Lue’s Plan Worked, But Others Got Hot

It is always funny to read social media postings during a sporting event in Cleveland, most notably because the default in this area for many is that when the team loses, the coach or manager did a bad job.

Going into last night’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Cavs’ coach Tyronn Lue obviously wanted to limit the open looks of the Golden State Warriors’ two best offensive players: Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Sounds like a good plan, right? To be sure, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr probably wants to make it difficult for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving too.

Well, Lue’s blueprint worked out. Curry and Thompson were held to just 20 points, on a combined 8 for 27 shooting night. For the most part, there weren’t a lot of open looks for these two.

However, we are sure that the Cavs’ coaching staff did not figure on the trio of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and Leandro Barbosa going a combined 18 for 24 from the field, scoring a combined total of 43 points.

Those three averaged 19.7 points per game together in the regular season, and in the playoffs they were averaging 22 points per night.

So, they basically doubled what they did in the post-season last night.

While, Lue’s plan was sound, but the results don’t show it because those three players off the Golden State bench had extraordinary nights.

And while Curry can come to the post-game press conference and talk about the difference their bench makes, the numbers show they don’t usually make that kind of impact on a game.

On the other hand, Iguodala seems to see a Cleveland uniform and turns into a combination of J.J. Redick and Kyle Korver. He is a career 33% shooter from three point range, but in the seven playoff games vs. the Cavs, he has made 16 out of 39%, more than 40%.

It didn’t help that Cleveland shot poorly either, making just 38% of their field goal attempts, with a lot of misses right at the rim. Is that great defense? In some cases, yes, but the wine and gold shooters missed some clean looks around the basket as well.

The Warriors seemed to play a lot of attention to JR Smith and Channing Frye, two of the hottest Cavs from behind the three point line. The two combined to take just four shots and score five points.

Lue and his staff have to figure out a way to get them some open looks, although both players appeared to be a little passive as well.

Cleveland also got away from the ball movement they have displayed throughout the playoffs, totaling just 17 assists last night, nine by James.

Lue attributed the isolation style of play to the Warriors’ switching defense, but there can be a happy medium with good ball movement with some one-on-one play mixed in.

Let’s not forget that the Cavaliers had a one point lead late in the third quarter, before Livingston started the fourth quarter with a flurry. So, it wasn’t exactly domination by Golden State since the tipoff.

There is no doubt Curry and Thompson will shoot better going forward, but it is also likely the Warriors will not get this kind of production from their subs.

The Cavs will also shoot better.

We have always felt that until the seventh game, the even numbered contests are most important, and this is no different.

The Warriors can take a commanding lead with a win on Sunday, while the Cavs can get right back in it, and steal home court from Kerr’s team.

Cleveland didn’t lose the series last night. There is a long way to go. But it will the route will get shorter with another loss on Sunday.

Poor Shooting and Iguodala (Again!) Lead to Game 4 Loss for Cavs

Imagine if the Golden State Warriors had won the first two games in the NBA Finals at home, and then the Cavaliers came home and did the same at Quicken Loans Arena.

There would be much more optimism around the hometown today, wouldn’t there?

But the series would still be tied at two games apiece heading into Sunday night’s contest in Oakland. This means there is no need to panic.

However, after that game, somebody will have their collective backs to the wall. One team will be able to win the NBA Championship on Tuesday night.

Yes, the Cavs showed fatigue playing their third game in five days (with a cross-country trip mixed in between), and that takes more of a toll on them because they are really playing seven players because of the injuries to all-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

There were reports yesterday that several of the Cavaliers’ veterans were upset with David Blatt about not playing more guys, and hindsight being 20/20, he probably should have on Thursday.

On the other hand, he was simply doing what worked in the first three games, and that strategy gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the series. The guess here is the coach will play more guys come Sunday night, giving Mike Miller and Shawn Marion, if healthy some time on the court.

The fatigue contributed to a horrible shooting performance from outside by the wine and gold, as they hit just 4 of 27 from behind the three-point line in Game 4, with only Matthew Dellavedova hitting more than one (2 of 9), and J.R. Smith missing all eight of his tries.

The main culprit in the Cavs’ eyes was Andre Iguodala, who had another crazy shooting night, much like the first game, which was the only other contest the Warriors have won.

