Big Questions Still Loom for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 NBA Finals

Even after storming through the playoffs' first three rounds, plenty of questions surround the Cleveland Cavaliers as they enter the 2015 NBA Finals.

Their opponent, the Golden State Warriors, are far better than anyone Cleveland has faced up to now. Golden State won 67 regular-season games and was elite on both ends of the court.

The Cavaliers, despite their strong postseason play, are generally considered underdogs in the series. With no Kevin Love, a hobbled Kyrie Irving and LeBron James looking gassed at times in the Eastern Conference Finals, it's fair to say this won't be easy for Cleveland.

Here are some of the more intriguing questions the Cavaliers will have to answer if they expect to win the franchise's first NBA title.

Question 1: How Will Irving Hold Up?

Before getting into matchups, statistics or analytics, the most important factor may be the health of Irving's left knee.

Originally suffering a strained right foot in the first round against the Boston Celtics, Irving developed tendinitis in his left knee as a result of overcompensation. This injury caused him to miss Games 2 and 3 against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Already comfortably up 3-0 in the series, the Cavs made a questionable decision to play Irving in Game 4.

It appeared to have been the right move.

Although he took the court for just under 22 minutes (partly because of Cleveland's swelling lead), Irving looked very good. He drove into the paint during his first shot attempt and appeared more mobile than he had in nearly two weeks.

Irving finished the game with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, while also collecting four rebounds, five assists and a steal. Cavs head coach David Blatt praised Irving's efforts, via Bud Shaw of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:

"

He did fabulously. He played beautiful, moved well. He was impactful. But it was a lot bigger than that. The fact that he came back to play, the fact that he wanted so badly to be part of this series and being able to move forward. He wanted to be with his guys and contribute.

We wanted this break to let other guys heal and he stepped in there and really helped us and did a great, great job.

"

Thanks to a sweep of the Hawks, the Cavaliers will have eight full days off before beginning the Finals on June 4. That should be plenty of time for Irving to get treatment on his knee.

The Cavs don't necessarily need him at 100 percent to win it all, but anything over 75-80 percent is a must. He's one of the few Cleveland players outside of James who can create his own shot. Irving can also serve as an excellent spot-up option when James drives, and he draws double-teams when driving the lane himself.

Irving doesn't have to cover Golden State point guard Stephen Curry all the time, but shooting guard Klay Thompson will be a tough matchup as well. The Cavaliers could also choose to move James up to guard Thompson, while trying to hide Irving on Harrison Barnes.

Irving needs to at least play average defense on the Splash Brothers and contribute 15-18 points a night for Cleveland to win four games.

Question 2: Who's Going to Guard Stephen Curry?

David Liam Kyle/Getty Images

This year's MVP hasn't slowed down in the postseason, averaging 29.2 points on 43.7 percent shooting from deep.

He's a near impossible cover, able to get a shot up with a flick of the wrist and in the tightest of spaces. While others like Thompson, Barnes and Draymond Green are scoring threats as well, Curry is the heart and soul of the Warriors.

The Cavaliers simply can't match up positions here, with Irving having to guard Curry. Irving has struggled all postseason checking the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague. Blatt even used Irving on 6'9" Mike Dunleavy against the Bulls for stretches rather than force him to guard the speedier Rose and Jimmy Butler.

Even if Irving is 100 percent, he's still not a great defender by any means. Curry would have a field day on Irving, knee injury or not.

For this task, the Cavaliers must turn to their premier defensive stopper on the wing, Iman Shumpert.

Despite often being asked to check the opponent's best offensive guard, Shumpert has responded marvelously. Here's how his defense stacks up against Curry's offense this postseason.

Player	PPG/PPG Allowed	Turnovers/Steals	3P%/3P% Allowed	Off Rtg/Def Rtg
Curry	29.2	3.6	43.7%	106.4
Shumpert	9.2	1.0	28.3%	97.5

While his steals are down, Shumpert is playing excellent on-ball defense. Opponents shoot just 40.9 percent from the field when Shumpert guards them, per NBA.com. He's especially excelled on the perimeter, holding players to 7.3 percent below their normal three-point shooting.

Matthew Dellavedova and J.R. Smith may see some time on Curry, but he primarily needs to be Shumpert's responsibility.

When the Cavaliers beat the Warriors 110-99 on Feb. 26, there was a noticeable theme with Curry. He scored 12 points in the first quarter with Irving as the primary defender. When Cleveland threw different players at him, including Shumpert, Curry found points a little harder to come by. He finished with just six in the last three quarters combined, including zero in the fourth.

For the game, Curry was 5-of-17 from the field and 3-of-9 from deep. The most important stat? He scored exactly zero points with Shumpert as the primary defender.

Now, the Cavaliers could triple-team Curry and he would still find a way to get points on the board. Cleveland has to accept that its defense on the reigning MVP won't shut him down entirely. Instead, the Cavs must limit what Curry can do by forcing him into tough shots and keeping him off the three-point line as much as possible.

The blueprint from February is there. It's up to Shumpert to follow through.

Question 3: Can This Be LeBron's Greatest Playoff Performance?

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

James has been through plenty of playoff battles in his 10 postseason runs.

There was 2007, when James led a group of Cavaliers role players with no true sidekick to the NBA Finals.

In 2012, James captured his first title with the Miami Heat, besting the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder.

The year after, 2013, James and the Heat defeated the mighty San Antonio Spurs in a series for the ages.

As tough as all three runs would be to top, it's difficult to argue against the magic 2015 is providing. The return to Cleveland. The formation of a completely new team around James. Love, the Cavs' leading rebounder and third-highest scorer, going down in Round 1. There are enough storylines floating around to fill a small library.

"We all grew up on great sports stories," Shaquille O'Neal said during TNT's postgame show following Game 4 against the Hawks. "If this kid wins for this town, it will have to be a top-10 sports story. Guy grew up here, left, was criticized, won in Miami and came back."

Due to Love's absence and Irving being limited, James has been forced to wear a multitude of hats. He's not only been the Cavaliers' leading scorer (27.6 points), he's also first in rebounding (10.4), assists (8.3) and steals (1.8).

We've seen James run the point at times while playing center at others. No other player in the league can claim this kind of versatility.

James was just three assists shy of averaging a triple-double against the Hawks, a feat that's never been accomplished in any playoff round, ever. Players like Shumpert are receiving more and more open looks thanks to James and his drive-and-kick ability.

"You find yourself open, you find guys cheating, and you only got to tell this guy one time that somebody's sinking in a little too much, and he'll find you with that pass," Shumpert said following Game 2 against Atlanta, via Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick. "Him snapping that ball at you, there's energy in that ball when you get it. You've just got to knock them down because you know, if he keeps driving it, he causes everybody to come in there and make all that traffic."

One could make the argument that this is James' best playoff performance to date.

Although his shooting percentage (42.8) is the lowest it's been in eight years, James is doing enough in other areas to make up for it.

His rebounding and assist averages are career playoff highs, as is his defensive rating. James' 1.2 defensive win shares and 36.4 percent usage rating lead all postseason players, per NBA.com.

Is this James' greatest test? Perhaps. The health of Irving moving forward could help decide that.

Make no mistake, if James can indeed deliver a title to Cleveland in his first year back without Love while leading the team in every major statistical category, it will be his greatest playoff performance, ever.

Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA for Bleacher Report since 2010. All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.