The Golden State Warriors have won game 1 of the finals after extra time. But the performance of LeBron James, who was unstoppable and scored 51 points, should be a cause for concern. Will the dubs change their strategy in defense because of this?
The Warriors are a proud team, especially in the defense held together by Draymond Green. Although the Dubs won Game 1 of the finals, LeBron James scoring 51 points against the double champion was probably not to anyone’s taste in the Bay Area.
It can be assumed that Golden State would like to rule out such a scenario with 50+ points from James in Game 2, after all, the Cavs star almost killed the champion on his own with his performance.
In principle, however, the Cavs have no plan B or other alternatives for the upcoming games of the series. Of course, Cavs coach Ty Lue could give Kyle Korver more minutes, so J.R. Smith plays less. Kevin Love could be used more on the five; why not try the disappointing Rodney Hood and do without Jordan Clarkson? However, none of these seem to be measures that could have a decisive influence on this series.
The Cavs’ march can only be as follows:’LeBron, go on like this and the rest of the team will try to avoid you.’. The Warriors will want to find an answer in the defense, then the series is quickly over and Golden State has the third title in four years.
The simplest solution would be to force LeBron to give the ball away, for example by lightning or aggressive pick n roll defense, which would be like doubling the person with the ball. This was little or no in game 1. The Warriors relied on their familiar concept of switching everything in the defense that is a daring undertaking against LeBron, who hunts mismatches like hardly anyone else.
But this is the philosophy of Steve Kerr and defensive coordinator Ron Adams, with whom they have driven successfully for years. In these playoffs they did not send any double teams against Anthony Davis, Chris Paul or James Harden and hardly used it against the Cavs in the finals of the past years.
“We’ll think about it,” Kerr left a back door open for a change in strategy. “We tried it at the end of the fourth quarter. You have to weigh it: “Either you give the shooter free throws at the perimeter or we make it as hard as we can in one-on-one.”
But the warriors didn’t. In the first half James only missed two throws and scored almost at will over the complete game on the ring (9/13 FG). “He was spectacular, but we didn’t make it hard enough for him either,” confessed Kerr. “We never got him out of his comfort zone, it has to get better on Sunday.”
On the other hand, the dubs also accept that superstars will conjure up a gala or two against them on the court. Harden also had big moments in the conference finals especially before the break and seemed to be unstoppable, but the effort was noticeable in the course of the series, which suffered efficiently.
It is a formula that has always brought the Warriors success – with one exception. In 2016 the Dubs failed in the finals due to LeBron, who scored 29.7 points on average and scored almost 50 percent out of the field. At that time, Kyrie Irving (27.1) wore a Cavs jersey, but this year the playmakers were George Hill and Jordan Clarkson.
So the Warriors will probably continue to believe that their strategy will continue to work, even if LeBron continues to play fabulous numbers game by game. With Andre Iguodala, who will probably also miss game 2, another joker is waiting anyway. Iggy held the Dubs for $48 million in the summer because he is still the best option against the triple final MVP at 34.
However, the warriors still have to do without the forward and will therefore concentrate primarily on ensuring that the supporting cast does not catch fire unexpectedly. The Cavs won a single game last year when Cleveland set a new NBA record with 24 turned triples.
But in game 1 it didn’t matter. The guests only scored 27 percent of their attempts from a distance, with James (3/7 threesome) also being the best in this category. The quintet from Kevin Love, Smith, Hill, Jeff Green and Clarkson from Downtown generated just 18 points in 27 attempts. High-quality support for the King looked different.
So it came as no surprise that James seemed to run out of juice in extra time. LBJ stopped pulling to the basket and only got two points from the free-throw line, his four jumpers all just kissed the ring. However, the Warriors also changed small things, which were quite successful.
In the regular season Kevin Durant took care of the LeBron circles, in the overtime Green was suddenly the matchup. But after switches to Curry, the current Defensive Player of the Year was always around and LeBron had so much trouble attacking the zone or finding his teammates.
“We opposed it,” Green was proud of his team after the game. “We didn’t allow the simple things from the first half any more. In the course of time, this pays off. Eventually LeBron won’t hit a few litters either.”
It indicates that the Dubs will continue to implement this plan and rob James of his strength in the course of the series. Green probably won’t have to defend the whole game against LeBron, but Kerr will use this option in the decisive phases. Cleveland needs well over 40 points per game in this series to have a chance. If he succeeds, then this is an achievement that such a player has never shown in history.
It’s the magic of the finals when an all-time team meets an all-time player. Not only one party wins, no, the big winner is the mean fan who can attend this spectacle.