All eyes are on the NBA’s championship series — the attention is more finely focused; there isn’t another series to look at on alternating days; immortality is the prize for the winner. Everything matters just a little bit more, and that’s why front-page banner headlines have to be accompanied by the page-one developments below the fold of your morning paper.
While much of the publicity rightfully belongs to LeBron James averaging 41.5 points, 12 rebounds and 8.5 assists, there’s another story here that’s given us a historic start to the 2015 NBA Finals.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ defense is the reason James has been been able to succeed in another, more surprising incarnation of himself. We’ve seen LeBron play the role of Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. The Kobe Bryant- and Allen Iverson-type gunner is something completely different.
With the series between the Golden State Warriors and the Cavaliers tied up at one and both games going to overtime, the typically uber-efficient James is shooting a measly 39.5% from the field with a 48.6 true shooting percentage (accounting for threes and free throws). James has shot .477 from the field in the playoffs during his career and compiled a .570 TS%.
He’s taking an ungodly 36.5 shots per game in this series because he has to without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, and the Cavs’ defense is making it all possible. There are certain contexts in which his inefficient play wouldn’t be able to get it done, but when you’re playing a grind-it-out style of basketball, the inefficient James is exactly what Cleveland needs. If his shots were getting redistributed to other teammates there’s no guarantee the outcome is any better than what the future Hall of Famer is doing.
During the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Cavaliers held the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks to an average of 98.5 points per 100 possessions. The league-best Warriors had a 98.2 defensive rating during the regular season. The question of how good these numbers actually were came into play — the Celtics were the seventh-seed in a poor Eastern Conference, plus the Hawks and Bulls were dealing with a variety of injuries and weren’t playing like their peak selves.
To this point it’s holding to form against Golden State, with the Cavs posting a 99.7 DRtg through the first two games. Klay Thompson broke out in Game 2, but Stephen Curry still can’t get going. Kyrie Irving played a surprisingly high level of defense in Game 1, Matthew Dellavedova was terrific on that end in Game 2, and the big man combination of Timofey Mozgov alongside Tristan Thompson is corralling the league’s best marksman with quick feet and length.
Another aspect of defense the Cavs have been great at is finding Curry in transition. During the regular season he scored 25.8% of his points on fast breaks, and for the entire playoffs it’s been 19.3%, but in the first two games of the NBA Finals it’s only 11.1%. Curry is shooting 34.9% on 21.5 shots overall, and 19% from three-point range.
The Memphis Grizzlies went through a similar stretch in the second round when they were able to slow down Curry and the Warriors’ typically prolific offense. In Games 2 and 3 Golden State combined to shoot 12-52 from three with Curry missing on 17 of 21. Through two games the Cavs have held the Dubs to 18-62 from deep with Curry missing 17 of 21 again. The Warriors exploded in the final three games of the Memphis series, connecting on 43-95 behind the arc and Curry knocking down 18-35.
Will the Warriors’ offense rediscover itself again, or is what the Cavs are accomplishing on defense more sustainable than the spurt from the Grizz? The mobility of Mozgov and Thompson certainly helps, giving them defensive skills on the perimeter from their bigs neither Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph have.
Cleveland is giving extra attention to Curry on the outside and allowing Draymond Green extra space to make plays. He’s averaging 2.5 assists (down from 3.7 in the regular season) and 2.5 turnovers (up from 1.7), while making reckless passes on lobs and not hitting shooters in rhythm in the corners. Green’s playmaking ability has been central to Golden State’s success all season when the Warriors’ guards get overplayed.
All of these factors have led to the Warriors’ offense being slightly out of sync. Head coach Steve Kerr has proven throughout the playoffs that he will make the correct adjustments to jump-start Golden State in the areas where the team has floundered. He’s reached another potential turning point as the NBA Finals shift to Quicken Loans Arena for the next two games. Kerr and the Warriors have had all the answers when needed to this point in the playoffs. They’ve reached another question mark, and it’s time for this potentially historically great team to prove themselves again.
