Cavs Need To Relax, Have Fun.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have hit their first bump of the season, having lost three straight, heading into tonight’s game at Quicken Loans Arena against the Portland Trailblazers.

Two of the losses were by wide margins.

The Wizards came into Cleveland a week ago and never trailed in handing the Cavs their first home loss of the season, and Saturday night, the Miami Heat dominated the wine and gold, who held LeBron James out to get some rest.

The other loss was in overtime to New Orleans, a game the Cavs should have won in regulation, and then ran out of gas in the extra session.

The bigger concern for basketball fans in Cleveland should be that right now, the team seems very tight, they aren’t playing the free flowing game we saw early in the season.

What are the reasons for this? Here are some theories we have.

First, the Cavs seem to have Warrior envy. Everyone is well aware that the defending champions are 22-0 and are the talk of the NBA.

Their start is an NBA record. That means it has never happened before.

Besides the Warriors, do you know how many other teams have better records than David Blatt’s team? One. The Spurs are 17-4.

That means the Cavs have the third best record in the league.

Should they attention to what Golden State is doing? We guess, but outside of the two regular season games between the two teams, the Cavaliers won’t have to face the Warriors until the NBA Finals.

And that will be in June.

The Cavs need to relax and have fun and play their brand of basketball.

The second theory is perhaps some of the players are a little tight because of the impending returns of Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert, which will mean some alterations in how playing time is doled out.

Obviously, James and Kevin Love won’t be affected by this, and neither will the other big men like Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, and Anderson Varejao.

But the playing time for the backcourt will definitely be altered.

J.R. Smith will probably get some minutes at small forward, but no doubt Shumpert will cut into his minutes.

And both Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova’s time will decline, more likely Williams because the latter can be counted on to be on the floor in the fourth quarter because of his defensive ability.

Perhaps the uncertainty is weighing on these players and they haven’t played as loose as they did earlier in the campaign.

The last theory is the leader’s determination to win a title. LeBron James is very focused and has passed this on to the rest of the team.

No individual pre-game introductions and various team meetings.

It’s okay to have a single mindedness in this regard, but it’s a long season and the players need to have some fun as well.

Perhaps Blatt can take them bowling again on the next road trip.

Look, there will be plenty of time for the Cavaliers to put their nose to the grindstone, but during a six month season, you have to have some fun as well.

This is a very talented basketball team. They just need to relax and play and the victories will start to come again.

Some Warriors Envy Grips Cavs’ Fans

We believe there is a divide among older professional basketball fans and those under the age of 30 years old, and it concerns the Golden State Warriors.

Older fans think the wide open, shoot the three point shot at all costs way is a fad, and teams that do this on a regular basis won’t be able to win consistently.

Younger fans love Stephan Curry and his style of play, which included pulling up on fast breaks to shoot threes instead of taking the ball to the basket.

The latter’s opinion has been buoyed by the Warriors triumph over a depleted Cavaliers’ team in last year’s Finals, and by Golden State’s 14-0 start this season.

First of all, there isn’t as much difference between the two teams as you think. While the Warriors rank 2nd in the NBA in three point shots attempted (actually Houston is first proving that it is the players, not the system), the Cavs are 5th in the league.

The difference is Golden State is making 41% of those shots thus far. And they made 40% a year ago.

The more experienced fans (of which group we belong to), would love to see opposing teams get physical with Curry, Klay Thompson, and the other Warriors.

But Golden State is a very good defensive team too, holding their opponents to an NBA low .458 field goal percentage against.

We believe this is because other teams try to play the Warriors’ game against them, and they simply aren’t as good. This results in bad shots for opponents.

In last year’s championship series, the wine and gold did not fall into that trap. They pounded the ball inside, and while the Warriors are long, they don’t have a lot of bulk, so you can attack them at the rim.

And let’s not forget that Steve Kerr’s crew did have some luck in the playoffs, getting wins over New Orleans (without Jrue Holliday), Memphis (Mike Conley was hurt), Houston (no Patrick Beverley to harass Curry), and of course, Cleveland without Kevin Love for the entire series, and Kyrie Irving for the last five games.

