Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 adjustments for Game 2 of 2017 NBA Finals

3. TT and the other role players have to step up

Cleveland’s Big Three scored 67 of the team’s 90 points. LeBron and Kyrie accounted for 52 of those 90 points. Outside of the big names, the Cavaliers’ offensive production was virtually non-existent.

Kevin Love could be a lot better after finishing Game 1 with 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting, and he’ll need to be better considering how big a liability he is on defense. But as far as role players who need to step up, it starts with Tristan Thompson.

In last year’s Finals, TT was an absolute X-factor, finishing around the basket, hauling in offensive rebounds at a staggering rate and switching onto guards in pick-and-roll coverage to contain the Warriors’ three-point threats.

That wasn’t the case Thursday night.

In Game 1, Thompson put up a goose egg in the scoring column on 0-of-3 shooting. He only pulled down four rebounds and zero offensive boards — this after averaging 9.2 rebounds per game during the regular season and ranking sixth in the entire league in offensive rebounds per game (3.7).

In last year’s Finals, TT pulled down 3.9 offensive rebounds per game and his defense — both on the perimeter and the interior — was monumental. Being a complete non-factor in 22 minutes can’t be a recurring trend moving forward.

The rest of the role players need to wake up as well. J.R. Smith made the first bucket of the game on a corner three, then didn’t score the rest of the way, finishing with three points on 1-of-4 shooting.

Kyle Korver put up a goose egg in 20 minutes, going 0-for-3 from deep and being a complete non-factor. Deron Williams also finished with zero points, going 0-for-4 in 19 minutes. Richard Jefferson had nine points in 15 minutes, but was absolutely demolished on the defensive end, while Iman Shumpert finished his night 2-for-6.

Cleveland’s Big Three obviously needs to be better, but the role players have to do a MUCH better job of giving them more time to rest. If this kind of bench production continues, giving Channing Frye and Derrick Williams minutes is the least Tyronn Lue could do.