5. Cleveland’s offense can reach higher heights than Golden State’s
The Warriors have the greatest offense in NBA history. The stats bear this out, though a look at their roster and scheme is enough to jump to this conclusion.
Still, Cleveland’s offense is better in two areas: isolation scoring and depth of shooters. Because of this, it is able to reach levels that even Golden State cannot, or at least does not regularly.
Case in point: The Cavaliers hit 24 threes last night, shattering the Warriors’ six-day-old Finals record of 18.
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When you factor in volume, range and ability to hit against good defense, the Warriors may have the three best outside shooters in the league. After that, though, it’s Ian Clark, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Patrick McCaw. Clark is the best shooter among them, but he’s got limited size, a slow release, and no history of being able to heat up with volume.
In other words, the Warriors have three all-time great shooters, but also only three plus shooters. Cleveland has six — LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver and Channing Frye (though he did not play in Game 4). You have to get to their seventh, eight and ninth-best shooters — Deron Williams, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert — to find comps for Golden State’s fourth, fifth and sixth guys.
When James and Irving are going off in isolation like no one else can (this includes both pull-up threes and drives), the Cavs have a base from which to build a historic night on. When the defense collapses and leaves heat-check legends like Smith (5-of-9 on threes in Game 4) and Love (6-of-8), there is potential for fireworks that even the Warriors cannot create.