The Golden State Warriors just beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-90, and man did it look easy. The Warriors looked focused, and the Cavaliers looked lackadaisical at many points. What amounted to such a big loss tonight for the Cavaliers? Let's take a look.
First Quarter
It was pretty even through the first quarter. Both teams came out of the gates pretty squirrelly while trying to set the pace and physicality of the game. It was pretty clear from the beginning that the game was going to be incredibly fast-paced. In the first quarter, LeBron James looked like he was going to take control of this game.
He got to the line multiple times, and Draymond Green got two very quick fouls and had to be quickly taken out for Andre Iguodala. However, it looked like these fouls helped the Warriors because Iguodala came off the bench and was able to provide 5pts, 1ast, and 1stl.
But getting back on track, LeBron came out firing. He was 6-8 from the line in the first, and the Cavaliers only had four personal fouls compared to the Warriors seven. It looked like the Warriors were getting into a bit of trouble early. But the game was pretty evenly matched, and the Warriors ended the first quarter ahead 35-30.
Rotation
The Warriors started the second quarter with their rotational line-up -- and they did a great job against the Cavaliers starting line-up.
While Durant and Curry both rested, other marquee players on the Warriors such as Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala were coming up big on both the defensive and offensive end.
The big kicker here is this is the quarter where the Cavaliers started to look a little lost. With the Warriors bench out there with fresh legs, the Cavaliers starting line-up started to look sluggish on defense as the Warriors continued to ramp up the pace.
The big problems started when Durant came back on the floor, well rested due to the Warriors bench players allowing him a lot of minutes off the court. He came back and continued to ramp up the pace, getting to the hoop very easily on many occasions.
The Cavaliers were not stopping the ball in Kevin Durant's hands, but running to the perimeter shooters; causing Durant to get a wide-open lane to the basket.
Unfortunately for LeBron and co., this is where the problems begin.To end the half, Kevin Durant had 23pts, while Curry had 12. LeBron has 19 but virtually no help besides Kyrie who had a modest amount of points.
Notable mention to Kevin Love who had 12 boards, including three offensive boards. Creating these second chance points will play a big factor down the stretch in this series.Another notable mention to Klay Thompson who was struggling offensively and went 2-10 in the first half. However, Klay Thompson was notably spectacular on defense in the first half. Also, it wasn't like the Warriors needed his offensive contribution. Another point worth mentioning was that although Golden State only lead by eight, they had 18 more shots than Cleveland -- which is a very accurate display of just how many turnovers Cleveland had.
Post-halftime
After halftime, the Cavaliers started to implode. For the Warriors, not only Kevin Durant was hot, but Stephen Curry found his stride as well. After starting the quarter down 60-52, they quickly found themselves down 73-52 off back-to-back Curry 3's. The Cavaliers quickly found their points coming off of outlet passes to a player who was still at their offensive end while the Warriors scored on their offensive end. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Warriors were up 93-72; and the rest was history.
What truly went wrong?
The Cavaliers didn't play as bad as the scoreline suggests, so Cleveland fans should not be hasty to burn their LeBron jerseys. LeBron did a great job tonight at getting to the line but needed to convert more of those points.
Sure he went 8-12, but he really should be converting almost all of those.
In addition, LeBron played for the whistle down the stretch, resulting in some missed lay-ups. Another problem is that his quick jolt of speed to the hoop was quickly found out by a under-rated defender in Kevin Durant who took charge, sending a message that he was not getting to the rim quite so easily anymore. Luckily someone who was still easily getting to the basket was Kyrie Irving. He needs to play a much bigger role in the coming games, as he was able to go 10-22 scoring 24 points. Look for him to be Cleveland's most consistent contributor.
The core problem, however, is that the Warriors bench is much more talented than the Cavaliers bench, and this allows the Warriors key starters to get decent rest while LeBron and the Cleveland starters are still slaving away on the court.
David West, Shaun Livingston, and James McAdoo all scored two points off the bench. Matt Barnes had three, while JaVale McGee and Ian Clark had four. Meanwhile, Deron Williams had zero points in 19 minutes for Cleveland. Even worse? Kyle Korver had zero points in 20 minutes. Can it get worse? Tristan Thompson had zero points and only four boards in 22 minutes.
Bottom line
If LeBron James wants to walk away with another ring, he needs to inspire his teammates to start performing. Also, Tyronn Lue needs to take a page out of Mike Brown's notebook and start playing match-up advantages; both one-on-one match-ups and on the court match-ups as a whole. The Warriors were able to create favorable isolated match-ups, such as Kevin Durant on Kyrie Irving. But they were also able to create favorable line-up creations that stopped the Cavaliers offense.
Needless to say, the Cavaliers need to do better next game.
