Good morning. So close, Cavaliers.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

AAAAAHHHH: After a brilliantly fought, tactically interesting, super intriguing 48 minutes, Iman Shumpert was THIS CLOSE from giving Cleveland a huge victory. Instead, he just missed and the Warriors blitzed a tired, hurt Cavaliers team in overtime for the Game 1 win. THIS CLOSE.

Paul Flannery has a wonderful summation of the game: The Warriors dared LeBron to beat them, and he almost did.

LeBron was masterful in a way you know he’d prefer not to be: the Warriors didn’t incessantly double, leading him to take 38 shots, most of them outside the restricted area. He scored 44, a finals career-high. Just not quite enough. Kyrie Irving was gutsy as hell, and made some key shots and brilliant defensive plays, including a game-saving block-from-behind on Stephen Curry. Unfortunately, Kyrie injured his knee in overtime and limped to the locker room. This does not look good. MRI on Friday.

Andre Iguodala was dope, even when he wasn’t hitting corner threes while missing a shoe or crossing LeBron out of his skin.

VICTORY DANCE: Riley Curry is unstoppable.

SPEAKING OF WHICH ... Video evidence that Riley did her time in the D-League videobombing Uncle Seth. No wonder she’s ready for the big show! Another successful Gatorade call-up.

ANOTHER WONDERFUL LITTLE GIRL: Leah Still wished LeBron good luck. Extremely sweet.

MEAN TWEETS! Steph included.

LOOKING FOR THE ANSWER: Spectacular piece by Elena Bergeron on the impossibility of knowing Allen Iverson.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT: This is now a Lil B Free Zone. Starting now. You’re welcome.

ALREADY SAVED: I wrote that whether they win the finals or not, LeBron has already saved Cleveland from the depths of its despair.

HUGE NEWS: Arn Tellem, perhaps the top agent in basketball, is taking over the business side of the Detroit Pistons. Stan Van Gundy remains in charge of the basketball side and answers to franchisee Tom Gores. But Tellem is leaving the hustle life at Wasserman in August to rebuild the Pistons’ business. Agents switching sides is officially a trend now, right? Lon Babby, Bob Myers ... now TELLEM?

SILVER SPEAKS: Adam Silver’s annual pre-finals presser touched on seeding reform (nope), concussion issues and more.

HEATING UP: The Nuggets’ coaching search is getting much more active. Mike Malone interviewed, Don Newman mentioned.

HEADLINES YOU NEVER EXPECT: “Some notes on enjoying Kendrick Perkins.“

LIVING WITH LEBRON: David Roth on LeBron is good content.

BEFORE GAME 1 ... Brian Windhorst wrote about Cleveland’s odd optimism.

YEP: David Aldridge writes that Tom Thibodeau deserved better. Plus more in his weekly Morning Tip.

HUH: David Blatt and Steve Kerr met at LAX shortly after the Warriors made their coaching hire. Blatt was on track to become a Golden State assistant. Then Cleveland called.

NBA 2K16 NEWS: Three covers starring Steph, James Harden and Anthony Davis. And this was the PERFECT year to give J.R. Smith the cover, smh.

UP FOR OAKLAND: Dave Newhouse nukes the Warriors and those other two ungrateful Oakland sports teams for carpetbagging on the city that hosts them.

HEY YO: Kevin Durant’s new Sonic commercial is pretty weird/dope.

WHO REPORTS ON THE REPORTERS? Complex talks to Brian Windhorst about why he’s so hated on the Internet.

RICKY RUMOR-O: There are some weird rumors around Ricky Rubio these days.

THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW: The NBA Babies’ All-Star Team.

IN THE DUB: A cool look at Swish Appeal at the three-pointer’s role in the WNBA.

THE HIGH COST OF TECH: There’s a system called ShotTracker that allows players and coaches to track shooting stats in real-time. It seems ridiculously cool. It’s too expensive to be feasible for all but the richest schools. Nice piece by Patrick Sauer.

AND FINALLY: #mindblown

Happy Friday. See you next time.