Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 keys to beating the Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals
Cleveland Cavaliers
January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Cavaliers are taking on the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals for the third straight championship matchup. Here are five keys to winning the series.
Coming off an improbable comeback from a 3-1 deficit in last year's NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to defend their championship crown in the 2017 NBA Finals. Their matchup with the Golden State Warriors will mark the first time in league history that the same two teams meet in the championship round for three straight years.
Legacies will be on the line in this series. After putting together the greatest three-year stretch in NBA history, the Warriors will be looking to avenge last year's devastating loss and validate the Kevin Durant signing that created such an "unfair" super-team.
The Cavaliers will be looking to prove that last year was no one-time fluke — especially as LeBron James tries to move one ring closer to Michael Jordan in the G.O.A.T. conversation, since a loss in this series would drop him to 3-5 all-time in the Finals.
The first three rounds of the 2017 NBA Playoffs have been one-sided and ultimately boring, but with the Dubs going a perfect 12-0 and the Cavs boasting a near-perfect 12-1 mark, NBA fans should strap in for an epic slugfest between two bonafide juggernauts in the championship round.
The question is, even for the defending champs with one of the greatest players of all-time, what do they have to do to upset a heavily favored Western powerhouse? To answer that question, here's a look at five keys to the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Jun 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) goes for a rebound against Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: John G. Mabanglo-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
5. Dominating the offensive glass
Through their first 13 playoff games, crashing the offensive glass hasn't been a huge part of Cleveland's success. When you're blowing people out by 40 in the conference finals, second chance opportunities don't really need to be a point of emphasis.
Against the Warriors, however, the Cavs' best hope of countering all those small-ball Lineups of Death is to use LeBron, Kevin Love and especially Tristan Thompson to bully their opponents on the boards, pull down offensive rebounds and earn second chance opportunities.
So far in the playoffs, Cleveland is averaging only 8.3 rebounds per game (10th among all playoff teams) and their offensive rebounding percentage (22.6 percent) is only marginally better than Golden State's (20.1 percent).
However, even with the Warriors averaging the second-most rebounds per game among all playoff teams during their perfect 12-0 start, the Cavs hauled in 11.7 offensive rebounds leading to 16.3 second chance opportunities in last year's championship series against the Dubs.
As the top-ranked offense in the playoffs and the third-ranked offense from the regular season, Cleveland's best method for finding weaknesses in Golden State's mighty defense is to get extra cracks at it. For a heavy three-point shooting team, tracking down those long rebounds could be key in overcoming the Warriors' stingy defense.
Kevin Durant, David West, Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee will help the Warriors in that regard, but Cleveland pulling down offensive boards with Thompson, who specializes in this kind of dirty work, could demoralize a heavily favored team that will start to feel the pressure if the Cavs start turning those extra chances into backbreaking buckets.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dec 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) is guarded by Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
4. What the Cavs…need now…is Love, sweet Love
Kevin Love could be the biggest X-factor in this series. In last year's Finals, a concussion and the Warriors' small-ball lineups rendered him little more than an afterthought until Game 7, when he came up with his infamous stop on Stephen Curry and 14 rebounds.
Heading into this year's Finals, Love is playing some of his best basketball since joining the Cavs. In the playoffs, he's averaging 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game on blistering .457/.475/.855 shooting splits. He hasn't been exposed on defense, he's spread the floor and in the conference finals, he was absolutely unstoppable during Cleveland's decimation of the Boston Celtics.
The question is, can he produce at a high enough level against either Draymond Green or Kevin Durant — two All-Defensive caliber defenders this season — to make up for the almost certain mismatches he'll face on the other end of the floor?
From @brohrbach:Kevin Love is finally at ease in Cleveland, and that should make the Warriors uncomfortable – https://t.co/dDWn4HKlNE pic.twitter.com/usvArlJM9W
— Kelly Dwyer (@KDonhoops) May 29, 2017
More than likely, the Cavs will try to hide Love on Zaza Pachulia on defense, using Tristan Thompson to try and limit Draymond and giving LeBron James the monumental task of leading the offense and chasing Kevin Durant all over the damn place.
That's a huge burden to put on LeBron fatigue-wise, since the Dubs can also use small-ball lineups to negate Love's impact, or simply put Draymond on LeBron, let KD's length and rebounding lock up Love and stick Pachulia on TT with only one objective in mind — keep him off the boards.
Last year, Kyrie Irving unexpectedly outplaying Stephen Curry was the major X-factor. While it'd be great if that happened again in 2017, for the Cavaliers to repeat as NBA champions, they might need Kevin Love to fill that role this time around.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Jun 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) handles the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the third quarter in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
3. Exploit Curry on defense
Much like the Warriors will try to create mismatches by involving Love in pick-and-roll action, so too will the Cavaliers try to exploit Stephen Curry on the defensive end.
As ESPN's Zach Lowe detailed in his NBA Finals primer, Cleveland bullied the two-time MVP in last year's championship series by constantly sending his man to screen for LeBron and capitalizing on the ensuing mismatches.
Switching Curry onto the King leaves him vastly outsized and outmuscled. Doubling LeBron allows him to pick apart the defense with his pinpoint precision on his laser passes. Even when Curry and LeBron's defender contain the screen well, running Steph through all those screens took a toll on his energy levels.