The veteran swingman scored 22 points on 9 for 15 shooting, including hitting 4 of 9 from behind the arc. As we said after game one, those kind of performances do not happen often for Iguodala, so the chances for it occurring twice in four games is probably astronomical.

Cleveland is holding the “Splash Brothers” under 50 points per game in the series, as they have combined for 172 in the four games, but the added production of Iguodala is both unexpected and damaging to the Cavs’ hopes.

Many experts are giving Steve Kerr mad props for his lineup switch, but if Iguodala had a normal shooting game, we wonder how much praise he would be getting.

Timofey Mozgov abused the smaller Warriors’ lineup for 28 points and Tristan Thompson added 12 more for the wine and gold. The real reason for the defeat was the Cleveland guards simply couldn’t make a shot. That happens. The bigger question is will it happen again?

The players that Blatt depends on for outside scoring (Dellavedova, Smith, Iman Shumpert, and James Jones) made 7 of 38 shots in the fourth game. That’s 19%. While it’s possible they could shoot that poorly again, it’s certainly not probable.

And remember that this was a six point game heading into the final quarter, so while the Warriors won going away, Cleveland certainly had a chance to win heading into the final quarter.

Golden State dominated the first half, but were only up six going into the final 12 minutes.

Can the Cavs win Game 5? Well, they’ve already won a game in Oakland this series, so they certainly can. They needed the two days off between games, and they now have a chance to adjust to the changes Kerr made before Thursday.

We will stick with what we said before the series started. If they can hold Curry and Thompson under 50 points, they have a good chance to win. The biggest key now has become Andre Iguodala.

Cavs Lose Game One, Doesn’t Mean It’s Over

The city of Cleveland is left bemoaning a lost opportunity last night, as the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Golden State Warriors, 108-100 in overtime in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The Cavs had the ball at the end of regulations and it was in LeBron James’ hands. But, Andre Iguodala did a good job defensively, James missed, and the resulting rebound/flip at the hoop by Iman Shumpert just missed winning the game.

Overtime was a disaster, as Cleveland didn’t score until less than a minute remaining, and Kyrie Irving limped off the floor with an apparent knee problem, perhaps aggravating his tendonitis.

However, let’s look at the bright side.

The wine and gold almost won this game despite not getting much offensively from Shumpert and J.R. Smith. James Jones played 16 minutes and took one shot, missing it.

This means James and Irving, who scored 23 points in an excellent performance, had little help from the players who have performed so well from the perimeter in these playoffs.

And Golden State got a tremendous game from Andre Iguodala, who scored 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting. This year, when shooting more than five times in a game, Iguodala had this kind of performance just five times. Meaning, considering the stage, he played the game of his life, at least offensively.

He’s a 47% shooter from the floor, 35% from behind the arc, yet last night, everything he shot went in the basket. Do we think that will happen again? It’s doubtful.

The problem is, Golden State has other players who can, and it is likely that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will score more than the 47 points they combined for yesterday.

However, is it equally likely that the Cavs will get more out of Smith, Shumpert, Dellavedova, and Jones? We would say yes to that as well.

Obviously, the key is Irving’s health. Can he possibly go in Game 2?

Remember, all the Warriors are doing right now is holding serve. No matter what happens Sunday night, if the wine and gold win their home games, the series will be even a two games apiece.

Cleveland had a chance to take this one. There’s no reason to think they can’t do it again, especially if they put the same defensive effort and get more offensively from their long range shooters.

Other thoughts on the game–

Timofey Mozgov was outstanding last night, scoring 16 points and 7 rebounds. He may have to play at that level, at least offensively if the Cavaliers have a chance in this series.

The officials did play a part, making a horrible traveling call on Mozgov late in the fourth quarter on a play that would have given Cleveland a two point lead with less than a minute to go. We understand they missed plays on both side, but that was just wrong.

Also, could they call any one of the five or six moving picks on Andrew Bogut? He’s like a pulling guard on the football field. No wonder Curry and Thompson get wide open looks.

One adjustment the Cavs made was to challenge outlet passes after missed shots, somebody jumped back to try to slow down the Warriors from racing down the floor. It slowed the tempo just enough. A good move by the coaching staff.