Ch-Ch-Changes aren’t coming to Cavaliers
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CLEVELAND – The Cavs are sticking with what hasn’t worked.
Despite getting smashed in the Finals’ first two games and rumors of putting J.R. Smith on the bench, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue was clear Tuesday that he’s not altering the lineup. “I’m not doing it,” he said. Smith missed most of the season because of a broken thumb and has struggled in the Finals, scoring a total of three points on 1-of-6 shooting. The Cavs were reportedly mulling Iman Shumpert as a replacement after his encouraging defensive performance in Game 2 on Kevin Durant.
But unlike last year when he was forced into a lineup change because of Kevin Love’s concussion, Lue said he’s rolling out the same lineup in an 0-2 hole. Smith, for his part, said he’d have no problem moving to the bench.
“When I was a younger player, probably (I would’ve cared) but now, no. Because it’s all about winning,” he said.
Another Cleveland consistency is playing at a fast pace despite the obvious advantages it provides the Warriors. Two years ago, the Cavaliers were successful in the Finals by slowing down the game by allowing LeBron James to hold the ball until the last seconds of the shot clock.
But they aren’t revisiting that strategy.
“We don’t play slow-down basketball,” James said. “We play at our pace. We play our game. We got to this point playing our way. We have won a lot of games playing the way we play, so we’re not going to change.”
The track meets of Games 1 and 2 clearly benefitted the Warriors, who scored 245 combined points. But the Cavs’ philosophy is they want to avoid Golden State’s intimidating half-court defense, and therefore push the tempo for easy buckets. It has been especially problematic for Cleveland’s bench, particularly Deron Williams and Kyle Korver, who’ve appeared sluggish while combining to shoot 2-for-16.
They’re not used to this much running. But the Cavs aren’t going to redefine themselves midway through the Finals.
“We don’t want to slow the ball down. They have great guys, but we still stand by the fact that we have the best downhill guy in the NBA in LeBron,” Richard Jefferson said. “So to slow up the pace would be changing who we are. We just have to play with the right type of pace and the right type of ball movement.”