Golden State Warriors: 5 keys to beating Cavaliers in 2018 NBA Finals
5. Don’t let Tyronn Lue play his best guys
On paper, the Cavs are worse than they were last year. In many ways, however, they present a bigger challenge to Golden State.
Think back to these teams’ first matchup in 2015. With Kevin Love already hurt and Irving joining him following Game 1, the Warriors were expected to win in a sweep. Instead, Cleveland won Games 2 and 3 by defending better, rebounding better and unleashing LeBron James more fully than it would have with its other stars healthy.
This year’s Cavs are a charged up version of that team. Irving is gone, but George Hill does not need to have an out-of-body experience to defend and score like Matthew Dellavedova did for two games. Love is struggling offensively, but is rebounding and defending harder than he has since coming to Cleveland. Tristan Thompson has been resurgent, and Jeff Green gives Cleveland a better wing defender than its had throughout this rivalry.
If Tyronn Lue runs out Hill, Green, James, Love and Thompson, he has a chance to slow the game down, dominate inside and defend enough for LeBron to be the difference. If he gets something out of J.R. Smith offensively, he can insert him for Love to up the lineups switching ability.
Golden State’s four All-Stars and whoever else plays will be better than any group Lue throws out there. Just as Steve Kerr relished the Ryan Anderson, Joe Johnson and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute minutes in the conference finals, however, he would prefer to see one-dimensional guys like Kyle Korver, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. on the court.
Perhaps the best way to force Lue’s hand here is to focus on defense. If Kerr gives more minutes to guys like Jordan Bell, Shaun Livingston and, health permitting, Andre Iguodala, while keeping Nick Young, Quinn Cook and Kevon Looney (more on this later) off the court, he can make it extremely difficult for guys like Hill, Green and Smith to score.
If he gets Lue to panic and go to more offensive lineups, that’s when Kerr can rest his defenders, give the ball to his superstars and attack the weak links repeatedly.