Golden State Warriors: 5 keys to beating the Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals
Golden State Warriors
January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates in front of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Golden State Warriors are taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals for the third straight championship matchup. Here are five keys to winning the series.
For the first time in NBA playoff history, the same two teams will meet in the Finals for the third consecutive year. In Round 3 of the Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, legacies will be on the line.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will be looking to prove they can perform in a championship series. LeBron James is striving to prove himself as the G.O.A.T. Draymond Green has last year's Game 5 suspension to redeem himself for. Kyrie Irving will be on a mission to show last year's Finals heroics were no fluke. Kevin Durant wants to prove he made the right choice joining the Dubs and finally have something to hold over LeBron's head.
As boring as the first three rounds of the playoffs have been, this Finals grudge match is going to be riveting television — especially for supporters of the Warriors, who once again enter the series as heavy favorites looking to avenge last year's defeat after winning an NBA-record 73 games, choking away a 3-1 series lead and then signing KD in the offseason.
Though the Dubs "only" won 67 games this season, they became the first team ever to start the playoffs a perfect 12-0 en route to the Finals. The Cavs, meanwhile, are a near-perfect 11-1. It's an epic clash of titans that will hopefully make up for the one-sided first three rounds.
The question is, even as the favorites, what must the Warriors do to exact revenge on King James and the Cavs? What will the keys to this championship series be, and who will be the heroes of the series? To answer those questions, here are five keys to the Golden State Warriors beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals.
Golden State Warriors
May 14, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) celebrates after making a basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the third quarter in game one of the Western conference finals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Spurs 113-111. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
5. Klay returning to form
There are two sides to the game of basketball, and Klay Thompson has been admittedly stellar on the defensive end throughout the postseason. His willingness to tackle the tougher assignment in the backcourt is a huge reason the Dubs boast a 99.1 defensive rating in the postseason, the best mark among all playoff teams.
However, it's also true that the other Splash Brother has looked a lot like NBA Finals Klay Thompson through these first three rounds on the offensive end — A.K.A. not very good.
That could be worrisome for the Finals, but it's also a terrifying to think about what happens if he gets going, since the Warriors are a perfect 12-0 without him being much of a factor in the scoring column.
Through the Warriors' first 12 playoff games, Thompson is averaging 14.4 points per game on 38.3 percent shooting from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point range. Those are drastic drop-offs from the 22.3 points per game on 46.8 percent shooting from the floor and 41.4 percent shooting from downtown that he posted during the regular season.
Up until this point, the Warriors haven't faced an opponent capable of making them pay for Thompson's shooting woes. On a more optimistic note, perhaps Klay is just getting his shooting slump out of the way now to avoid his third straight disappearing act in the Finals.
But if those struggles continue, and if Klay Thompson morphs into this year's Harrison Barnes who doesn't make Cleveland pay for leaving him open, this year's Finals could get interesting in a hurry.
Golden State Warriors
January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) blocks the shot of Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) with the help of Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second half at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
4. Preventing second chance opportunities
So far in these playoffs, the Cavaliers haven't really been a beast on the offensive glass. They're only averaging 8.3 offensive rebounds per game (10th among playoff teams), and their offensive rebounding percentage (22.6 percent) is only marginally better than that of the Dubs (20.1 percent).
In fact, the Warriors are averaging 45.8 boards per game in the playoffs — the second-best figure among all playoff teams. But after what we saw from Tristan Thompson and LeBron James in last year's Finals, it's safe to say Golden State needs to take care of this area better than they did in 2016. They should be well rested enough to do so.
Minutes through the West Finals last year vs this year
Draymond: 639 -> 416
Klay: 603 -> 413
KD: 734 -> 334https://t.co/4gTGqmXbYG— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 26, 2017
In last year's Finals, the Warriors gave up 11.7 offensive rebounds and 16.3 second chance points per game against the Cavs. Tristan Thompson alone pulled down 3.9 offensive boards per game. The Dubs may have a vastly superior defense, but going up against the top-ranked offense in the playoffs and the third-ranked offense of the regular season, they can't afford to give Cleveland extra looks.
Kevin Durant and his 8.3 rebounds per game will obviously help in that regard, but Zaza Pachulia, David West, JaVale McGee and even the Splash Brothers have to help him and Draymond Green out on the boards.
If the Warriors can close out defensive possessions and track down long rebounds off of missed three-pointers, they'll be able to ignite fast breaks and ensure the defense holds against the Cavs' mighty offense.
Golden State Warriors
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
3. Limiting Love
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. We KNOW he's going to put up big numbers. It's just what he does in the Finals, especially against this team.
As much as the Dubs hope his production will veer more toward his inefficient numbers in 2015 compared to his scorching 2016 stat lines, no combination of Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston is going to stop him.
The key, then, will be limiting the firepower of his fellow superstars, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. We'll get to Irving in a bit, but Love is the most vulnerable member of the group, and he's the one whose production could really be a thorn in Golden State's side if he gets going.