That’s not to minimize the title, but it is pointing out the facts.

Our point is the NBA season is about a month in and already we are hearing how the Cavaliers should do things like the Warriors.

Especially, when it comes down to handling minutes.

LeBron James is averaging 36.2 minutes per game, but some of that is because of the double overtime game vs. Milwaukee where James logged a season high 45 minutes.

In reality, of the 13 games Cleveland has played, James has totaled 36 or more minutes just six times.

In the Warriors’ 14 games, Curry has been on the floor 36 or more minutes nine times.

Curry is averaging 35.6 minutes per night, and has taken the most shots in the NBA this season. Will that take its toll as the season goes on?

Look, the Warriors are very good. They are the defending champions. And they are about to tie an NBA record for the best start ever if they win their next game to go 15-0.

Meanwhile, the Cavs have gotten off to a great start too at 10-3, and last night they easily defeated their opponent in the Eastern Conference finals a year ago, without Irving, Iman Shumpert, Mo Williams, and Timofey Mozgov.

Three of those players were starters in the conference finals a year ago.

So, don’t envy the Warriors, but instead, respect what the Cavs are doing despite playing all season without two of their top ten players, and now they won’t have four of those guys for the next couple of games.

Being the best team in November and December doesn’t get you anything.

David Blatt, LeBron James, and the Cavaliers are using the San Antonio model. It is better to be playing well in March and April.

That doesn’t mean Golden State can’t sustain it, but we will say if they can, they may be the greatest team of all time.

Cavs Concerned Over Slow Starts, And That’s a Good Thing

After the Cleveland Cavaliers won their home opener against the Miami Heat, we made the bold statement (kidding) that this year’s wine and gold squad would not start off 19-20.

Today, the Cavs won their sixth straight with a 101-97 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

We feel pretty comfortable with that statement, although it would have been pretty safe to say that before the season started.

Yes, the Cavs do start slow on some nights, particularly against the lower echelon teams in the NBA, but LeBron James and James Jones are stressing to their teammates that this cannot continue to happen.

That shows how good this team is. They are concerned not only with winning, but the manner in which they triumph.

My guess is the Indians and Browns would love to have such worries.

While some people talked about the poor first quarter against the Knicks on Wednesday, you can look at it this way. Cleveland outscored New York by 27 points over the final three quarters.

Because the Cavs have seemed to turn it on whenever they want to, it has become easy to forget that David Blatt’s team is missing three key components.

Just think how the wine and gold will do when they get Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, and J.R. Smith back on the floor.

Yikes!

Assuming Irving and Shumpert will reprise their roles as starters in the backcourt (the doubt is on Shumpert as Blatt may stay with Smith as the starter), this means the Cavaliers will have five solid guard at their disposal.

This is because Matthew Dellavedova has renewed confidence after his playoff performance and has improved his shooting and passing during the summer.

As for big guys, Anderson Varejao received a healthy DNP-CD today, as Blatt used Timofey Mozgov, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson at the four and five spots, used James at power forward at times as well.

Jefferson is everything that the Cavs wanted Shawn Marion to be last year and more.

He still has his legs as evidenced by his explosive dunks in the pre-season, and he’s a much better shooter than the recently retired Marion.

In fact, he’s kind of a combination of the two vets no longer here, Marion and Mike Miller.

This team is playing so well, the noted national critics of James and his team have nothing to conjure up.

The two biggest stories so far haven’t been stories at all. LeBron not helping up Kevin Love after he was knocked down against New York and that James was disappointed in Love being out of shape. Last season.

Correct, the media is dredging up stuff from last year to discredit this team.

Compare that to last year, when it was Irving, Love, and James couldn’t co-exist and that Blatt was in over his head as coach.

Blatt deserves some respect for using his bench. He clearly wasn’t confident in Marion and Miller as he has no problem using nine or ten players most nights, including giving minutes to free agent guard Jared Cunningham.

And James has not been used more than 36 minutes in any game this year.

We are sure that will come, particularly when Cleveland gets into a tougher part of the schedule, but it good to see the coach not giving into the competition involved with every game and needing to use his superstar too much.

So, if the slow starts are the biggest concern for fans of the Cavs, rest easy.

Just watch the fun as this NBA season unfolds.

It’s Not Easy Being Blatt

It appears that as long as LeBron James is on the Cleveland Cavaliers, David Blatt will be a lightning rod.

In preseason discussions about the NBA, and when the question of what could derail the Cavs’ hopes of getting back to The Finals, the answer inevitably was either health or the head coach.

Apparently, getting a team with two injured all-stars to the brink of championship doesn’t gain you any respect from the NBA media intelligentsia.

Look, we understand that is life for a coach who has LeBron James on their team. James gets the credit if the team wins, and the coach and/or general manager take the heat if the squad falls short of a title.

We are also pretty sure that Blatt understands this as well.

Still, it’s incredible that the criticism of the Cavaliers’ coach has continued into the beginning of a new season.

We understand that Blatt’s only been in the NBA for a year, and whether you discount all of the international experience the man has, there should be no question that he has been around the game a long, long time, and he understands the game of basketball.

Is the NBA game different? Of course. Is the NBA a players’ league? Absolutely.

But if you know the game, you know the game.

And Blatt knows and understands the sport, and his team’s have been pretty successful over the years.

He doesn’t get any credit for transforming the Cavs into the best defensive team in the playoffs last year. And when J.R. Smith tells the media he would walk through a wall for Blatt, you can almost see people’s eyes roll.

Kyrie Irving has spoken glowingly about Blatt in the past, and men who played for him overseas have given him glowing reviews.

However, we guess none of that matters until LeBron James says it, and that’s probably never going to happen, because it’s never happened before at the professional level.

James did repeat many times during the post-season a year ago that the coaching staff gave them an excellent game plan, and it was up to the players to carry it out.

And when the Cavs had the ball with 10 seconds remaining in the season opener against the Bulls, it appeared that James and Blatt were discussing the final play and looked to be in agreement.

It won’t end until the wine and gold win the final game of the season, hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and have a parade down Euclid Avenue.

Even then, some media crackpot, probably from ESPN, will say that Blatt will be on the hot seat if the Cavs don’t get off to a good start.

Blatt is an outsider from the NBA circle, and he doesn’t have the best relationship with the press, mostly because he knows that he knows more about the game than they do, and isn’t shy about letting them know that.

We know people who are friendly with the media get a fairer shake (see Shapiro, Mark).

The criticism of David Blatt is getting out of hand. If the Cavs are 10-15 and aren’t playing hard, then he should be on the hot seat. But, the folks who cover the NBA had him out last year win or lose in The Finals, but here he is back strolling the sidelines.

And if LeBron wanted him out, the guess here is he would be out.

James may not think he’s the greatest coach, but he apparently doesn’t think Blatt is a hindrance to winning.

Until they start losing, or don’t win a title because of his coaching, let’s keep the narrative that David Blatt can’t coach out of the news.

Except that will never happen.

Key Words For Cavs’ Season: Rest and Depth

The Cleveland Cavaliers start the NBA season next Tuesday night and there is no question what the team’s goal is for this season: Win an NBA title.

GM David Griffin brought back all of the key pieces from the team that won the Eastern Conference championship a year ago, and lost The Finals in six games to Golden State.

He also added some depth by signing Mo Williams, Richard Jefferson, and Sasha Kaun as free agents, and of course, Anderson Varejao is back in action as well.

Besides championship, the other key words for the Cavs are “rest” and “depth”.

As they learned last season, it is very important to entire the playoffs well rested and healthy. It is David Blatt’s job to make sure the first part is taken care of.

That means playing LeBron James around 32-34 minutes per night and limiting him to around 70 games. It has been well-noted how many minutes James has played over the past five seasons, because his team has advanced to The Finals in each of those years.

And Griffin has given the coach enough depth, and enough talented players so LBJ can get the time off without the Cavs’ record suffering greatly.

Let’s face it. The wine and gold will be making the playoffs next spring, and for them having the top seed in the East isn’t as important as it would be for other teams.

Although Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert will be out to start the season, Blatt can still start Williams and J.R. Smith at guard, with Matthew Dellavedova and Richard Jefferson backing them up.

Based on how Jefferson played in the exhibition season, he still has plenty in the tank providing he plays around 20 minutes per contest.

As for big men, Timofey Mozgov has stated in the past few days that his knee is still not 100%. That’s concerning, but now that Tristan Thompson has signed, Blatt has five players he can rotate at power forward and the center spots.

So, if Mozgov needs some time off, it would likely mean Varejao or Thompson can start at center opposite Kevin Love, and you can still have Kaun in reserve.

That leaves James’ spot at small forward. Who takes his minutes if he is cut back to 32-34 minutes per night?

Once Irving and Shumpert return, that’s easy. Jefferson gets those minutes.

Until then, Blatt can use a combination of Jefferson, Smith, and James Jones to spell LeBron, while playing Williams and Dellavedova together in the backcourt.

If Jared Cunningham makes the team, which it looks like he may, he could also pick up some spot minutes at the off guard spot. The Cavs will need somebody to pick up some minutes there until the two players who started in the playoffs at guard return.

This is the area where we expect Blatt will improve the most this season. He soured on the veterans brought in last summer (Shawn Marion and Mike Miller) mostly because they didn’t do much once they took the court.

Jefferson and Williams are a step up from those players. As everyone has noted (including his uniform number), Williams had a 52 point game last season.

Blatt’s primary job this season is to keep the 2015-16 edition of the Cavs as fresh as possible and still win over 50 games. We don’t think that will be a problem.

How The Cleveland Media Covers Our Teams

We refuse to be political here, but everyone knows when it comes to news, the liberals watch MSNBC for their slant, while the conservatives favor Fox News.

That got us to thinking…what kind of bias do the people who cover Cleveland sports have? We will look at it team by team, in our humble opinion, of course.

Cavaliers. Right now, Dan Gilbert’s franchise is the favored child by the writers and broadcasters, because they present the best hope for a title on the North Coast, which would be a great story.

However, make no mistake, there is bias. Whenever there is any problem with the team, there is no question that David Blatt is probably the root of the issue, at least according to those who cover the team.

Blatt is a man full of confidence, which doesn’t sit well with the media. So, they will constantly pick on his problem with being called a rookie NBA coach, and because he can be condescending to them at times, they love to point out any errors he may make.

There is also a slant toward LeBron James, who is the best basketball player in the world, but he is a human too, and is not infallible. There are those who question James on how he relates to Blatt, but for the most part, James is right, and Blatt has no clue.

Browns. The most popular word to use to describe Cleveland’s professional football team is “dysfunction”. The GM and coach aren’t on the same page. The owner meddles. What will be the story if the Browns improve once again in 2015.

GM Ray Farmer is another guy who exudes confidence and that turns off some reporters as well. So, they like to point at his draft record, which isn’t sterling when it comes to first round choices.

However, it is kind of comical when 8th overall pick CB Justin Gilbert is passed over for first team reps in practice by last year’s 4th round selection Pierre Desir, Farmer takes a hit because Gilbert doesn’t get the nod.

Who do they think found Desir? Santa’s elves?

Mike Pettine is a serious man, and seems like he will be a solid NFL coach, but he is down to earth with the media, and in turn, you never hear a peep about him being at fault if the team goes 3-13.

And the scribes turned against owner Jimmy Haslam this week when he made some comments about reporters being accountable for their stories.

Guess some people should play along so the media will like them.

Indians. For a franchise that has produced just four winning seasons in 15 years, and just two playoff appearances, you don’t hear a lot of criticism being thrown toward the Dolan family, and the front office.

Our opinion is the guys at the top at Progressive Field are genuinely nice people, so they seem to get a free pass.

No one questions them about their horrible record at drafting in the 00’s, or why they seems to do nothing to put a team over the top when in contention.

The Indians are very media savvy, and seem to feed reporters with facts that make the organization look favorable, and they are reported without question.

But it is very quiet this summer despite being picked to win the AL Central Division for the first time since 2007.

We guess it pays to be nice.

Again, these are our perceptions about how the teams are portrayed locally. It would be nice if the personalities involved didn’t seem to have as much to do with how the coverage is slanted.

Blatt Needs to Learn to Protect His Star

All year, Cleveland Cavaliers’ coach David Blatt has railed against being called a rookie coach.

While it is true that he has a tremendous amount of experience as a head coach on the international scene, certainly more than his counterpart on the Golden State bench, he is a novice in knowing the way of the NBA.

This has nothing to do with his ability to coach players, devise scheme, and put his squad in the best position to win. While we can all debate how much LeBron James has to do with the Cavs’ success, and it is plenty, Blatt changed the style of play for the wine and gold enough that they can be competitive in this series despite the loss of all-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

Where Blatt needs to learn about the NBA ways is in protecting his superstar player.

He needs to speak out about how the officials are referring the best player in the game, LeBron James.

In last night’s 104-91 loss in Game 5, James shot just nine free throws, and one of those came as the result of a defensive three-second call in first half.

That means he shot one less free throw than Draymond Green, who took nine shots for the game, of which six were inside the three-point line.

By contrast, James took 26 field goal attempts inside the arc, and apparently was only fouled on four of those attempts judging by the number of free throws.

We think even the most even-handed professional basketball fan would think that is ridiculous.

The next time Blatt speaks to the media, he needs to mention that he has the sport’s best player, and that player is attacking the rim pretty much on a consistent basis, and he is simply not getting the calls.

Phil Jackson did this as an art form, both when he coached Michael Jordan and also when he had Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. He cleverly pointed out that his guys got the short end of the officiating stick, especially when they lost a game.

Steve Kerr even did the same prior to Game 4, when he mentioned certain things being “legal”, and that he wasn’t aware of those things. Kerr, of course, played for Jackson with the Bulls.

For the entire series, the Cavaliers, a team that has slowed the pace and tried to jam the ball to the basket, have shot just 12 more tosses from the charity stripe than the Warriors, who everyone would agree are a perimeter based team.

Based on the styles of play, it wouldn’t be surprising if Cleveland shot 5-10 more freebies than Golden State on a per night basis.

The insulting thing is how James hasn’t been able to get to the line. Even some veterans NBA writers and observers, including ABC/ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, have commented on how James isn’t getting the whistles usually associated with great players.

He won’t mention it, because it would be out of character for James. But his coach needs to have his back, and he needs to make the comment prior to tomorrow night’s game because the Cavs either win or go home.

You might say it is gamesmanship, and it might be. It also may be the truth. We all see the replays and there is no doubt LeBron James is getting hit on a number of his shot attempts.

He shouldn’t be penalized for his size and skill set.

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 Determination is Off the Charts

Last night was one of Cleveland’s best sports nights in a long time.

In front of 21,000 delirious fans at Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron James and his gritty, gutsy teammates took a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals with a 96-91 win over Golden State.

It wasn’t without heart palpitations though.

The wine and gold held a 20 point lead late in the third quarter, but the Warriors, who can score points more quickly than any team in the NBA, came roaring back and closed to within one point in the 4th quarter.

We remember Joe Tait saying as long as you never give up the lead it kind of stops the opponents momentum, and David Blatt’s group never did. Matthew Dellavedova hit a miracle shot while being fouled, and his subsequent free throw put the Cavs up four, and they held on from there.

Of course, there was another virtuoso performance by LeBron James, who is reminding everyone involved with the sport that even though Stephen Curry and James Harden finished one-two in the MVP voting this year, the best player in the sport wears #23 and plays in Cleveland.

James scored 40 points (he is averaging 41 per game in The Finals), grabbing 12 rebounds, and had 8 assists and controlled the tempo and pace of the game. But he received support from his teammates, as everyone who got in the game made a big contribution.

Little used Mike Miller played five minutes, and made a great play diving on the floor after a loose ball saving it to Dellavedova at the end of the first quarter.

Delly added another performance to his growing legend, scoring 20 points, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and pestered Curry all night long.