This is so awesome from @EricApricot, on the new way Golden State uses Curry in PnR defense against LeBron https://t.co/a0Ab8cBI0i
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) May 30, 2017
Curry wasn't 100 percent in last year's Finals, which won't be the case this time around. He'll also be playing with a chip on his shoulder, not to mention with less pressure on him without two consecutive MVPs and a 73-win season adding extra expectation to the whole matchup.
However, if the Cavs can run Curry down on the defensive end — especially since the Dubs would be wise to put Klay Thompson on Kyrie Irving from the get-go — and if he's running all over the place on the offensive end, fatigue could be a real factor here, once again giving a possible edge to Kyrie.
In last year's Finals, Irving unexpectedly outplayed the league MVP, averaging 27.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game on .468/.405/.939 shooting splits to Curry's 22.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.9 steals per game on .403/.400/.929 shooting splits.
Curry hasn't been as bad in the Finals as social media would lead you to believe, but if the Cavaliers can exploit him on the defensive end and shake his confidence a little bit, Kyrie Irving could very easily outplay him again and give Cleveland yet another monumental advantage.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Jun 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the Golden State Warriors in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
2. The defense has to hold
The biggest mismatch in this series is not an individual matchup, but rather, Golden State's offense against Cleveland's defense in general.
Through the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Cavs have been the third-best defense of the postseason, holding opponents to 104.6 points per 100 possessions. That's a stark improvement from the 108.0 points per 100 possessions they hemorrhaged during the regular season, which ranked 22nd in the NBA.
The Warriors, meanwhile, aside from possessing the NBA's second-best defense in the regular season (101.1) and stingiest defense in the playoffs (99.1), are also the league's second-ranked offense in the playoffs (115.8) and top-ranked offense from the regular season (113.2).
That should be somewhat frightening for a Cavs defense that faced mundane offenses in their playoff run, especially since they made the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics look like high-powered offensive units at times.
Flabbergasting first quarter. Feels like the Celtics should be up even more. Warriors would smoke Cavs playing this flabby defense. @ringer
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 24, 2017
The Warriors machine is another matter entirely, and you can be guaranteed Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson aren't going to let the Cavs off the hook for leaving them wide open like Harrison Barnes did last year.
More from Hoops Habit
Though the Cavs' defense has faltered at times in the playoffs, for the most part, the effort has drastically improved, especially compared to after the All-Star break when only the Los Angeles Lakers had a more porous defense. The trend has to continue through the next 4-7 games.
LeBron has to have the energy to guard either Kevin Durant or Draymond Green and STILL bring it on the offensive end. Tristan Thompson has to be able to defend Green's playmaking and chase him out to the perimeter. Kyrie or whoever the Warriors put on Curry has to hold the two-time MVP in check. J.R. Smith or Irving has to make sure Klay Thompson doesn't shake off his shooting slump and serve as the proverbial dagger in Cleveland's side.
And all this is without mentioning how Kevin Love has to somehow hold his own on the defensive end to stay on the floor, and the bench needing to do its part to combat Golden State's superior depth.
Against a team that moves the ball obnoxiously well and features four of the league's 20 best players, the Cavaliers' defense has to hold for them to have a prayer in this series.
Cleveland Cavaliers
January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the third quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
1. LeBron entering berserker mode again
In the last two Finals series against the Warriors, LeBron James has averaged 32.5 points, 12.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.
So far through these playoffs, the King is averaging a staggering 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game on blistering .566/.421/.712 shooting splits.
cavaliers
King James Gospel 10hWhy Isiah Thomas is saying LeBron James is "the greatest player to ever play the game"
More headlines around FanSided:
13h - Cleveland Cavaliers unveil modernized logos, global shield17h - LeBron James subjected to hate crime, Los Angeles home vandalized17h - Cavaliers vs Warriors: 2017 NBA Finals Schedule And Odds18h - King James Gospel's 2017 NBA Mock Draft19h - Golden State Warriors: 3 keys to defeating the Cavs in the NBA FinalsMore News at King James Gospel
We KNOW he's going to put up humongous numbers. The question is whether they'll be mammoth enough to put the Cavaliers on his back as he's done in the last two championship series against — and we swear it's true this time — his greatest Finals opponent yet.
In two regular season meetings with the Dubs, LeBron averaged only 25.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Though he shot 41.7 percent from three-point range, he followed up a 31-point, 14-rebound performance in the team's Christmas Day win with a 20-point, eight-rebound, 6-for-18 dud in a 35-point loss a few weeks later.
Regular season matchups don't matter much, especially when you realize the Dubs pounded Cleveland by 34 in mid-January in 2016 before choking away that 3-1 series lead. But Golden State did a good job limiting LeBron's playmaking in their two regular season matchups this year, which cannot be the case again in these Finals.
If Kevin Love holds his own and Kyrie Irving outplays Curry for the second straight time, it still won't matter without another historic, monster series from the King. That's how good these Warriors are.
LeBron will not only need to limit either Draymond or KD on the defensive end, but he'll also need to lead the charge on the offensive end as the Warriors throw long-limbed defender after long-limbed defender at him. If his three-point shot continues to fall in particular, even the Warriors' stingy defense could be in trouble.
We've seen LeBron James hit unbelievable highs over his last two series against this team, and they still don't have anyone who can stop him for a full seven-game series. For the Cleveland Cavaliers to upset the Dubs for the second straight year, the King may have to top off perhaps his best postseason run ever with his greatest Finals performance yet.
