Live Thread: Cavs @ Warriors, NBA Finals Game 4
2016-06-10
Welcome to Game 4, ladies and gentlemen. After a scintillating Game 3 Cavs win, we’ve been subjected to two days of the dumbest hyperbole in the history of NBA punditry: so much talk about how Kevin Love not playing in game four means that he was the entire problem in Games 1 and 2. (Hint: he wasn’t.) Game 3 featured plenty of great offense and defense and the Cavs definitely dialed up the ole effort meter. I’ve been saying since then that it doesn’t matter nearly as much who played in Game 3 as much as how they played. And they played hard.
So as we look toward tonight, Kevin Love made it through the pregame workout, and if I was a betting man, I’d say he was playing. The real question now, is who starts, and who plays when? But like last game, playing hard matters more than scheme and personnel to me – well, as long that personnel includes LeBron James. Speaking of LeBron, the return of his jump shot in the second half of game four was an extremely pleasant surprise, and I know we’re all hoping it continues.
Commenter, Kevin (not Love) had an interesting comment after Game 1. He said, “LeBron played with a sense of freedom last night that I have seen in awhile. I think it cause his handle to be shaky, but it also made his jump shot work. Like the more rigid he plays, the less he turns it over but the more he bricks shots.” I don’t know if I buy it, but I’ve definitely been wanting to see this team play loose since the beginning of the series (but not, you know, too loose). If he can do it again, and Kyrie can play like he did Wednesday (check out David Wood’s “woodshop” piece on Kyrie from earlier today) Cleveland as a very good chance to even things up.
…and this just in. Kevin Love is going to play. No word yet on his role. Go Cavs.
To be fair LeBron’s stats look great and he obviously contributed but I always believed that to win multiple championships like MJ did he has to back to be a good outside shooter like he was when he won the back to back championships with the Heat. If we look back at his 2 championships with the Heat he was knocking down big outside shots to close most of those games. But now he basically just tries to play bully ball and forcing drives that just aren’t there. He got 7 turnovers tonight. Again yesterday he shot the ball well… Read more »
not bothering to watch game 5…figure it will be disaster from start…sucks it went this way but Cavs have a lot of soul searching to do…maybe try to copy warriors blueprint
The give and go that Curry got at the end was as simple as it gets but got to give him credit that he went for it when he needed to.
That’s what the Cavs need to learn to do if they want to beat the Warriors or whoever comes out of the western conference.
Man lebron better put ear plugs on. National media, any non Cavs fan on the planet will be talking … Lebron was horrific. 2-5 finals record is one thing. He played terrible. He and irving need to be separated….call divorce lawyer..
Surprised that Lebron lost his cool with Green. Never seen him do that before. Didn’t think it helped.
LeBron didn’t like Green’s kick (which the announcers missed).
So LeBron stepped over him to say FU, and Green gave him a tap in the nether regions, which I missed until Evil posted the vine below. That really set LeBron off.
Check the nut punch Donkey got in… again…
I hope someone goes to Adam Silver’s house and punches him in the nuts so he knows how it feels…
2 days off but coming off a gassed game plus a flight plus shoot around. Are we expecting the team to be better physically or we should ride on the “gassed” narrative from now on?
don’t want to be so hyperbolic but Lebron may go down as Wilt Chamberlain of this generation…incredible athlete and specimen, puts up amazing stats, but just can’t win when it matters…maybe his fault maybe not but think its fair comparison
Or maybe the Jerry West… given the Finals record…
Everyone putting this on Ky and Bron. But what did the bench give them to spell minutes? Shump got all that money in the offseason and looks worse than Alonzo Gee. No Timo after we saw him in game one. Warriors go small and Cavs go smaller. It doesn’t make any sense.
Shump has definitely been lousy this season. Glad his rapping and clothes line are flourishing, though…
Hard to be effective when you a) don’t see the floor much and b) don’t get the ball much… But yes, Shump has been especially bad…
5 minutes for Delly in a game when guys are worn out seems hard to understand…
This times 1000x ^^^
When guys are worn out AND when there’s no semblance of team offense in the second half…
I like Delly as much as anybody, but the fact is he’s not been playing too well the past couple rounds.
