Cavs' Title Joyride May Come to Crashing Halt If LeBron Doesn't Get Help Fast
CLEVELAND — Here's hoping JR Smith, the shirtless phenomenon with a heart of gold, has enjoyed his time being celebrated and rewarded with a fat new contract.
If the 2017 NBA Finals end Friday, Tristan Thompson should relish his prominent boyfriend role Sunday night on the season finale of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye should remember those smiles they've had making podcasts, doing yoga and being credited for prominent roles in building championship chemistry.
And Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love better have savored this blissful year of not being scrutinized for their obvious defensive shortcomings.
They're all on the verge of being back on the precipice.
Lose Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, and the Cleveland Cavaliers go from exalted champions to unworthy of being LeBron James' supporting cast again.
That's how quickly it can and will change.
The guy who wore the bull's-eye more than anyone else until June last year is bracing himself.
"We've become a world of 'What have you done for me lately?'" Love said Tuesday. "We love tearing people down."
No one is saying it's James' fault the Cavs are down 2-0, though, including James.
"If I can give a little bit more, then I will, but I leave everything that I have out on the floor every night," he said. "So I'm always satisfied with the way I play."
Does it sound as though James is feeling like it's his fault?
The undercurrent of gravity for those around James is clear.
"Whoever is on the floor has to do their job," James said, "and we trust that they will do their job."
Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, perceived as a savior last season after taking over for David Blatt, will have his own questions to answer if the Cavaliers go down 3-0.
Lue went away from dirty-work center Tristan Thompson, whose $15.3 million salary ranks him as a top-two player on an average NBA team, and limited him to 21 minutes in Game 2. Not that Thompson has given the Cavs much thus far, with eight rebounds total in the series. Lue also said he'll stick with the struggling Smith (1-of-6 shooting on the series for a total of three points) over Iman Shumpert as the starting shooting guard for Game 3.
Regardless of personnel, Lue seemingly didn't use the week off to prepare the Cavaliers with counters for how decisively Golden State's defense commits to defusing the first option of their offensive sets.
Perhaps no issue is as central, though, as how Lue allocates James' time on the court. Does he depend on the role players to perform better with the home crowd behind them and lower James' minutes—even with a 3-0 series deficit looming?
According to B/R Insights, James' 21.3 minutes per game in the first half of Games 1 and 2 of the Finals are higher than any previous series this season. James' production in those two games dramatically declined in the second half, as has been the case throughout the playoffs. This suggests Lue is risking a fatigued King if he runs him too much in the first half, especially at Golden State's unbridled pace and while frequently guarding Kevin Durant.
Everything from James' field-goal percentage (62.3 percent in the first half, 50.6 percent in the second half) to his defensive rebounding percentage (23.7 percent in the first half, 17.8 percent in the second half) has been suffering in the playoffs after halftime, even though Cleveland was still winning until the Finals. So if Lue rests James more in the first half of Games 3 and 4 at home, it will represent an even greater opportunity for other Cavaliers to step forward.
Everyone is yearning for it because everyone wants this to be a competitive series. Shumpert interrupted one reporter Tuesday to ask why he was being asked—for a third time in a matter of minutes—about how role players traditionally perform better amid the comforts of home, as he didn't think it was that common of a sports cliche. Regardless, Cleveland's role players have to rise up to make this a 2-1 series.
For all of the hype about this being the first Finals trilogy in the NBA's 71-year history, a 3-0 start to the series would ruin much of the matchup's intrigue.
To be clear, 3-0 isn't 3-1. Also, Durant isn't Harrison Barnes.
When a team loses, even if it's in the Finals, upgrades become mandatory, not suggested—as was the case with the Warriors adding Durant last offseason.
Don't forget James' willingness to trumpet the need for reinforcements, unafraid of being a burr under the saddle of general manager David Griffin. Or how James often issued veiled, vague threats because he thought his teammates needed to be motivated. Or how Cleveland already has a league-high $126.6 million payroll. Or how the Cavs aren't even sure Griffin will be making the roster decisions this summer given his own pending free agency.
Or even that James will surely opt out of his contract after the 2017-18 season for a new deal—presumably in Cleveland, but it doesn't have to be.
Given his age, high profile and scoring prowess evident even in these first two losses, Love would be the prime candidate to be moved, ideally for better two-way athleticism. But the best the Cavs might be able to do is add more offense—and arguably less defense—in the form of Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony.
For now, James is still trying his best to be an encouraging friend, hoping it will make a difference in the results.
With 4:42 left in Game 2 and Cleveland already losing 123-104, an overburdened, distracted James belatedly realized Jefferson had missed his first free throw. He dutifully jogged most of the length of the court to pat Jefferson on the back.
Jefferson promptly proceeded to miss the second free throw.
Smith and Thompson, so instrumental in the Finals triumph last year, each said their best approach is not to stress about what they failed to do in Games 1 and 2 this year.
Smith told reporters Tuesday that he's not even heeding his wife's bold suggestion: "Every time you touch it, shoot it." But he is hardly cowering at his current predicament after finishing with no points and four fouls in Game 2. He was way off early in the 2016 Finals—he had eight points on 3-of-9 shooting through the first two games—before breaking out with 20 points back home in Game 3, helping Cleveland rally in the series.
"My confidence is never dwindled, lacked, chipped or nothing," Smith said. "I feel like when I'm on the floor—I mean obviously Bron is Bron—but I feel like I'm one of the best players on the floor."
Smith still feels fully empowered in this role as a protector of James. If it became necessary, he was ready to help protect James as a fight broke out in the Oracle Arena stands near them right after Game 2 ended.
"I can't let nobody get close to the King," Smith said. "I'm one of his knights. That's what I'm here for."
Smith has valid reason to feel like a champ.
At least for now.
Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.
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