Golden State Warriors Versus Los Angeles Lakers Is Headed For Game 7 Classic In NBA Playoffs With Help From The C-Word

According to Forbes, NBA teams are worth an average of $2.86 billion, which is 15% higher than last season. So, is it true this playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers just became more profitable for the league beyond LeBron versus Steph?

Yep.

Wild accusations can do that.

The Warriors of Stephon Curry used their Game 3 disaster Saturday night in Los Angeles to make the already ridiculous television ratings for their Western Conference semifinals matchup against the Lakers of LeBron James prepare to soar past Jupiter (the planet, not the city in California).

That TV thing will happen by the time Game 7 rolls around next Sunday in San Francisco.

There will be a Game 7, by the way.

But about the ratings, which ties into those accusations.

The Warriors trail 2-1 in this best-of-seven series, and they claim the Lakers keep cheating. LeBron? The C-word? Then again, maybe the Warriors are just blasting the NBA. They’re at least questioning the integrity of the refs.

This begins and ends with LeBron, the 38-year-old wonder who already gets the attention of the world whenever he dribbles. Forbes said he became worth $1 billion last summer before he zipped by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during this past regular season as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Andre Iguodala couldn’t care less. The Warriors veteran joined others on their sidelines Saturday night to blast the refs for allowing LeBron to do what he has done throughout his two decades in the league.

That is, Mr. Basketball Nike has a tendency to take itty-bitty steps here and there with his size 15 sneakers.

During a timeout when the Warriors were getting clobbered along the way to a 127-97 loss, live TV cameras caught Iguodala pointing in the direction of LeBron while telling the refs, “That’s a foul.” Then he proceeded to show the refs dramatically what he said LeBron was doing beyond the rules.

It’s called traveling.

Draymond Green went further than that as the Warriors’ power forward and frequent target of referee whistles.

“[I’ll] just keep playing the defense I’m playing. Maybe they’ll call it, maybe they won’t,” Green told reporters Saturday night after he was nailed with five fouls, including a technical for arguing a call.

Green and his teammates also fumed over this: Even though the Warriors finished with just one more foul (22) than LeBron’s bunch (21), they had three technical fouls and a flagrant to one technical and no flagrants for the Lakers. The Warriors finished 12-for-17 from the line, and the Lakers scored 28 points on a 37 free-throw attempts, but nothing to see here.

The Lakers led the NBA during the regular season in free-throw attempts, and the Warriors finished last.

End of conspiracy.

Still, this Golden State whining makes for dandy ratings. According to sportsmediawatch.com, the early part of the Warriors-Lakers series already pushed it deep into the direction of becoming the most-watched NBA playoff series in more than a decade.

That especially would be true with a Game 7, which is inevitable given the pattern so far.

In Game 1, Anthony Davis used his 30 points and 23 rebounds to give the Lakers a road victory despite just an OK night for LeBron with 23 points, his third-lowest total in 23 career playoff games against the Warriors. Then Golden State adjusted for Game 2 at home by ripping the Lakers 127-100 after Klay Thompson scored 30 points on 8 3-pointers.

You see where this is going?

Since the Lakers romped in Game 3 (with more than a little help — if you believe Golden State folks), the Warriors are motivated to tie the series at 2-2 Monday night in Los Angeles for Game 4. Not only that, but Curry and his three-point magic are due to display for the first time this series why he is fifth on the Forbes’ list for highest-paid athletes at $92.8 million.

Then the Lakers will take Game 5 before the Warriors grab Game 6.

Then Game 7 . . . and the winner?

The fans.

Oh, and the NBA.