The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cavs have no desire to slow down for Game 3
LeBron: ‘That’s not our game;’ Lue says Cavs ‘have to play fast’ in Game 3
Austin Carr, who knows the inner workings of the Cavaliers as well as anybody, says they have to change their strategy against the Warriors by dictating a slower pace, starting with Game 3 on June 7 at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers are not taking Carr’s advice if LeBron James and Coach Tyronn Lue are telling the truth.
“That’s not our game,” James said June 6 after practice at The Q. “We don’t play slow-down basketball.”
Lue followed James to the podium with the same message.
“We have to play fast,” Lue said. “That’s our game . ... We want to play with a pace, but to play with a pace you have to get stops. When we get stops, we want to get out and run. We want to play with pace, and we want to attack early.”
Carr played for the Cavaliers from 1971 to 1980. Now he serves as the color commentator during telecasts on Fox Sports Ohio. His “34” hangs in the rafters of The Q along with the other retired numbers of Cavaliers players.
Carr isn’t shy about criticizing the Cavs when he believes they could be playing better. Like now.
The Cavs trail the Warriors, 2-0, in the best-of-seven series. The Warriors won Game 1, 113-91, and Game 2, 132-113, at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
“That (Golden State) is a great basketball team,” Carr said June 5 during an interview with Jeff Phelps and Les Levine on WKRK-FM 92.3. “They play the game the right way on both ends of the floor, and they have guys who can do multiple things.
“Personally, I think we have to change our style and play a slower game because we cannot run with these guys. Their offense is their best defense, because even though they’re a good defensive team, their offense really puts a lot of pressure on you.”
A statistic known as “pace rating,” showing how many possessions each team has in a game, illustrates how fast Games 1 and 2 of the 2017 Finals are being played. The pace rating of Game 1 was 105.52 for each team. It was 108.46 in Game 2. By comparison, in 2016, when the Cavaliers won the championship, the pace rating was 95.38. It was 94.78 in 2015 when the Warriors won the title.
Those Golden State teams did not have Kevin Durant. This one does.
“The way they’re matching up with us defensively, it allows them to get out in transition a lot quicker,” Cavs guard Kyrie Irving said. “The things we can control are definitely our effort getting back as well as limiting them in transition, but more or less bringing up our physicality in the halfcourt and not allowing them to be as comfortable as they have been the last two games.”
The pace of play is not the only thing Lue is being stubborn about.
Contrary to speculation, Lue said J.R. Smith will start at guard and Iman Shumpert will come off the bench.
“I’m not doing it,” Lue said, referring to making lineup changes.
The Cavaliers were down 2-0 in the Finals last year and then won four of the last five games to win the title, but that is a flimsy branch to cling to this year. Better to rely on the success they’ve had in front of the loud crowd at The Q.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr does not have to remind his players what happened last June. The Cavs won Game 3 at home, lost Game 4 at The Q and then stunned the basketball world by winning the last three games of the series.
“I don’t use that expression actually like we blew it,” Kerr said June 6. “In fact, I think sometimes (the Cavaliers) don’t get enough credit for how well they played Games 5 through 7. They were amazing, and they deserve the credit.
“We don’t bring up last year in terms of strategy, in terms of sort of what we need to do better here or there. It’s more about this is the history of the NBA, right?
“You win two games at home, you haven’t really done anything yet. No matter whether you’re 14-0 or 14-7 in the playoffs, it’s just 2-0 and you have to win one on the road to really take control. And that’s the message: We have to come out and play our best game of the series to win tomorrow.”
Game 4 is June 9 at The Q. The series shifts back to Oracle Arena on June 12 for Game 5 if the Cavaliers can at least split the next two games. Game 6 would be June 15 in Cleveland and Game 7 on June 18 in Oakland.