The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Defense in third is key
Don’t spend too long in the kitchen or elsewhere away from the television during halftime in the NBA Finals, because you risk missing the most important part of the games.
The Cavaliers and Warriors meet in Game 1 at 9 p.m. May 31 in Oracle Arena in Oakland. If the Finals follow the pattern each team set to win their respective conference championships, the third quarter will be pivotal each time.
“Considering this year we’ve been pretty bad in the third quarters, we’ve got to really be aware of what they do in that third quarter,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue told reporters May 30 during media day in Oakland. “The biggest thing is they really amp their defense up. I think they get stops, they get out in transition. They get 3s and easy baskets.
“We’ve got to just do a good job of taking care of the basketball and owning our space in that third quarter, and I think we’ll be fine.”
The numbers show Lue’s concern is genuine. The Warriors, in 17 playoff games, outscored their opponents by 130 points in the third quarter and a total of 20 points in the other three quarters combined.
Game 7 of the Western Conference finals is a perfect example of how the Warriors can strike quickly. They trailed the Rockets by 17 points at one point in the first half, but outscored the Rockets, 33-15, in the third
quarter to take command of the game and, ultimately, the series.
The same thing happened in Game 6 in Oakland. The Rockets led, 6151, at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors led, 84-77.
“We know we can make an 11-point lead evaporate with two minutes of good basketball,” Golden State guard Klay Thompson told reporters.
The Cavaliers, by contrast, have been outscored, 438-437, in the third quarter.
Slowing the Warriors in the third quarter starts with the Cavaliers making their own shots so they can get set defensively while the Warriors are inbounding the ball and moving it up the court. Missing 3-point shots would be disastrous — the Rockets missed 27 straight 3-pointers in Game 7 — because the Warriors will turn the long rebounds into fast breaks.
Once the Warriors get the ball into their offensive
end of the court, the task of defending Steph Curry will fall on Cavaliers point guard George Hill most of the time.
Curry was the catalyst to the Warriors’ third-quarter outburst in Game 7 with 14 of Golden State’s 33 points. Curry totaled 13 points in the other three quarters.
“Just to try to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible,” Hill told reporters when asked the best way to defend Curry. “Once he gives it up, try not to let him get it back.
“We know he’s going to make tough shots, and sometimes you’ve got to live with it. He’s one of the best shooters in the game for a reason. He makes a high rate of shots and makes it tough on you.
“So just have fun, compete, make it tough for him as much as you can, and live with whatever happens.”
The Warriors beat the Cavaliers in five games to win the Finals last year. They beat the Cavaliers both times they met in the 2017-18 regular season — 99-92 on Christmas Day in Oakland and 118-108 at Quicken Loans Arena on Martin Luther King Day.