Defense fails Cavaliers in Game 1 loss

LeBron James bit on a pump fake and got no help as Kevin Durant drove to the basket for one of his several uncontested dunks. Stephen Curry was left alone behind the 3-point line and made Cleveland pay time and again.

The defensive woes that plagued the Cavaliers late in the regular season were glaring against the star-laden Golden State Warriors in a 113-91 loss in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Durant had six dunks in the first half alone to match his most ever in a game, Curry hit six 3-pointers and the Cavaliers looked like the team that stumbled down the stretch in the second half of the season.

Cleveland went just 23-23 after Jan. 10 and was ranked in the bottom third statistically on defense all season. The lapses were mostly glossed over as the Cavs streaked through the Eastern Conference playoffs. Cleveland shut down Indiana’s Paul George, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Boston’s Isaiah Thomas before he went down with a hip injury on the way to a 12-1 postseason record.

The Cavaliers are going to have to make some adjustments to slow down the Warriors.

When Cleveland stayed on Curry, Durant got easy dunks. When the Cavs gave help, Curry hit 3-pointers. The only thing that kept Cleveland in the game in the first half was the usually brilliant play from James and Kyrie Irving and several missed layups by Golden State.

But after a 13-0 run to open the second half, the game was never close leaving Cleveland to figure out a way to regroup before Game 2 on Sunday.

Making matters worse for the Cavaliers were a slew of turnovers, including eight by James and a lack of scoring help from any of their role players. James finished with 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, Kyrie Irving scored 24 and Kevin Love had 15 points and 21 rebounds.

No one else seemed to show up with the most glaring absences being Tristan Thompson, who had no points and four rebounds and was outplayed at times by Zaza Pachulia, and J.R. Smith, who made just one basket.

Midseason acquisitions Deron Williams and Kyle Korver missed all seven shots they took.