Recap: Cavaliers 120, Warriors 90 (or, HE’S NOT A MACHINE!!!)
2016-06-09The above line, given at 0:35 by the character of Tony “Duke” Evers, played by Tony Burton, may best sum up Game Three of The NBA Finals. It was do or die time last night as the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Golden State Warriors. Having lost the first two games of the Finals in convincing fashion, the Cavaliers were facing many questions. Did they really deserve to be in the Finals, or is the Eastern Conference just that weak? Could they get their offense going like it had been throughout most of the playoffs? Could they find a crack in the armor of the seemingly invincible Warriors? You better believe it.
First Quarter
The Cavaliers came out hot on both ends early, taking a 9-0 lead and denying the Warriors any good looks at the basket.The nine-point lead was the Cavaliers’ largest in the series at that point, which says a lot about how things had gone in the first two games. Warriors coach Steve Kerr quickly called time as the masses in attendance at Quicken Loans Arena roared their approval. The Cavaliers seemed focused in a way they hadn’t been all series. Maybe it was the message they heard before the game.
LeBron to his teammates: "Follow my lead and do your job." #NBAFinals
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) June 9, 2016
After the timeout, the Warriors scored the next four points off a pair of baskets by Andrew Bogut before Tristan Thompson had a huge put back dunk off a Richard Jefferson miss. Klay Thompson continued to struggle for the Warriors, missing his first four shots and a pair of free throws. The Cavaliers were missing shots, but created offense through their defense, and pushed the lead to 19-4. LeBron took Andre Iguodala off the dribble for a sweet hook shot and finished 4-4 from the field in the quarter. Steph Curry starred in an Uncle Drew crossover Vine.
https://vine.co/v/i3wdIOOrO7r/
https://vine.co/v/i3wppxU7B07
The Cavs were so much better guarding the ball to start the game, you would have thought it was a completely different team than the one that showed up for the first two games of the Finals. The Warriors began to make some shots, but it was more a testament to their skill than any defensive slippage by the Cavaliers.
The first major change in the bench rotation with Love out came at the 2:30 mark when Timofey Mozgov and Channing Frye entered together. The Warriors seemed to have trouble with the size, and before you could blink, the Cavaliers had a 30-10 lead. Mozogov altered some shots in the paint and set some nice screens for Kyrie. The Warriors tired to pull the big men by bringing in Marreese Speights, who hit a quick three, but the inferno known as Kyrie Irving couldn’t be denied and countered with a three of his own. After a turnover by Iman Shumpert—who would’ve guessed?—caused the Cavaliers to lose possession of the ball with four seconds left, Harrison Barnes hit a layup at the buzzer. The Cavaliers still led 33-16 as Irving had 16 points while Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were held scoreless.
Second Quarter
The Cavaliers started the second quarter with their usual lineup of Matthew Dellavedova, Shumpert, Jefferson, James, and Frye. Shumpert wasted two more of the Cavaliers’ possessions, and the Warriors cut the lead to 13 before Tyronn Lue called time. Irving replaced Frye out of the timeout and gave up and and-one to Harrison Barnes as the Warriors continued to chip away at the lead. The Cavaliers seemed unable to keep up their energy level from the first quarter on either end of the floor as the ball was moving less and the defense wasn’t as tight. The Cavs committed a couple of cheap fouls and Leandro Barbosa and Shaun Livingston continued to have success against the Cavalier bench. LeBron missed several layups in traffic, but Tristan Thompson had another put back to keep Golden State at Bay. The Warriors then scored a pair of quick baskets, including a layup by Klay Thompson for his first points of the game, to get within nine. A scoring flurry by both teams ensued as J.R. Smith hit a pair of threes that were sandwiched around a vicious dunk by LeBron James off a cut to the basket. Meanwhile, Klay Thompson came alive with an and-one followed by a three in transition to keep the Cavalier lead at nine.
