CAVS' FAMILIAR SPOT
LeBron & Co. not panicking despite Warriors’ opening rout
OAKLAND, Calif. — It’s over. Please turn out the lights as you exit. The Warriors cannot lose. They took the Cavaliers apart in Game 1 from top to bottom. Expecting Cleveland to come back would be like expecting a team to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. Oh, wait… No one knows with certainty what awaits in the NBA Finals, but the Cavaliers are no strangers to adversity and dismal outlooks. In last year’s Finals, they lost Game 1 by 15, Game 2 by 33 points, fell into a 3-1 hole to the Warriors, then rallied to claim the title.
So after a 113-91 plastering by Golden State in Game 1 Thursday, the Cavaliers watched film, likely blew their lunch reliving 20 turnovers and vowed to make this a series, complete with real live competition.
“We naturally felt like we could have played better, taken the game to them a little bit more and also played with better pace,” forward Kevin Love said on a Friday conference call. “But we were a little bit sloppy on both sides of the ball.
“There are a number of things we felt showed on the tape that were very telling, and we feel like we can get better at.”
The Warriors know a Finals can turn at the drop of a hat or a shot to the groin resulting in a suspension. So they will delay celebrations. They expect the Cavaliers to try biting them to death if necessary in Game 2 Sunday.
“They won’t have 20 turnovers next game, ” Klay Thompson said.
“You got to just keep pressing, sticking to the game plan,” said Stephen Curry who scored 28 Game 1 points — a total that was overshadowed by Kevin Durant’s 38-point brilliance. “We look to Sunday to try to do it again. We have been here before and know there’s a lot of work left.”
The Cavaliers have even more work to do. They entered Game 1 determined to limit the Warriors’ devastating perimeter assault. So they left the lane wide open and Durant held a dunk-athon that led to a 56-30 edge in points in the paint.
“We all saw that they were very concerned with the 3-point shooters,” acting Golden State head coach Mike Brown said. “That allowed others to bring the ball up. In a lot of cases it was Kevin Durant. It allowed him to be able to dribble drive to the rim with uncontested dunks.”
But there was much, much more.
The Warriors played at an oxygen-requiring pace. They passed and moved the ball flawlessly, committing four turnovers. That’s almost unfair, to move the ball the way they did and to tie the Finals’ all-time record for fewest turnovers. Defensively, the Warriors were beasts. Cavaliers turnovers led to the Warriors getting 20 more shots.
“They only shot 42 percent from the field,” Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said Friday. “You take away those easy baskets and take away them having 20 more shots than we did, it’s a different ball game.”
While you’re at it take away Durant’s 38 points, Curry’s 28 and the scoring zeroes for Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson, Kyle Korver and Deron Williams, then wonder how the heck the Warriors won.
“A lot of it could be corrected,” Lue said. “It’s a
different dynamic when you have Kevin Durant pushing the ball in transition and you have Steph and Klay on the wings. … We can’t turn the basketball over, got to take good shots. … It’s just a lot of things that we can correct and we will correct.”
The situation looked equally bleak last year. But there is a huge difference this time: The Warriors have Durant. They replaced Harrison Barnes, a good player, with Durant, an intergalactic superstar.
“You are talking one of the best players in the game,” Draymond Green said. “He was amazing. I expect nothing less in the rest of the games.”
Durant also had Curry and Green, a defensively stout Thompson, a productive bench. James had, basically, Kyrie Irving, Love and albatrosses.
“We made a lot of mistakes. There’s nothing really needs to be said,” James said. “We didn’t play as well as we know we’re capable of. We look forward to the next one.”
Just like last year.