NBA Finals 2015: Adjustments Golden State Warriors Have to Make for Game 4

Somehow, with the NBA's best record, the league's MVP and the deck stacked in their favor, the Golden State Warriors find themselves trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers 2-1 in the NBA Finals. Facing a pivotal Game 4 in Cleveland on Thursday night, the Warriors have no choice but to adapt.

As good as LeBron James is, no one could've predicted what transpired in Games 2 and 3. Without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, James willed his team to two consecutive victories while the Warriors shot themselves out of home-court advantage.

Before breaking out in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night, Stephen Curry struggled badly with his shot as the Warriors offense flatlined around him.

Despite its success as the league's best team up to this point, Golden State will have to change its approach if it's going to overcome Cleveland in Game 4 and even the series. Here's what it has to do.

Use David Lee to bust Cleveland’s pick-and-roll defense

The biggest adjustment Golden State needs to make is one it's already made. Cleveland had been shutting down the Warriors' 5-1 pick-and-roll by having its big show, effectively trapping Curry.

Lee was able to exploit Cleveland’s defensive rotation with his face-up skills. The numbers, courtesy of NBA.com’s John Schuhmann, don’t lie:

David Blatt was quick to respond, opting to have his defenders switch on the pick-and-roll midway through the fourth quarter. This played right into Golden State’s hands, giving Curry one-on-one looks against bigger defenders, a matchup he’ll win more often than not.

According to the NBA’s official Twitter account, Steve Kerr plans to give Lee more minutes: 

Lee’s defensive limitations will put a cap on how many minutes he can play, but his ability to pass the ball could provide a much-needed spark for Golden State’s offense in Game 4.

Get the ball out of LeBron’s hands

It’s hard to find fault with Golden State’s defense this series. It has held the Cavs to 39.6 percent shooting as a team, while James, determined as we’ve seen him, has barely cracked 40 percent himself.

There are two problems. First, Cleveland’s isolation-heavy offense has reduced the flow of the game to a snail’s pace. Second, James is putting up historic numbers, and, as Coach Nick of BBallBreakdown.com pointed out on Twitter, Golden State’s failure to double-team him is tough to stomach:

It’s time to experiment. LeBron’s not going to cough up the ball at a high rate, but Cleveland’s role players might. Even if they have to shade a second defender toward James at all times, Golden State needs to force the offensive burden onto Cleveland’s role players.

LeBron carried his teammates to wins over the last two games. Golden State must challenge his teammates to do the same in Game 4. 

Embrace the moment

Given the nebulous nature of this adjustment, I’ll let Curry express Golden State’s missing joie de vivre, via ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne: "I've got to stay—I'll use the word 'vibrant'—and just kind of having fun out there. Because the team definitely feeds off of my energy and the joy for the game. If it's not going our way, or not going my way, I've got to find different ways to get us going."

Golden State doesn’t so much live by the three (and die by the three) as much as they live for the three. They play fluid, beautiful basketball and feed off of the joy that creates.

This has not been that kind of series.

We've seen Curry hanging his head, Draymond Green grimacing and Harrison Barnes go missing. 

While they need to play to their strengths, they also must embrace the challenge in front of them. What did Cleveland do when Kyrie Irving was injured? It dug in deeper. Golden State must do the same in the face of an opponent that has, thus far, stolen its swagger.

If the Warriors can find inspiration in the grind, they'll be in a good position to steal Game 4 and regain control of the series. 

This is, after all, the NBA Finals. What's not to love?