https://vine.co/v/i3w9AWlavPJ
The time out didn’t slow Thompson who converted another layup while the Cavaliers turned the ball over twice and seemed to rush their shots. LeBron drove left seemingly five times and I’m not sure he drew iron once, but Tristan Thompson continued his work on the glass by cleaning up an LBJ miss with yet another put back. LeBron then missed a dunk that Draymond Green contested, but the Cavaliers were able to stifle the Warriors at the other end. J.R. Smith hit a three from half court just after the buzzer, and the Cavaliers led 51-43 at the half. Kyrie still led the Cavaliers with 19 points, while Tristan Thompson already had eight points and 10 rebounds. LeBron had a rough half shooting as he went into the break with 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting. While the Cavaliers still led, the Warriors had outscored them by nine in the second quarter, and seemed to have a lot of momentum going into the break.
Third Quarter
The Tristan Thompson show continued to start the third quarter as he drew a shooting foul and hit both free throws just 20 seconds into the quarter. Irving then hit a long two and set Thompson up for a bank shot give the Cavaliers some momentum. After J.R. Smith split a pair of free throws to push the lead to fifteen, Harrison Barnes hit a three for the Warriors’ first points of the quarter. The Cavaliers seemed to buckle back down on defense, and Smith hit a turnaround jumper over Curry before the Warriors called timeout. LeBron seemed almost afraid to shoot for a moment, and had yet another turnover when he stepped out of bounds. He finally hit a midrange jumper and followed it up with a vicious block on Draymond Green. Tristan Thompson then forced a Stephen Curry turnover, and James hit another jumper. Smith and James then hit a pair of threes as the Cavaliers stretched the lead to 22 points.
https://vine.co/v/i3dA5nMwK71
Anderson Varejao then made his first appearance of the night, and the Warriors went on an 11-4 run, led by eight points by Steph Curry, to cut the lead to fifteen. It was a bit surprising to hear the boos raining down on Varejao at The Q after all of his years with the team. The Cavaliers responded to the Warriors’ run when J.R. Smith hit a three of his own followed by an insane alley-oop dunk from King James.
https://vine.co/v/i3dOW9HhBE0
Another and-one by Curry showed that he was heating up a bit and kept Cavalier fans on the edge of their seats. After Irving fouled Curry on a three-point attempt, Steph completed the four-point play. But James answered by making a pair of his own free throws and a beautiful assist to Jefferson as the Cavs entered the final frame with a 89-69 lead. James shot five-of-six from the floor that quarter as he combined with Smith and Irving to score 66 of the Cavaliers’ 80 points. Tristan Thompson continued to dominate inside as he totaled 14 points and 13 rebounds with a quarter to go. Long after a whistle, Curry went in for a non-continuation layup. LeBron wasn’t even allowing that.
https://vine.co/v/i3diHMqblTX
Fourth Quarter
The Cavaliers started the quarter with a lineup of Shumpert, Smith, Jefferson, James and Frye. This unit played some solid defense before James fed Shumpert for his first three of the game. Smith then hit his fifth trey of the game before Harrison Barnes responded with one of his own. The Cavaliers continued to move the ball and attack the basket, and James threw down a vicious dunk and scored an easy layup with Golden State asleep on defense. After another layup by James gave the Cavaliers a 26 point lead, fans across Northeast Ohio began to exhale for the first time all night. Soon it was garbage time, and even then the Cavaliers dominated as they blew out the Warriors by a final score of 120-90 to earn their first win of the 2016 NBA Finals. LeBron James finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, Kyrie Irving had 30 points, and eight assists, and J.R. Smith threw in 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
https://vine.co/v/i3dvIZEgd2v
Things I Noticed
Many will point to Richard Jefferson starting over Kevin Love as the reason for the Cavaliers’ turnaround, but the reality of the situation is that Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith finally decided to show up for the Finals. The numbers below bear that out, at least to the extent that the first two games of the Finals cannot be put solely on Love.
This is not to say that the Cavaliers shouldn’t strongly consider sticking with last night’s starting lineup. It’s fair to say the Warriors are a rough matchup for Love. It’s also true that the Cavaliers have consistently been better with Love on the floor the entire season, including the first two games of the Finals. He also matches up very well against most other teams, including the Oklahoma City Thunder, who the Cavaliers came incredibly close to meeting in the Finals. The idea that Kevin Love is somehow holding the Cleveland Cavaliers back is both unfounded and absurd.
-Kyrie Irving has taken a lot of criticism over the past week, most of it well-deserved, so it was good to see him come out with the kind of effort the Cavaliers need from him if they’re going to make this a series. He moved the ball, took smart shots, and played solid defense. Hopefully the lightbulb has gone on for the rest of the series. Either way, this game served as a reminder of why you don’t give up on 24-year-old scoring machines after a few bad games.
-J.R. Smith played solid defense and moved the ball well, but he almost seemed afraid to shoot early on. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t take shots as he hesitated before each one. Smith is at his best when he shoots in rhythm, and he wasn’t allowing himself to do that in the first two games or even the first quarter of this game. It was good to see him get the mental hurdle of succeeding in the Finals off his back, at least to some extent. When Smith is hitting his threes, the Cavaliers are nearly impossible to defend. He had a very nice screen in the 1st quarter that helped set the tone for how the Cavs were going to play physical on offense as well as defense. Watch as he buzzdozes Curry before popping Iguodala in the shoulder.
https://vine.co/v/i3wpeDjQHDj
-Richard Jefferson was very good tonight, but he still had the worst plus-minus of any starter by a noticeable margin, and was absolutely torched by Harrison Barnes, whose 18 points on 7-11 shooting was one of the few highlights for the Warriors.
-One day Iman Shumpert will realize this role on offense is to stand in the corner and take open threes. This will be a joyous day for Cavalier fans everywhere.
-After playing his usual second quarter minutes, Matthew Dellavedova didn’t play again until the fourth quarter. Part of this was Irving’s spectacular play, but Dellavedova has also struggled for the last few weeks. He was the only Cavalier with a negative plus-minus for the game, a rarity for a player who usually excels when measured by that statistic. It will be interesting to see how Dellavedova’s play of late affects his value on the free agent market.
-Some of LeBron missing at the basket in the second quarter was him looking for fouls without being physical enough, but some was the fact that officials allow teams to be more physical with LeBron than just about any other player in the league. It’s annoying, but it’s been that way for thirteen years, and won’t be changing anytime soon.
-After looking a bit better at various points of the playoffs, LeBron’s shot was broken again, at least in the two-and-a-half games of the series. Part of the reason he got to the rim so much easier in the second half of Game Three was that the Warriors could see his shot was falling and they couldn’t just lay off him anymore. Once his outside shot started falling and the Warriors started guarding him out there, it was so much easier for James to get to the basket.
-Tristan Thompson is so awesome. The Cavaliers won the rebounding battle 52-32 over the Warriors and the 13 boards by Thompson was a huge reason why. He was constantly active on both ends of the glass, and had several put backs off Cavalier misses that help stifle Warrior runs. Going into the series, the common belief was that the Cavaliers had to win the rebounding and turnover battles to have a chance against Golden State. Last night was the first time they won both battles in the same game, and the results speak for themselves.
-While some would look at the beginning of the game as proof that the Cavaliers are capable of being a great defensive team, the reality is that they simply cannot sustain that level for a full 48 minutes. Still, they did a great job of staying with their men, which limited switching on defense and allowing backdoor cuts by the Warriors, something that killed the Cavs in the first two games of the series.
-Anderson Varejao didn’t leave, he was traded. Imagine if you spent your whole career with a company and then they let you go. You then have the chance to go work for their top competitor in a job that is a great opportunity for you. What would you do? This tweet from Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal sums it up.
Disappointed with unmitigated booing of Anderson Varejao. Gave the Cavs 11 1/2 good years, then was traded. #NBAFinals
— Marla Ridenour (@MRidenourABJ) June 9, 2016
-The talk about LeBron not being a winner based on this Finals is as absurd as the talk of the Cavaliers being better without Kevin Love. If LeBron James retired tomorrow, he would go down as undoubtedly one of the ten best players in NBA history. The idea that last night’s game was the most important of his career was laughable, but even the fools who had that opinion couldn’t argue with the greatness of his performance. He isn’t Michael Jordan, no one is, but he’s a transcendent player in his own right and will be remembered long after his days in the NBA are over.
-While the Warriors still have a 2-1 series lead and seemingly aren’t worried in the slightest, the Cavaliers have some life for the first time since the Finals began. It’s important they have a similar effort in them for Game Four on Friday if they want to truly give themselves a chance in this series. If last night is any indication, the Cleveland Cavaliers have begun to find their way.
Sorry I didn’t get a chance to read this till today, but I really enjoyed your recap, Mike.
Huge game tonight! Let’s Go Cavs! I am so pumped up! Lebron and Kyrie PnR action early is key….Or Kyrie/TT PnR and ball movement!
Please everyone and anyone tell me why the CAVS are going to win tomorrow? This is too exciting, can’t wait!!
They better be ready to go all out. Curry has been questioned for two days, better believe he’s going to try to get going early. Bray will probably be far more physical and intense. The Cavs had better be ready to match. I don’t expect Klay and Curry to miss a lot of open shots in game 4, although it’d be nice. It’s must win, as Lebron has already stated. The Cavs had best be ready to play like it’s a must win game, everyone, not just Lebron.
Cavs defense on Curry has been tremendous. JR has done a really good job on Klay. If they can get Lebron to stop Draymond, Cavs could take the advantage in the series.
I have no idea how Love would take it, or if Lue has the testicle fortitude to do it, but Love needs to come off the bench.
The Cavs ran their butts off in the first 3-4 minutes of the game and I think the directive of, “get it and go!” made the Cavs the the early aggressors and allowed them to punch Golden State in the face first. Frequently, when you’re watching a boxing match the two fighters spar for a while and feel each other out. If you do that in basketball it can hinder you becoming the aggressor. Mike Tyson had none of that. He walked into the middle of the court and wanted you on the floor in the first 30 seconds. Of… Read more »
Great recap, thank you. They showed heart, finally, last night. It will mean nothing however if they don’t come out the same and more for game 4. Going down 3-0 and winning one is the same as losing game 4 tomorrow. I don’t think we recover from a 3-1 deficit with 2 of 3 in Oakland. The Warriors will come out ready and pissed off. Every guy on that team has called themselves soft. They won’t do it again, which means we need even more intensity. Lue is going to earn his money with Kevin Love. He has to figure… Read more »
This is so funny ,watching ESPN now and Marc Stein says the Warriors doesn’t handle prosperity well ,biggest joke of the day
That’s funny.
Some stuff- – I disagree a bit with the notion of Jefferson being pedestrian; I thought he set the tone for the game. He was active and physical, and showed FIRE. Many of Barnes’ points came against Kyrie, as that’s where the Cavs tried to hide him on switches. – On Lebron’s struggles at the rim- is it just me, or is he going left Every. Single. Time? I know Lebron doesn’t really have a “weak” hand….but Van Gundy made an astute comment that instead of continuing to plow left, he should jump stop and then pivot right. Or I’d… Read more »
I thought many of Barnes point came on Frye.
Don’t think Frye played enough minutes to get scored on much…..
BTW, MJ is not Lebron either. I would be really happy to know how many times MJ would have been in the Finals if he replaced Lebron on the teams that Lebron took to finals.
I’ll also offer that MJ would have taken maybe 1 or 2 (max) teams to the finals.
#1) i am going to the game tomorrow and I am booing anderson varejao
#2) our defensive strategy seemed simple – dont help. If you get beat you get beat, but we’re not sending help and giving up those ‘flow’ plays that get the warriors going. i think it was a simple and elegant strategy
I don’t get booing Anderson Varejao. First, he was as Cavalier a player as there has been and he loved Cleveland. Second, if anything, booing a guy like that is a reason for his teammates to rally around him.
well, it’s NBA Finals. It’s Cleveland – starving for a championship. Of course our fans appreciate what AV had done for so many years, but nevertheless, it’s the Finals and Warriors is our devil. I can understand the reaction, albeit I would not boo AV personally.
Andy is a good guy. Always remember him as such. Just not when we play against his team. He will only be in the league for 2-3 more years so wish him luck
#2 yeah proof of that is when Livingston is seizing RJ, everyone is at home and didn’t help when Livingston go iso on RJ and scored. The defense didn’t collapsed.
Cavs forced to make a move that(not sure Lue would have made the move if Love was not injured and now It is warriors turn to make the move. Would they move Bogut to bench and start Iguodala ? Kerr is sure under pressure to make that move. But, against this cavs line up, warriors do really need Curry to play better. Klay’s struggles against cavs goes back to last year’s finals, so not sure if he will be able to bounce back.
“Make or miss league.”
Last night the Cavs were 53%/48% (overall/3 pt); Warriors were a dreadful 42%/27%.
The Cavs out-rebounded the Warriors 52 to 32 (good hustle), and they hit the magic number of 23 assists.
A lot of positives last night, but the offense still has to get better. They can’t count on videogame Kyrie or jump-shot LeBron in every game. Based on what we’ve seen over the past two years, last night was probably the best game of the series for LeBron’s jumper.
“Make or miss league”…but the opponent doesn’t miss layups and dunks too often, which is what GS was feasting on the first two games.
Great defense leads to easy dunks and layups. Cavs turned the table yesterday.
Ahh, the ‘Curry doesn’t look 100%’ people are out today. I knew I could count on them. And if he scores 50 Friday, no one will say a word.
MikeO, That shouldn’t be an excuse, not after winning 87 games in the season. That said, ever since he came back from injury, he is not playing with lot of intensity and that is the fact. Could be fatigue or not fully recovered. Shots fall or not but this is not the Curry we are accustomed to seeing. I believe there are few players like him and Lebron included, it is not what defense does to them but it is more to do with how they play. My guess, he will do well back at Oracle. For me, it was… Read more »
I doubt Curry is exactly 100% – I mean, he’s coming off a sprained knee, and that isn’t going to totally heal while he’s playing. But here’s who else on the court isn’t 100%: everyone else. It’s this tired media excuse for every game where Curry doesn’t look like some superhuman robot. At least Lowe and Van Gundy called this out on a recent podcast. Decide on one narrative, and stick with it, rather than changing it from game to game. I fully expect Curry to have some ridiculous game, maybe even Friday. That doesn’t mean he’s magically 100%, just… Read more »
Agree.
JR is actual a fantastic defender, believe it or not. Kyrie playing good D is much less frequent.
Curry may not be 100%, but I think that’s less of a factor than the Cavs defense on him. Curry had no problem dropping 30+ on OKC after he came back, so he can’t be that bad. Also, he was relatively quiet (for him) against the Cavs last year.
I think you’re right about Draymond. He’s the key. If he can be controlled, it slows the Warriors down.
What gets obscured in all the “are the Cavs better without Love” talk is the real issue — which is how much better we are with LeBron at the 4. It’s not that Love is bad, it’s that he’s playing the position LBJ should be playing. I’m a big believer that LBJ should play power forward always (see Miami Heat championship run 2013) but it’s especially true against GSW, where he can shut down Darth Draymond, make brilliant passes out of the post, protect the rim, and — this is going to be my running theme until the Cavs man… Read more »
Could always try a Love for Gordon Hayward trade. Utah need more offense and Favors can play Centre.
worldbfree – This was a GREAT comment! At least – with respect to playing Golden State – a 1) Kyrie 2) JR 3) Wiggins 4) LBJ & 5) TT is a perfect match up. If the Cavs go forward with LBJ defending Draymond Green, it doesn’t leave many minutes for Love.
That doesn’t mean that LBJ needs to play a 4 all year long, or that Love hasn’t been instrumental in the team’s success on into the Finals. However, it seems that a lineup with Wiggins could be quite successful against Golden State.
Definitely agree with all of this. To add to that I hope Lebron forget about the Olympics this summer and go back to the school of fundamentals/shooting/footwork/post-up. The days pass and we can clearly see that he ain’t the Lebron of 2013 anymore. It’s not too late for him but he needs to do it NOW.
As is my fate, I watched game 3 with a Warriors fan in Berkeley who also happens to be a good friend. I’ve grown to appreciate alternative perspectives as we gaze on the the same phenomenon. For instance, he watches Kyrie heat up and says, “yeah but those aren’t good basketball plays”, meaning, of course, that it’s not sustainable winning basketball to take mid range shots in traffic or over Bogut. Or he sees Frye as a complete defensive liability and cheered whenever Lue put him in the game. But one thing we agreed on was LeBron. When he is… Read more »
The offense is transformed if LeBron hits his shots. It’ll force GS to double team him, and then all of a sudden our other shooters get more space. LeBron hitting his jumpers would be a great equalizer. All of this talk about effort is overblown – this series is where it is because of execution (or a lack of).
yep
I agree with you, which is what worries me, because those off-balance rim-rattlers are not always going to fall.
Very nice summary !! Wish I could afford more Finals games, as I am lucky to be 2-0. Game Three last year and last night. The loudest I have heard the Q all year after attending about 15 games including 5 in the playoffs. Love the headline today on J.A Ande’s EPSN column: “Star Contrast: LeBron grows brighter while Curry seems to fade.” Seems the crowd cheered just as loud on LeBron’s block of the Curry attemped dunk as if it happened in the game. And James’ one hand dunk after stumbling looked phenomenal in person. We were right behind… Read more »
Lucky you! I was afraid that the fans were going to be sitting on their hands in fear (as I was at home.) Didn’t happen. I think the crowd really helped.
I’m sure the crowd was ready for this game. Listening to the crowd sing our National Anthem in unison gave me goose-bump flashbacks to the first time (and every time since) I watched the #AllIn #Together Nike commercial.
That was pretty cool.
So Richard Jefferson is the new Shane Battier?
Yes!
Or, maybe he is the old Shane Battier. /s
Delly hasn’t played much because frankly he’s been no good in the playoffs while Irving has largely been really good outside of a couple of games. It’s not real knock on Delly, the dude is still a decent enough backup PG.
Andy gave the Cavs about 5 good seasons. He was injured most of the time. He deserved the booing for all the flopping.
Wow I’m amazed at your thinking /s
100% sure CtBlog is great
Great game.
Thoughts: There were some specific defensive adjustments made beyond simply playing harder(which they absolutely did). Teams need to decide whether they want to sag completely off Bogut and into passing lanes or whether they want to press him when he is high on the floor with an onball pass contest. In the first two games, Lue had the guys sag off him when he was high. It didn’t work. He is a very talented passer and was making the right decision with the pass anytime a Cavs defender made a mistake in switch action. In Game 3, Lue gave the… Read more »
Thanks for the take. I didn’t notice the difference in defending Bogut. I thought we switched much less on defense which seemed to stymie the W’s ball movement enough to be able to pull off more traps and close-outs. We prevented more open looks even if we gave them better match-ups on some sets. I think this made a big difference. I was a little concerned about minutes but looking at the box it wasn’t as bad as it felt at the end of the third, and the lead was there to rest guys in the fourth. A tremendous effort… Read more »
Great observations, spot on.
Regarding pressing Bogut at the top of key, Klay made comment that.
“Klay: “They’re doing a good job stopping our initial action … at the top of he key, with that ball screen.””
Booing the opponent is playful and spirited. It’s not hateful. People need to grow a pair for chrissakes.
I would never boo Andy as he is probably my favorite player ever. BUT, he did sign with the Warriors voluntarily. He wasn’t traded there. If fans want to boo that, that is understandable.
Especially a guy who did nothing for the Cavs the last half decade and immediately bad mouthed them when he left. Andy deserved the booing.
Exactly, it’s playful! As a long-time Cav, he earned those boos. Shows we’re thinking about him. (note the lack of boos for Livingston or Speights)
In similar situation, warriors gave standing O to David Lee when he came back to play for opponent.
I don’t think that Andy deserves to be booed, but (to use Marla Ridenour’s word) I think that there was mitigation: the fans at the Q were whipped into a frenzy cheering for their team, and then they saw familiar face in a blue uniform and started yelling “Kill, kill, kill!”
