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Chalk another one up to the stink of desperation. Desperation in all forms of life is an un-manufacturable (fake arse word) thing. It’s the fight or flight situation in real life, or in the case of sports, the thing that makes you play like your very soul is on the line.
That’s what the Cleveland Cavs had to do tonight, and you know what? That’s what they did.
The Cavs shot 12-26 from deep, which leads people to say things like, “they’re shooting out of their minds. That’s why they’re winning” as if that isn’t part of the desperation. Shooting well, for whatever reason, gets overlooked when it comes to how desperate a team is.
To some “desperation” is only about floor burns, offensive rebounds, and balls saved flying out of bounds. The truth is, shooting with focus is a very big deal, and when you don’t do it, you have no chance at making a reasonable amount of shots.
It means flying into the lane with the ball to give a shooter that open step into it on the kick out or swing pass that makes all the difference whether there’s a hand in the face or not. At some point, for both of these teams, water will find its level. The Chicago Bulls made every deep jumper they needed to in game one. The Cavs did in game two.
Lebron James was significantly more aggressive this time around, which should maybe worry some, but Lebron’s been up and down the block enough times where he knows when he has to turn it on. Lament that not being “every game,” but it’s a reality.
Go play golf in your weekly men’s club versus doing it for the club championship. You can’t tell me the focus isn’t different. Or if you’re not into golf, going out on a date with a 6 versus going out on a date with a 10. You can’t manufacture effort and focus there, either.
One thing for Lebron is that this isn’t the Heat. He has Kyrie Irving, but he doesn’t have another guy on this roster that can go get 30-some and win a game. Lebron will have to realize he has to score. Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade isn’t doing it for him, and Irving is learning on the fly.
The ancillary parts were outstanding. Tristan Thompson had 12 boards, 7 on the offensive end. Matthew Dellavedova (arguably my favorite D-1 college player of all time) dumped out 9 assists. James Jones turned back the clock to those few games when people thought he might grow into a star and put up 17.
And the Bulls weren’t special. Derrick Rose couldn’t hit air if he jumped out of a plane tonight. Some will say this is more representative of what this series will be, the Rose part. So too is the Cavs shooting from deep part, particularly from now potentially injured Iman Shumpert.
Water finds its level in all cases over time, which is why the NBA Playoffs are the most representative playoff system for finding a sure-fire champ that exists.
But in the end, it’s the stench of being desperate to not have it all end that was the story of game two. The Cavs were after everything; the Bulls were slow getting out of cuts and only made one real rally, right after half time.
Both will need to play with it to win the series. Nobody’s running away and hiding this time around.