Last year, everyone made the mistake of thinking Love would be unplayable against the Warriors because of his defensive flaws. Instead, he wound up making the second-biggest defensive stop of the Finals, hurt the Dubs on the glass in Game 7 and pretty much all but redeemed himself.
Love enters this year's Finals averaging 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, canning 2.9 three-pointers a night on a red-hot 47.5 percent shooting from deep. The Warriors need to key in on taking him out of the series with either their Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner, who still needs to redeem his Game 5 suspension in last year's Finals, or Kevin Durant, who was playing at an All-Defensive team level before his injury.
Since Green may spend his time on LeBron, it'll most likely be up to KD to keep Love off the offensive glass and defend him out on the perimeter. Then, if Draymond can exploit Love's defensive flaws on the other end, the Warriors will make him a complete non-factor. From there it's a matter of hoping their superior star power, depth and defense wins out over whatever monster performances LeBron James has buried within.
Golden State Warriors
January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrate during the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
2. Make the defense pay
The Warriors are the No. 2 offense of the playoffs, boasting 115.8 points per 100 possessions. The Cavaliers are the No. 1 offense of the playoffs, boasting 120.7 points per 100 possessions.
However, there's a drastic difference on the defensive end. The Warriors were the NBA's second-best defense in the regular season (101.1) and its best defense in the playoffs (99.1). The Cavs, meanwhile, ranked 22nd in defensive rating during the regular season (108.0) and are third in the postseason (104.6).
Cleveland has actually been the better three-point shooting team during the regular season and the playoffs, but the Warriors have the firepower to make the Cavs pay on the defensive end. They should absolutely do so by sticking with the ball movement that got them here.
Draymond Green has to attack Kevin Love and make plays when he blows by him. Stephen Curry can't be bottled up by Kyrie Irving's defense, which only slightly upgrades from "lackluster" to "decent" when he's locked in.
Kevin Durant has to make LeBron James work if the Cavs stick the King on him, especially since it could make him a little more fatigued on the offensive end. If Cleveland decides to save LeBron's energy for the offense, KD has to make whoever they stick on him absolutely miserable since no one else on that roster can defend him. If LeBron doesn't have the stamina to both guard KD and carry the offensive burden, this is one area Golden State could have a huge advantage.
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson has to win his shooting guard matchup with J.R. Smith, which might not sound like much, but was an uphill battle in last year's Finals. The Warriors have sneaky good bench depth, and some of those more inexperienced youngsters and aging veterans have to rise to the occasion in limited minutes.
The Dubs have been a well-oiled machine in the playoffs. Their offense cannot dissolve into too much isolation basketball, especially since they averaged a league-leading 30.4 assists per game during the regular season and a league-leading 27.8 assists per game in the playoffs.
This is also where defensive rebounding comes back in, because the Warriors need to push the tempo. They're averaging a league-leading 20.7 fast break points per game in the postseason, compared to just 11.2 per game for the Cavs. That has to stay the same, unlike last year when Cleveland's 16.4 fast break points per game in the Finals trumped Golden State's 9.4 per game.
If the Dubs can continue to play at a the second-fasted pace in the playoffs (102.6) and thrive off transition opportunities, Cleveland's seventh-fastest pace (97.7) and defense will wilt under the pressure. This team is too smart with its passing and off-ball movement to slip back into bad habits.
Against such an underwhelming defense, the Warriors have to push the tempo, move the ball and fully exploit Cleveland's greatest weakness.
Golden State Warriors
January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
1. Curry vs. Kyrie
Foul trouble and an injury early on in the playoffs held Stephen Curry back in the Finals, and the Warriors were still one Draymond Green suspension away from probably winning the series in five games. But there's no denying that the two-time MVP was absolutely punked by Kyrie Irving when it mattered most, and that can't happen again in 2017.
In last year's Finals, Curry averaged 22.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.9 steals per game on .403/.400/.929 shooting splits. Those numbers paled in comparison to Kyrie's 27.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game on .468/.405/.939 shooting splits.
Oh, and Irving just so happened to drill the Game 7 go-ahead three right in Steph's face too.
So far this postseason, Curry has been superb, averaging 28.6 points, 5.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game on .502/.431/.907 shooting splits. He looks far more comfortable than last year's playoffs, and should be a man on a mission in a rematch with Cleveland. If the Warriors get this Curry in the Finals, they should be fine.
However, the two-time MVP has not always been at his best once the championship series rolls around. And as last year's Finals — or even his recent 42-point detonation against the Boston Celtics — shows, Kyrie is a ticking time bomb.
Klay Thompson will probably spend more time on Kyrie than Steph, but when it comes down to the battle of these elite point guards, Golden State needs its favorite chef to cook up a hearty dish of revenge. I hear it's one that's best served cold.
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