payne was a big-time scorer. His 20 points-per-game average included 37 percent shooting from behind the 3-point arc and 50 percent marksmanship overall.

Also like Curry, he's not exactly blessed with lightning speed but is quick in space, drops his hips nicely when changing the level of his center of gravity while attacking, possesses a tight handle and offers gear-shifting capability that makes it difficult for defenders to stay in front of him.

According to chatter rendered during one of the more gossip-saturated times of the year, Oklahoma City Thunder officials have given his agent a promise at pick No. 14. But it also has been posited the Indiana Pacers are eyeballing him at 11, while the New York Knicks (at No. 4) and Los Angeles Lakers (No. 2) also are reported to be interested.

Lefty guard D'Angelo Russell could be working his way into the No. 1 pick conversation along with Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Although the bicker-inspiring battle for first pick in this month's draft has co-starred 7-footers Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns, we now are told Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell could be that guy.

The Minnesota Timberwolves currently are clutching the first pick and — even though Russell shared the Buckeye backcourt with a point guard during his freshman season — would be expected to move Ricky Rubio to better accommodate Russell. Or perhaps they'd work together in a flashy tandem.

Reports citing anonymous personnel executives from teams drafting outside the lottery suggest Russell — thanks, in part, to the league's skewing toward ultra-skilled perimeter guys — is the best future weapon available in this draft.

Okafor, who had been projected to go No. 1 for about nine months, allegedly is a favorite of T-wolves president Flip Saunders.

But let's not forget Towns, an overgrown four man whose workout video has provoked solemn oaths of sensational skills from members of the fourth estate.

In one particular event staged by his representation (CAA), Towns can be seen dribbling through his legs without going anywhere, then crossing over (about waist high) against air before throwing down uncontested dunks. He also looked tremendous making shot after shot from the same spot, again, against air.

Such "workouts" probably haven't accelerated his level of improvement. Russell, part of the same workout, was put through the same grueling routine.

What seems more prudent is judging Towns — who won't be actually competing head-to-head with other prospects in pre-draft workouts — for how he played as a Kentucky freshman. And that, considering the variables consistent with playing on a loaded team, was pretty impressive.

Stephen Curry missed all eight of his shots while being guarded by Matthew Dellavedova in Game 2.

This reads like a partial lineup at the food court, but Game 2 of the Finals provided considerable chatter regarding Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova and his success guarding MVP Steph Curry.

For the record, they have more in common that you might think.

Delly, it may have been mentioned once or 15 times, was undrafted out of college (St. Mary's, Calif.) despite showing well for the Australian national team in international play. Curry was a skinny kid (and the son of MVP top gun Dell Curry) with three Division I offers out of high school. He played at Davidson.

So they both serve as relentless demonstrations for what can be achieved through belief in your abilities and hard work.

Curry, who was defended by Iman Shumpert for much of Game 2, missed all eight of his field-goal attempts made while checked by the 6-foot-4 Dellavedova, who had been torched by 6-7 Klay Thompson in Sunday's opening half.

By the way, that 0-for-8 stat didn't include Steph hitting Delly with a between-the-legs/behind-the-back move for an uncontested layup after a pause in transition. Sick.

It'll be interesting to see how both point guards will be deployed when the chess match resumes in Game 3.

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