Golden State Warriors: 5 takeaways from Game 3 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

4. Irving needs to elevate his game beyond tough shot making

Irving had his best game of these Finals by far. That was to be expected after last year’s Game 3 breakout, and from a guy with too much talent to be held quiet throughout an entire series.

He still could have been better, though, in ways that go beyond him making even more crazy shots. Irving’s unwillingness to move the ball and create for others came back to bite him in three ways.

First, he was 0-of-7 from deep. To go 16-of-21 from inside the arc and only finish with a true-shooting percentage of 60.1 (Curry was 8-of-19, but had a TS percentage of 61.3) is a problem. Part of that is the make-or-miss nature of basketball, but the Warriors do a great job of defending Irving’s off-the-dribble threes. If he were to penetrate, kick the ball around, circle back out and look for the swing pass, he’d be a more efficient shooter.

This gets into the second way in which his style of play hurt his team. This Cavs roster is built around James, and therefore is loaded with catch-and-shoot superstars. While Irving’s isolation scoring is great, his inability to take full advantage of the roster is troubling. This is true especially when James sits—the Cavs were outscored 11-0 in Game 3 with Irving on and James off.

The third problem manifested itself on arguably the game’s most important play (video starts at play below):

Trailing 114-113, Irving took the ball up with 45 seconds remaining. James directed J.R. Smith to go set a ball screen, hoping to get Curry switched onto Irving. Terrific communication between Curry and Andre Iguodala blew up the action, but Irving wasn’t concerned with anything but his defender (Klay Thompson) and his target (the rim). He ended up hoisting a step-back three over an outstretched Thompson, which came off the rim with 25 seconds to play. Having squandered a two-for-one, Cleveland had to foul.

The Cavaliers’ depth is comparable to that of the Warriors, as is their superstar forward. The biggest difference between these teams is at point guard.