NBA Playoffs: The Cavaliers Needn't Panic, But They Do Need to Adjust

Thursday night in Chicago, the Bulls raced to an early 21-point lead and held on late to edge Cleveland, 108-106. It cut the Cavaliers’ advantage to two games to one in their first round playoff series.

I want to panic or something, but I just can’t.

This is what the Cavaliers do. They tease you with greatness—dominance, even—in most games, and then sleepwalk through entire quarters and cost themselves potential victories in others.

By the time they got themselves in gear Thursday, it was too little, too late.

How they couldn’t have known that the Bulls, playing at home and nursing their wounded pride, would come out with fire in their bellies is beyond me.

They sure didn’t look like they had a clue, however, and it cost them.

LeBron James always gets his points—all of his stats, for that matter—but it’s puzzling why the offense so often starts with him controlling the ball.

Teams look for him. They double-team. They triple-team. They figure that stopping him is half the battle (probably more) to winning the war.

Why, then, don’t the Cavs return the favor with players like Derrick Rose? I’m not as concerned with Kirk Hinrich, even though he had an outstanding game Thursday night. He’ll do that from time to time.

Let him. I want to see the Cavaliers stop guys like Rose, who dance and prance and slice through their defense time and time again, with practically no opposition.

Late in the game, as Cleveland almost stole the win, James blanketed Rose. Predictably, the results were drastically different.

He missed shots and looked out of sync. At one point, he practically sulked along the sideline, as though he was irritated that James was smothering him.

Does it make sense to wait until it’s almost too late to do that? Why not key on Rose all the time, and dare the other Bulls to step up?

Rose is great, but he’s not yet at the James-Kobe Bryant-Dwayne Wade level. Those guys can score despite double- and triple-teams. Rose isn’t at that point yet.

Stop him, and you'll pretty much stop the Bulls.

Conversely, why can’t Cleveland’s offense start with Mo Williams, or Delonte West? West, in particular, is effective driving to the basket and drawing defenders—in much the same way that Rose does.

Get off your heels, and turn things around on the Bulls. Make them do on defense what they’re forcing you to do.

To further complicate matters, the Cavs are vulnerable in the post right now. Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas combined for six points and five rebounds Thursday. They simply aren’t as effective against a quick, agile front line like Chicago’s.

Anderson Varejao is, however. So is J.J. Hickson, who remains an afterthought in the current rotation.

So shake things up. Put Hickson back out there for 15 or 20 minutes. Counter the Bulls’ energy with your own.

Thursday night was just one game. Great teams lose games in the playoffs. The Lakers lost seven times en route to last year’s title. A loss is no reason to panic.

What the game reminded us of, however, is that you can’t just stubbornly stay with what you’ve always done. Adjustments must be made.

Mike Brown didn’t have an answer for Dwight Howard in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, but he also didn’t adjust to Orlando’s sizzling perimeter game. We all know what happened.

The Cavs shouldn’t be in danger of losing this series.

They might be in for a scare, however, if they don’t key on shutting down Rose, and don’t counter Chicago’s nimble front line of Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Luol Deng with quick, tireless, and aggressive players of their own.