I was happy to see the fans going crazy last evening. I think this helped the team quite a bit. Sincere apologies, Andy.
Sad about the Andy booing and certainly undeserved. This wasn’t Albert Bell or LBJ in Miami. However it is the NBA Finals and every little edge is important, especially for these Cavs against these Warriors. Fair play if the result is putting something in his head and taking him off his game. Unfortunately for us he’s a veteran NBA player and wasn’t phased by it. Hope the fans honor him in game 4 by not acknowledging him altogether. There will be a time and place for giving thanks to Andy and his contributions and almost certainly he’ll be welcomed back… Read more »
Yeah, I really don’t get the Andy booing. He never demanded a trade or spoke bad of Cleveland. Maybe it was that flop against Kevin Love in Game 1?
That flop was certainly boo-worthy…
As was Andy’s flop under the hoop when Draymond hit him last night.
I can’t even recall this play. He’s on the floor 90% of the time after even a hint of any contect, though…
I don’t mind the obligatory boos one bit. We (Cavs fans) hate the Warriors. It’s lame to see Andy in that GS uni, and it’s even more lame to watch him actually TRY against his old team. The nerve!
It’s all in good fun. It’s sports. Andy knows this is a passionate fanbase and we’ll always love him (outside of these 5-7 games).
Am I the only one, who is annoyed of the all the Media heads saying the Cavs have to win 4 of 5 to win and this is almost impossible. NO, they have to win 4 of 7. Yeah I understand what they mean, but how can you ignore the first 2 Games?
Statisically, They are also part of a 7 Game Series.
I mean, this is just a small thing to get angry about, but somehow it pisses me of.
No native Speaker here, so hope you get what i mean…
I get what you’re saying, but what they are saying is obviously true, before game 3, the Cavs needed to win 4 out of the next 5 in order to win the Finals, that’s fact.
Now, Cavs need 3 out of the next 4. Warriors needed 2 of the next five, they still need 2 out of the next 4.
It all adds up to a 7 game series.
Also get what you’re saying, and I would add:
– GSW were down 1-3 against OKC
– 4 from 5 (really now 3 from 4) being “impossible” completely ignores the home/away split, which may in some *small* way have some correlation on each games result…
Who knew Klay Thompson was such a softie… Saying that Mozgov screen was dirty… Screens like that happen all the time in basketball. What a baby.
I think they called a foul on Mozgov. I actually thought it was a clean pick, albeit a hard one.
I thought it was clean too. Brent Barry on NBA TV said: “Two words: Play on.”
And I am sure kicking Adams in the groin was a clean play. What a whiner Klay is. He got thumped by a more physical team last night, so shut up and play tougher. I hope that thigh bruise is very deep. Send Mosgov out again and have him whack the other thigh too, although it didn’t look intentional.
I don’t think the problem is “Kevin Love” per say. Just like the problem earlier in the season wasn’t “Kyrie”. I think the problems occur when you have Kevin AND Kyrie. Both are defensive liabilities. When you play teams like Toronto, Atlanta or Detroit, with only a handful of offensive weapons, it’s much easier to hide them on defense. When you play Golden State or San Antonio, you have two holes that your help defense can’t paper over. I think bringing Love off the bench, and playing only Kyrie or Love at one time may do us wonders. It should… Read more »
Yeah, Golden State is just a bad matchup for K Love because they get defenders in space so much. Cavs will need Love at some point in the series if they hope to win however. That being said, win or lose, I could see him being traded in the offseason. Lebron is/can be the best power forward in the NBA. As he ages he is going to have to start playing inside more, especially if he never finds his outside shot. As the Cavs showed last night, Lebron at the four can be extremely effective. If you put Lebron there… Read more »
So you didn’t boo LeBron after he went to Miami?
I forgot when Andy went on TV announced he was voluntarily leaving the Cavs and then embarrassed the team and the city. Such an absurd comparison. Andy didn’t want to leave but was traded and then cut. He was free to go wherever he wanted at that point. If he would have gone on national TV and embarrassed the city and Cavs then sure, have at it and boo away.