Thursday night was a tough one for Steph Curry and his extended family -- and not just because the Warriors fell to the Cavs 115-101. Before Game 6 even began, Steph's wife, Ayesha, was frustrated, tweeting that family members of the Warriors were prevented from leaving their bus as game time approached. Curry and her family made it inside just before tipoff, only to be stopped by security. According to her tweet:
An NBA official told The Undefeated that it was a case of mistaken identity, that Ayesha's father was reportedly mistaken for a con artist known for sneaking into major sporting events. And then, once the family members got to their seats, they had to witness the Cavs dominating the first quarter, taking a 31-11 lead over Golden State. Things only got worse for the Warriors: Steph fouled out, threw his mouthguard and earned his first NBA ejection.
After the game, the night's frustrations boiled over for Ayesha, who tweeted that Game 6 was "absolutely rigged for money" or "ratings" and she wouldn't be silent. She later deleted the tweet, saying it was posted "in the heat of the moment."
We might not all agree that the Finals are rigged, but Ayesha isn't the only one shocked by the way this series has played out. The team from the most bedeviled city in professional sports, coming out of the inferior Eastern Conference, was supposed to get rolled by this Warriors team of destiny. But here we are, heading to a Game 7 on Sunday. I guess LeBron James & Co. didn't get the memo.
Ayesha Curry's post was retweeted more than 80,000 times Thursday night before she deleted it. That's quite a tally, but 80K wasn't the only number to catch my eye. Here are some other head-turners:
50: Years since a team had forced a Game 7 in the NBA Finals after falling behind 3-1. The Cavs are the third team to accomplish the feat.
0: Teams that have fought back from down 3-1 in an NBA Finals series to win it all.
8: Warriors playoff losses this season. If they lose Sunday, they'll finish 2015-16 with the same number of postseason losses (in 24 games) as regular-season losses (in 82).
20,562: Fans at Quicken Loans Arena who gave Craig Sager a standing ovation as he worked his first NBA Finals game.
0: Shots made by Harrison Barnes on Thursday night. He was 0-for-8, making him 2-for-22 in the past two games.
1: Queen in attendance for the contest: the Queen B, Beyonce.
18: Consecutive points scored by James during one stretch of the fourth quarter.
41, 8 and 11: Points, rebounds and assists from James in a second straight elimination game for the Cavs. Impressive on its own, even more so after he put up 41, 16 and 7 in Game 5.
5,000: Dollars the mouthguard Steph Curry threw near the end of the game might be worth at auction, based on previous estimates made by the California-based SCP Auctions. The valuation might increase because its tossing resulted in Curry's first ejection.
52: Number of years since a Cleveland team has won a championship in a major pro sport.
And finally, this, via SportsCenter: