Cleveland Cavaliers Take Step Back In Loss Against Warriors
The Cleveland Cavaliers take a major step back against the Golden State Warriors as they lost Game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals, 104-89.
Wake me up when the 2016 NBA Finals start.
This was by far the worst game the Cleveland Cavaliers have played all postseason. No, it wasn’t due to an offensive onslaught from Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson or even Draymond Green.
It was due to poor ball movement, and players from the Golden State Warriors bench that turned back the clocks in Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa and Andre Iguodala. The Cavaliers had no answer for any of them.
Even worse, they reverted back to Iso-ball. There was very little ball movement, and the Cavaliers just looked unprepared. It seemed to be one of those instances where they had a gameplan, but had to change it on the run due to the the Warriors reserves looking like those great early 2000 Sacramento Kings benches.
Curry and Thompson combined for only 20 points on 8-of-27 shooting, and only went 4-of-13 from three-point range. I think any team would live with that and believe they have a chance to win. While Cleveland did a good job in thwarting them, they forgot about the “others” on the Warriors — and that ended up being one of the X-factors for them.
The Cavaliers bench was outscored 45-10. Some of it might be attributed to coach Tyronn Lue not sticking with the regular rotation and minutes, while most is from the Warriors reserves just outplaying Cleveland in every facet. But the biggest issue I saw besides the Cavaliers’ inability to move the ball and score was the defense.
Numerous times they would get confused on pick-and-rolls from the Warriors, which led to wide open three-point opportunities and dribble penetration. Golden State is great at switching their players onto the weaker defenders of teams, and the Cavaliers fell for it every time.
At times, you would see J.R. Smith or Iman Shumpert on LIvingston, but Green would set a quick screen, and suddenly 6-foot-3 Kyrie Irving was guarding him one-on-one, and he just shot over the top. That play seemed to have been ran endlessly by the Warriors, thus leading to Livingston having a career game.
It was one of the biggest reasons the Cavaliers lost Games 3 and 4 to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. They must find a way to cheat or stay at home on the switches to avoid getting burned for easy scores.
The transition defense was nonexistent as the Warriors got anything they wanted off of long rebounds or mid-court passes for the quick score.
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Another issue with Cleveland was the countless missed layups and wide open shots. Kevin Love didn’t have a terrible game as he had 17 points and 13 rebounds, but he struggled to make layups and midrange shots even when he had the defense beaten.
LeBron James wasn’t much better. While he put up his usual numbers, he was too passive when he needed to be aggressive.
It could have been because of the lack of calls he was getting, or it was due to him being fatigued having to guard Curry and everybody else, but if the Cavaliers want to stand any chance in the series he must be assertive.
It was only a Game 1 loss by the Cavaliers, but they must play with a sense of urgency in Game 2. With a Sunday loss, the series could potentially be over — at least from a mental standpoint. They faced adversity against the Raptors last series, and they are now experiencing it with the Warriors.
More hoops habit: 2016 NBA Finals: Game 1 Recap And Highlights
If they make the right adjustments and don’t shy away from the “moment,” they will have better results.