However, he would up in the hospital following the game getting treatment for cramping. And in other bad news, Iman Shumpert reinjured his shoulder in the first quarter, but returned to the game basically playing with one arm, and still made a contribution defensively with his ability to get his hands in passing lanes and on the ball when the Warriors went to the basket.

Hopefully, both will be able to play tomorrow night because Cleveland can ill afford to lose anyone else.

The will and determination of this team is unreal. LeBron James keeps mentioning it because it seems like the national media have forgotten, but the Cavs are playing without two all-star players in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

They are also missing the guy who started at center on opening night in Anderson Varejao.

But they keep persevering, keep grinding.

Which only makes us as a fan base even more proud of them. They have adopted the “hard-working town, hard-working team” that Michael Stanley sang about twenty years ago.

The job is only halfway done, though.

Because we grew up here, we cannot think positively about this just yet.

The Warriors’ fourth quarter, scoring 36 points, scares us. We do have confidence though, that the coaching staff will figure out what Golden State was doing and will have something to counteract it.

Why? Because they’ve done it all during the playoffs.

The Cavs still need to control the pace of the game if they want to continue having success in this series. And they have to continue “making it tough” for the Warriors on the offensive end.

No matter what the outcome is, these Cavs should be praised for their grit, which is difficult when you have the best player in the world.

When that guy plays that way, it’s easy for everyone else to fall in line.

Cavs’ Grit and Defense (and LeBron) Even Up the Series

We don’t think anyone can say the Cleveland Cavaliers lack heart.

They came into The Finals without Kevin Love and then lost Kyrie Irving during the first game with a fractured kneecap, but they gritted out a win last night to even the series at a game apiece with a 95-93 victory over Golden State in overtime.

Oh, and LeBron James showed once again why he’s still the best player in the sport with a virtuoso performance, scoring 39 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and making 11 assists in 50 minutes.

David Blatt’s team controlled the tempo and turned up the defensive intensity, holding the Warriors to under 60 points through three quarters, and under 90 points in regulation.

The wine and gold played gritty solid defense and bothered Stephen Curry into a 5 for 23 shooting night, with Matthew Dellavedova playing the role as main pest.

And for the most part, the coaching staff made adjustments all night long.

When Steve Kerr tried to go small, the Cavs countered by staying with Timofey Mozgov, and going to him a lot. The big Russian responded with 17 points, and went to the line 12 times, mainly because whoever was trying to guard him, mostly Draymond Green, lacked the size to handle him near the basket.

That said, we wish the coach would have gone back to Mozgov when the Warriors were intentionally fouling Tristan Thompson in the fourth quarter. We understand Thompson is the superior defensive player, able to guard guys much smaller than he is, but it would have messed up the strategy, and they could have used Mozgov’s superior offense in the post.

To be sure, Golden State fans will say that Curry won’t be this bad again in the series, but we would counter that by saying although Klay Thompson is an all-star, he probably won’t be as hot as he was in the first half either.

Nor will LeBron James have another game where he shoots 33% from the floor (11 for 34). If James is more efficient with his shooting going forward, it bodes well for the wine and gold.

Also, while the Warriors got a huge offensive boost from Andre Iguodala in game one (which we said was unlikely to happen again), the Cavs haven’t had a big game yet from J.R. Smith, who is capable of knocking down seven or eight three-pointers on a given night.

Cleveland did get a good game from James Jones last night, as he scored eight points in 23 minutes, but Smith and Iman Shumpert are capable of hitting long range shots that will open up the defense.

By the way, Shumpert did hit a huge three at the start of overtime last night.

And it is also doubtful the Cavs will shoot 32% as a team in the confines of Quicken Loans Arena.

Coming home doesn’t guarantee anything for the Cavs, and we are sure Mr. James will NOT let anyone of his teammates fall prey to complacency.

The concern is that since the Cavs are really only playing seven guys, the quick turn around could lead to fatigue, particularly late in the game. Blatt may need more minutes from Mike Miller and perhaps Shawn Marion tomorrow night, especially with the first two games going overtime.

The old adage is that defense is a constant, and that’s the biggest reason the Cleveland Cavaliers are in this series. Three more efforts like last night will be needed.