Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from Game 3 vs. Warriors

2. Cavaliers defense was incredibly awful

“Holding” the Warriors to 110 points is actually a pretty good showing for any opponent given the firepower they possess. Allowing them to shoot 51.9 percent from the field certainly isn’t ideal, but it’s not a scorching number.

Rather, the reason Cleveland’s defense gets the awful label is in regards to the way in which Golden State scored a large chunk of its points.

It’s fair to assume that after four consecutive matchups in the Finals, the Cavaliers would have a pretty good idea of how to defend the Warrior’s offensive sets.

This doesn’t mean that Golden State should be completely shut down on the offensive end, but the amount of wide open layups the Warriors got in Game 3 is mind-boggling.

A fairly standard off-ball screen turns into a wide open layup for Jordan Bell, as Larry Nance Jr. and Jeff Green simply didn’t communicate to switch.

One might argue that Cleveland didn’t want to have Nance Jr. guard Stephen Curry, forcing Green to stick to him, allowing Bell an easy run to the rim.

If that were true, then why were the Cavs content to have Kevin Love guard Kevin Durant repeatedly down the stretch?

This example is not a singular case.

Multiple times throughout just the final frame, Cleveland neglected to make the proper rotations or communicate with each other, leading to easy layups, or in the case below, an open 3 for a struggling Curry.

On certain plays, rather than help off poor shooters in Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green, Cavs defenders were content to let Golden State run pick-and-rolls without a single defender near the paint.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Warriors converted 18-of-21 uncontested shots within three feet of the basket, which speaks volumes to their ball movement but also reveals fatal flaws in Cleveland’s defense.

The Warriors are a great offensive team, and sometimes even the best defenses can’t stifle them, but there’s a difference between forcing them into tough shots and living with the results vs. whatever strategy the Cavaliers trotted out in Game 3.