2015 NBA Finals: Updated Odds and Storylines for Cavaliers vs. Warriors Game 2
The NBA Finals couldn't have gotten off to a better start, with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors engaged in a thrilling back-and-forth battle Thursday night, but now both teams have to move on as they look to secure a championship.
Game 1 ended on a dour note for the Cavaliers, which went more than seven minutes without a field goal between the fourth quarter and overtime. There is also the lingering question about Kyrie Irving's knee, which was injured midway through the overtime period.
The Warriors rode their defense and Stephen Curry's 26 points and eight assists to their first win in an NBA Finals game since 1975. They have to feel good about getting a victory in a game in which LeBron James scored 44 points and they shot just 37 percent from three-point range, though it does show that head coach Steve Kerr's team has to get better.
There are many threads to pull on heading into Game 2, so expect plenty of drama at tipoff Sunday night.
| Warriors (1-2); Cavaliers (17-10) | Warriors (-7.5); Over/Under (201.5) |
Cleveland's Adjustments
There are adjustments, and there are adjustments a team has to make. A simple adjustment is moving a weak defensive player off a strong shooter. An impossible one is replacing a star player in a series against the NBA's best team.
The latter scenario is what the Cavaliers appear to be facing with Irving's knee injury coming back into play. ESPN's Jon Barry reported on The Dan Patrick Show that one Cavaliers person feels Irving is done for the series (via Paul Pabst):
Suddenly, Matthew Dellavedova becomes one of the most critical players in the series. He rose to the occasion against Atlanta, scoring double-digit points in the final three games, but he also needed 34 shots during that span to score a total of 38 points.
James understands the role he plays for the Cavaliers, and he held up his end of the bargain in Game 1 with 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists. He told ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst that his job for this team goes beyond what most athletes in any sport have to deal with.
"Everyone's pain tolerance is different, but my responsibility is much higher than a lot of guys," James said. "Not only on this team, but a lot of guys in professional sports, and I take it very seriously."
Yet even with that responsibility, James seemed to settle for something that wasn't there on Cleveland's final possession in regulation. Andre Iguodala deserves a lot of credit for his defensive effort against the former MVP, as ESPN Stats & Info noted:
That's just another area James and the Cavaliers have to adjust. They often settled for things instead of trying to pressure the Warriors, which looked rusty following the long layoff after the Western Conference Finals.
Not even James can succeed consistently in isolation situations against a strong defensive team like Golden State. He needs shooters like J.R. Smith, who was effective against Atlanta, to start making those attempts from behind the arc. He went 0-of-6 from the field in the second half and overtime after hitting three three-pointers in the first half.
Head coach David Blatt has to figure out ways to put his team in better positions to execute aggressively. James can't settle for long jumpers like he did at the end of regulation. Smith needs to rediscover the shooting touch he had against the Hawks.
There was a sense of optimism when the series started for Cleveland, especially with Irving looking good for most of the game, but now the feeling of dread—that something awful awaits unless the team can fix the problems that plagued it at the end of Game 1—has come to the forefront.
Golden State's Shooting
One reason the Cavaliers will be kicking themselves for missing an opportunity in Game 1 is because the Warriors had an off night shooting the ball. Curry scored 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting, but everyone else combined for 82 points on 29-of-68 (42.6 percent) shooting.
Going back to Game 5 against Houston, the Warriors shot 40.7 percent from the field. Those kinds of nights don't often happen for the Warriors, which led the NBA in shooting percentage (47.8) and three-point percentage (39.8) during the regular season.
Give the Cavaliers defense credit for its effort, as Nick Camino of WTAM 1100 in Cleveland noted that it forced Golden State into a lot of bad shots:
Cleveland has been outstanding defensively throughout the playoffs, ranking fourth in efficiency with 99.3 points allowed per 100 possessions. This could be a sign of things to come in the series for the Warriors, which played only one strong defensive team (Memphis) prior to this series.
Given the volume of shooters Golden State has beyond Curry, whether it's Iguodala or Klay Thompson or Harrison Barnes, it's just a matter of time before that offense gets back into rhythm.
There is a sleeping giant waiting to wake up in the form of Golden State's shooting. Games 2 and 3 against Memphis were the last time the Warriors had two straight games shooting less than 45 percent from the floor.
The difference is that Golden State lost those games against the Grizzlies before proceeding to win the next six games, including the Western Conference Finals. Now, with one win already in the bag, the Warriors have all the confidence in the world heading into Game 2.
The Great Depth
One thing that was apparent before the series and became obvious in Game 1 is how much deeper the Warriors are than the Cavaliers. The Western Conference champions had six players who were in the game for at least 28 minutes, and Kerr went 10 deep overall.
By comparison, six Cavaliers players were in the game for at least 33 minutes, but Blatt used only eight players. Dellavedova and James Jones combined to play 22 minutes, with only one shot attempt taken between them, though they did combine for four assists.
In a game that James dominated and was the best player, the Warriors still won because they had more players contribute. Iguodala made defensive plays all night, Barnes made half of his shots and Marreese Speights scored eight points in nine minutes.
Bill Reiter of Fox Sports noted that the less heralded aspects of Golden State's game played a pivotal role in Game 1:
"But it was their less sexy greatness — their No. 1 defensive efficiency rating, their incredible depth — that anchored their excellence.
And on Thursday, that engineered the win.
...
The depth that helped carry the Warriors on a night when Steph started slow and Thompson wasn't himself went to another level in overtime. It may have put the Warriors inexorably on the path to a championship.
"
With the Cavaliers possibly down one star, depth becomes an even more critical component in this series. Dellavedova isn't going to score 23 points in a game, like Irving did Thursday, so a combination of players will have to make up for that lost production.
Smith and Tristan Thompson, who combined for 11 points in Game 1, suddenly become the most important players for Cleveland after James. They combined to score 14.9 points per game against Atlanta and will need to exceed that for the Cavaliers to have a shot in this series.
The Warriors can keep running fresh bodies onto the floor because they have built that kind of depth. It came through for them in Game 1 and will be their key moving forward in the series.
Stats via ESPN.com
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