Golden State Warriors: 10 Keys To Beating The Cleveland Cavaliers

5. Draymond Making Love Unplayable

When Kevin Love is at his best, the Cleveland Cavaliers are an extremely difficult offense to stop. With LeBron drawing double-teams attacking the basket and shooters like Kyrie, Smith, Frye and Love posted up on the perimeter, defending the Cavs can become a “pick your poison” kind of endeavor.

Of course, there’s a counter to this that happens on the other end of the floor: Taking one less shooter off the board by exploiting Kevin Love — who is shooting a blistering 44.6 percent from three-point range in these playoffs — on the defensive end until Tyronn Lue has no choice but to pull him.

Herein lies Golden State’s biggest potential advantages. How long before Curry-Draymond pick-and-rolls devastate Kyrie and Kevin Love’s defense and everyone begins pointing the finger at Love?

It really is unfortunate for Love that Cleveland’s Finals opponent is the Warriors rather than the Thunder. He might have stood a better chance against Serge Ibaka, a more traditional pick-and-pop stretch-4 who possesses very little of the playmaking that makes Green so dangerous.

But against a smart Warriors team that will run Curry pick-and-rolls with Green until Cleveland’s defense is dizzy, Love may become unplayable in the fourth quarter.

We’ve already seen Love’s confidence and three-point shooting waver a few times in these playoffs; what happens when he’s constantly being exposed on defense AND his shot stops falling against an elite defense?

Green is the league’s most versatile defender who can guard Love on the perimeter or in the post. Love will make the Dubs pay for leaving him open if he finds as much space as Ibaka did in the last round, but as excited as Love may be to contribute in his first Finals appearance, early game jitters should be expected.

Love is only shooting 39.1 percent from the floor in the postseason despite his efficient three-point shooting, and those early post-ups to get him going early won’t fly against a tough interior defender like Green.

On the other end, Green’s averages — 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.6 steals per game — are a testament to the well-rounded threat he poses, especially if Lue doesn’t make the crucial adjustment of putting Thompson on Green and hoping Love can hold his own against Bogut.

Love has to out-rebound Green, play the best defense of his career and be matched up with the more offensively inept Bogut to be playable in this series. He has to shoot the ball well from three-point range and maintain his confidence when the Cavs face their greatest challenge yet.

That’s an awfully tall task to ask of a player who’s never been this far in the playoffs before, especially against the emotional leader of a 73-win Warriors team who will exploit his defensive flaws in endless pick-and-rolls with the league MVP.

And that’s before Kerr rolls out the small-ball unit to make Love defend on the perimeter.

Next: No. 4