Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals Preview
Keys for Each Team to Win a Title
Feb 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) drives against Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) and guard Andre Iguodala (9) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Keys for the Warriors:
1) Defending LeBron and the Three-Point Shot: As mentioned before, the Warriors have several players who can guard James, and if they use their small ball lineup (some variation of Barnes or Shaun Livingston, Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, and Green), then all five players could switch onto James and guard him effectively. If James starts hitting outside shots, he’s almost impossible to guard, and even when he’s not, he’s still extremely difficult to stop because of his brute strength and will. The Warriors will need to find a way to force him into tough shots and frustrate him on defense.
In addition, the Warriors can’t just focus on James. With his penetration and other players driving to the basket, the Cavs find open shots at the three-point line. The Warriors and the Cavs have averaged the most three-point attempts per game this postseason (Warriors average 30.3, and the Cavs average 29.1). However, as mentioned before, the Warriors can limit the Cavs’ effectiveness from three-point range when their rotations on defense are crisp and when they play with that small ball lineup.
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2) Small Ball: As previously discussed, the Warriors will need to use the small, but effective lineup against the Cavs in this series. This lineup will give them extra versatility on defense, and offensively, it allows them to play at an even quicker pace, which no team can keep up with. The Cavs could also choose to go small to combat the Warriors’ small lineup, but if the Cavs decide to play at the Warriors’ tempo, then they won’t win.
3) Bench Contributions: The Warriors’ bench is much stronger than the Cavs’ bench, which is limited to Matthew Dellavedova, Smith, and James Jones. The Warriors can receive significant contributions from several players off their bench, such as Iguodala, Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Marreese Speights (if he’s healthy for this series), Lee, and Festus Ezeli. When the reserves enter the game, the Warriors will shine.
4) Home Crowd: The Warriors have homecourt advantage in this series, yet again, and they have only lost once at home during this entire postseason. They beat the Cavs at home during the regular season (James didn’t play in that game though), and if they can win every game at home in this series, there’s no way the Cavs can win a title. The Oracle crowd has been raucous and energetic throughout the playoffs, and Dub Nation will become even more powerful in the NBA Finals, as they’ve been waiting 40 years for the Warriors to get back on this stage. The team fuels off the crowd’s energy and will use it to their advantage.
Keys for the Cavaliers:
1) Containing Curry: This has been a key for pretty much every team the Warriors have faced this year, since Curry can impact a game in so many ways and is so hard to guard. Shutting Curry down is near impossible, but the Cavs will have to try to contain him, which means putting Shumpert on him. Shumpert is a high-quality defender, and he will need to force Curry to commit turnovers and give up the ball.
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The Cavs might even have to trap him at halfcourt, but that could lead to more open threes and lanes to the basket for the other Warriors players, since Curry has improved at finding his open teammates before a trap comes.
2) Offensive Rebounds: Defensively, the Warriors are an elite team, so the Cavs will have to earn extra opportunities on offense by grabbing offensive rebounds and keeping possessions alive. The Cavs have averaged 12.1 offensive rebounds per game in the postseason (third out of all playoff teams), so they need to stay aggressive on the glass and make the Warriors’ defense work hard. Also, grabbing more offensive rebounds will mean more shots for Irving, Smith, and Shumpert on the perimeter.
3) X-Factor Players Must Step Up: When James won NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 with the Miami Heat, he received key contributions from players outside of the Heat’s “Big Three,” such as Mike Miller, Ray Allen, and Shane Battier. Who will step up this year for the Cavs: Thompson, Smith, or Jones? Shawn Marion or Miller would’ve been the best guesses, but neither have contributed much throughout the playoffs.
4) LeBron not LeChoke: James is arguably one of the best basketball players ever, but he has had a few moments on the biggest stage where he has choked. Given the fact that the Warriors are superior to the Cavs in several key categories, James will have to dominate on both ends of the court, execute at a high level, get his teammates involved, and frustrate the Warriors enough that his NBA Finals experience will overrule Curry’s heroics and the Warriors’ team mentality.
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