2015 NBA Finals: 5 Things To Look For Heading Into Game 2

2 of 6

June 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) controls the ball against the defense of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first half in game one of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Who Will LeBron Play The Two-Man Pick-and-Roll Game With?

Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers repeatedly ran the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving 1-3 pick-and-roll, forcing the Warriors to either switch Klay Thompson onto LeBron or give Kyrie a full head of steam while turning the corner.

As a result, James caught fire, abusing Thompson in the pinch post as the mild-mannered Splash Brother failed to adequately wrestle with the King in the rugged confines of the interior trenches.

However, with Kyrie sidelined for the remainder of the Finals, Cleveland will not have the luxury of leaning on their highly effective two-man game — a big blow for a team with a limited playbook.

In an effort to diversify their iso-centric offensive scheme, look for the Cavs to run more spread pick-and-rolls with LeBron as the handler, while using whoever Stephen Curry is guarding as the screener.

By doing so, the Cavs can simultaneously wear the reigning MVP down on the defensive end, while causing the occasional Curry switch on James.

More importantly, if Cleveland opts to go big on the perimeter by sliding Iman Shumpert to the point and J.R. Smith to the 2, both Shumpert and Smith can comfortably shoot over the top of Steph if James chooses to whip a kick-out pass out to his sharpshooting brethrens.

The problem is, as we saw in Game 1, the Warriors have made a concerted effort to go waaaayyyy under on every LeBron screen, seducing the 6-foot-9 locomotive to settle for outside jumpers — in which they were successful, as James attempted a career playoff-high 22 shot attempts from outside the paint on Thursday night.

LeBron James was 7-of-22 outside the paint in Game 1. That's his most attempts outside the paint in a game in his postseason career.
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) June 5, 2015

It will be interesting to see how the Cavs — specifically, LeBron — can combat the Warriors congestive coverage in Game 2 and curate open opportunities for his perimeter teammates.

Next: Small Ball Dubs