After marching through the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers were sent to what seemed like an entirely new dimension Thursday night in Game One of the NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena.
The scary part was — and as it has been for the most of the playoffs — it didn’t even seem like the Golden State Warriors were at their best in the 108-100 series-opening overtime victory.
What Steve Kerr’s squad did do was execute its game plan extremely well. LeBron James almost single-handedly carried the Cavs to victory, but much as James Harden did at times in the previous round, it was in a way the Dubs could live with.
Only 4 of LeBron’s 38 shots were in the restricted area
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) June 5, 2015
During the playoffs this is what the Cavs shot selection has looked like with James on the court:
During Game One it looked like this:
Cleveland took 15.2% fewer shots at the rim, 13.5% more in the paint (non-restricted area), 2.6% more mid-range and basically the same amount of threes. Even with the bump in the field goal percentage from mid-range and in the paint because of James’s excellence, it wasn’t enough to carry the Cavs to victory.
Outside of LeBron, the only other player who proved capable of initiating Cleveland’s offense was Kyrie Irving.
For the first 51 minutes of the game, he looked like his peak self, using his potent handle to get into the teeth of the Warriors defense, finishing difficult shots at the rim, nailing pull-up jumpers, creating the occasional easy shot for others, and even playing a fantastic defensive game. Irving finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals, two blocks, and one turnover.
Before getting to the injury, herein lies the problem for what happened to the Cavaliers in Game 1. James and Irving were tremendous, but because of the defense the Warriors employed, plus connecting on only 4-16 threes overall, they were held to 67 points on 60 shots. Golden State will live with that type of output, especially if it can hold the rest of Cleveland’s role players to 33 points on 11-34 shooting.
If Irving is back to the hobbled version of himself we’ve seen the majority of the playoffs, any hopes of bringing the first championship to Cleveland in 51 years go down with him. It’s hard to function against a defense as good as the Warriors with only one capable playmaker. These are the exact types of problems the Rockets would run into for stretches, being built solely around James Harden’s playmaking and creating ability. It’s going to take an incredible individual effort from James to generate positive offensive outcomes without anyone else to help him put Golden State’s defense on the move.
Not being able to steal a Game 1 that featured Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combining to shoot an average 5-15 from three was a missed opportunity for the Cavs.
If the Cavaliers can’t find adjustments to generate better overall shots than they did Thursday night, there’s a good chance the rest of the series doesn’t play out this close, with or without Irving.