Uh, they didn’t sub out in the second half, so I fail to see your point.
2 half was miserably bad by both kyrie and bron. Kyrie scored 30+. But he absolutely became ballhog and shot circus style and turned ball over. And no passing. Lebron iso and seem absolutely over the hill. He sucked period. Lue is a horrible coach at this level. Screw game 5 . Why spend the money and fly to Oakland ? So they can witness GS champagne party? I m done. Was never a lebron or kyrie fan other than fact they r on the team i follow but we need diff chemistry. These two have no chemstry. To be… Read more »
think Cavs need a Chalmers/Norris Cole type of guard with Lebron who can play good defense and hit the 3 point shot…kyrie and lebron both want to be heroes and we saw what happened…lebron also intimidated by warriors big time and lack of an outside shot even after 13 years is appalling
Delly????
Cavs 18-38 for 47% in the second half, 1-9 from 3.. Lebron 8-15, Kyrie 8-18, rest of the whole team 2-5… wow they literally did not even pass the ball in the second half. That’s shocking.
GSW actually shot 38% in the second half but was 9-21 from 3. (+24 at the 3 point line)
so is Curry 100% now or 90%?
He’s 85%, but if he has a bad game in game 5, he’ll be back to 40%
Man. I just don’t understand how can the team, be so gassed at this point. With almost a death sentence on the line. I never heard any issues from the Jordan Bulls/2000 Lakers about being so gassed like THIS. 1 day off no practice no flights momentum in your side with a loss bringing you closer off the cliff. I just don’t understand
GS really wears you down…tough D, and they actually run an offense that makes you work
minutes weren’t managed properly and this team is really soft in a lot of areas…kyrie and lebron both want to be heroes and lack of rebounding and any sort of free throws skills sorely lacking
Thanks God we have this blog cause I don’t even want to watch ESPN or any other sports channel.
You guys make this Blog great… Win or lose, it’s a fun ride
YEPPPP, Agree 1000%, I’m glad my coworker who is a Curry/GSW is out on vacation so I don’t have to hear him on Monday
Totally. I am in a lot of pain and I’m here for the chuckles. Any more Draymond memes out there???
No, just a low ball tap…
https://twitter.com/Complex_Sports/status/741473527648358400
Dude can’t help himself!
Who was the tapper and who was the tappee?
I think that a silver lining is that the Cavs were competitive this game. Very poor execution down the stretch, probably gassed. Series not over yet. I hope they come out fighting.
figure Cavs just put hard fouls on Warriors in this game and make them hurt so even if they win they can’t celebrate or injuries mar celebrations haha
https://twitter.com/CavsTheTweets/status/741478228389421056
https://twitter.com/CavsTheTweets/status/741478034100916228
Where it all went wrong tonight:
https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/741468758364041216
This actually makes me feel better after the loss. Remember when we had to hang out hopes on Bynum?
Talk about a bad luck charm…
I thought he might have been the dude who ran on the court with Trump Sucks painted on his chest…
be great if Cavs just foul hard all Warriors star players…have Dahntay jones just elbow Currys face…Thompsons knee and someone kick draymond in the nuts
I hope this series comes back to the Q but not expecting it to. GSW will be in position to three-peat next year and only the Cavs will be in their way in the East, Hoping for Lebron, CP3, Melo big 3 but won’t likely happen.
I picked Dubs in five, and unfortunately, I think that’s what’s going to happen…I think it would be amazing if they could take it to 6 or 7…just probably not gonna happen…
I don’t think Melo is the answer… no matter the question… lol
So now what do they do with the line up. Awkward with Love after that.
Huh? Love played great.
I just mean with the line up change. Do they stick with it?
Don’t know if it matters all that much.
Right. I don’t either, which is why I thought it seems like it could be awkward. You put me on the bench for that?
He played close to starters’ minutes coming off a serious injury. It’s probably a non-issue.
I agree. The blame here is spread on everyone. TT went invisible the 2nd half, JR offensively too. Frye was useless up to this point. And Lebron? He’s BASURA
That stretch when GS was getting every rebound, and all the loose balls just finished the Cavs. They looked completely gassed around that time. Delly played 5 minutes….I would have played him just for the fresh legs alone…
Heard at the q – “enjoy your flight back to chokeland fa*****’. I lloled
Lebron knows they need three’s and he keeps driving to pad his stats. That looks bad if you ask me.
When he gets emotional he does stupid things. Wonder what Lue thinks of this last minute by The King…..
I don’t think so. He can’t trust he outside shot, everyone is tired and GS is gonna give him a free lane because they don’t want 3pt play on the drive. I think Lebron did the right thing on that but waaaaaayyyyy too late if you ask me
i was crazy about tearing apart team after game 2…got some boost from game 3….then same thing here….really think this team needs to break it up…no one has heart on this team and kyrie and lebron can’t co-exist…not working…warriors know how to play with one another but Cavs apparently don’t…unreal this 2nd half collapse
Yeah. The collapse is so frustrating because we did it to ourselves. Nothing GS did made us do this. We just stopped passing. LeBron and Kyrie went iso ball for no reason. Once they did that in the 3rd Q, we got worked. JR didn’t shoot. Frye didn’t shoot. Love had like one shot. It was nothing but Kyrie and LeBron in the final minutes of 3Q and all of the 4Q, and we got our butts kicked
Just idiotic and unacceptable.
See above. It was the exhaustion. You could see it. Cavs resting on offense. 100% on Lue for running Kyrie and Bron into the ground.
I agree. Next game does Lue just go all in and play Lebron all 48 min?
crazy.
I hate to quote Cols, but that’s nuts.
Cavs will be the best team in the east for the forseeable future.
Does it really matter if they dont win a championship ? I aint about moral victories, second place is the first loser.
You do what you can to get there every year and see where the chips fall.
Lebron’s stat line looks pretty good. Different from what I saw.
I thought he was terrible. He absolutely sucked in the first half offensively. He did nothing. Continually drove into traffic looking to pass. That’s what he did in games 1 and 2 and it hurt us. In Game 3 he drove looking to score, and he did just that. So in Game 4 he decides to revert back to the game plan that hurt us? What the heck?
I don’t understand this team. So many idiotic decisions. Just continue to shoot themselves in the foot. Over and over and over and over again.
Blatt did much better job w. What he had. Lue screwed up confused us and gassed his key starters playing too much.
Sorry Dan Gilbert. Money does not always get u what u want. That is the lesson.
What happened to TT 2 nd half
Was wondering the same thing, especially when Varajao and the GSW was killing us on the offensive glass
It’s crushing to look at all those fans.
could be their last Cavs game..I can understand the hurt. Really sucks…just really sucks…this game reminds me of game 6 when GSW was hitting everything and just the reality that the series is off
My dad say, they prolonging their death
Ugh…
Cavs 2nd half. Wow…. Did jr play? Why no rest for lebron and kyrie? They r out of gas. Kyrie bad decisions late 4q. Lebron just sucked all night. Man, whole nation will be against lebron after this no show. Well deserving i say.
2 straight finals loss. Last yr was more watchable.
Lue is still a young one who needs more experience .. To be nice about it
JR didn’t shoot in the second half. If he did, it was early in the 3rd.
Kyrie and LeBron stopped passing the ball. Once they did that, we got our butts kicked. Absolutely inexcusable for LeBron James to let this game slip away by having our entire offense change what we’re good at. Pathetic. This team should be embarrassed. Big changes in the offseason I hope.
Way too many sets in the 4th where 4 guys are literally standing around the 3 point line, standing still, and KI just goes one on one (and as he gets in the paint, one on four)….brutal
That’s basically been our offense…nothing new…Ball movement Cavs VS ATL was the most fun to watch, feels like ages ago
I’m officially ready to trade Kevin Love. How can you have your “third best player” be totally irrelevant in the NBA Finals? He’s useless. We’re better without him. I’d trade him for anything of value we can get. Peace
What did they both say?
I hope Ty Lue used his last time out to draw up a 7 point play…
He took it to plan his early retirment…
Lue is terrible. Played Love way too many minutes. Then, GS takes a 9 point lead, and he puts Channing Frye in? It stopped any chance of us being able to get defensive stops for the rest of the game. Lue absolutely sucked tonight in the biggest game of the season.
We also went iso ball in the 3rd quarter and got handled as soon as we did. This game is on LeBron, Kyrie, and Lue. Regardless of stat lines. Those 3 absolutely blew it.
Thanks.
Frye can’t even get shots off on offense, so why even play him in the 4th quarter? Just idiotic.
Frye has been pretty much unplayable in this series, as many expected. He’s not a defensive disaster, so much, just not bringing any offense.
He’s been a defensive disaster tonight. Zero reason to put him in the game. He hasn’t been able to shoot all series, so why did Lue put him out there? For 3 point shooting? He didn’t get a single shot up. So you basically made a decision to hurt our defense for no offensive advantage.
Full court press PLEASE!
We CAN!!
That was a simple give and go that is just as simple as it gets in basketball and the Warriors can do it but the Cavs can’t.
just remember Blatt took Cavs to 6 games…Lue only 5…but its Blatts fault and connectivity guys!!!
Lol fan ran on court and got tackled before those lbj freethrows. Had something about trump on his chest
https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/741475103674912768
Looks like a guy I went to HS with…
Hope that was worth it to him…as usual, he din’t get on TV…
If LBJ falls short of the triple double… it will be because of assists… which is telling…
Missed foul shots, too many offensive boards allowed, no ball movement. Game has devolved in the second half. Guys needed another day off. Ran out of gas. Lue didn’t play Frye enough in this game.
EXACTLY… but I mean..do you need so much energy to at least rebound and pass the ball and dont leave shooters open
Needed that and-one… been that kind of night for caroms…
All that good stuff Ky did earlier… he is undoing with bad turnovers and poor offensive decisions this quarter…
What are the chances we can trade Ky for CP3 in the offseason?
Don’t think the Clippers would do that
Kyrie has been the best player of this finals
There’s the recap right there….awful, awful D.
We.still.can.win.this.
I.wish.I.had.your.faith.
Jackson and Van Gundy are dead on…Cavs D has been pathetic second half
Lue is crazy leaving bron and irving entire 2 hf. Lue needs to go
can tell warriors just going after everything…cavs are slightly interested
A tired LBJ looks human against Braymond…
Why did Lue not rest James and Irving?
Really needed to rest Lebron, come what may
1 off day no practice. I know he’s still tired but no way he should be THIS tired. He’s mentally off tonight more so than physical
Can’t afford to. Nobody can step up
See what happens when you move the ball?
Cavs r bunch of whining fools tonight…
Kyrie is only one showed up but in 4q he is trying with fancy shots..hard to make those
Yeah, green went straight up… then got Kyrie with the knee.
Lue, Delly, Williams and Love gone.
Wonder why there wasn’t a double technical
https://vine.co/v/iLuJDxP1LH0
Bad for business…NBA business…
The last thing they want is to give Green another technical as he will be staring down missing a game and the NBA DOES NOT want Green to be out of a game 6 or 7
https://twitter.com/mcten/status/741473133983633408
12-0 run cmon
Bron sux… Chicken sh.. He now gets all emotional..
Best thing Lebron did all night.
Bray is such a chicken$hit…fake tough guy
Not this yr folks… Neverland.
Now lebron gets emotional. Nice lebron…
why Kyrie??? Why??
https://twitter.com/CavsTheTweets/status/741470351046156288
He cant make you box out and stay on your man and play with heart….
Made no sense
Can’t go 6 1/2 minutes with no FG against this team….lots of bad shots, too
THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO SWITCH THAT!!
It’s not over….c’mon boys!!!
First FG in 6.5 minutes…
We can still win this.
Blocking foul on Curry… or flopping foul?
The length and speed of these Warriors line up makes it extremely difficult to drive against them. And they also hit the three ball. I mean the Cavs are trying but….
the rebounds killed them in the second half, missed free throws and no ball movement
No TV /ESPN/NBA TV/FB timeline for me this weekend
Shump, Delly and Frye have given us little in 3 games
To be fair, Frye was absolutely on fire and then Lue benched him until he cooled off…
Huh? Delly didn’t even play the second half. The Cavs have run no plays for Frye.