CLEVELAND — The basketball is in the Cavaliers’ court — figuratively and literally.
Wednesday night’s Game 3 is at Quicken Loans Arena and it could be Cleveland’s last stand in 2016. No team in NBA Finals history has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit.
“Obviously, it’s a do-or-die game for us,” LeBron James said.
Without question, James and Tyronn Lue spent the last two days concocting an entirely new game plan, especially on offense. Golden State’s 48-point margin in the first two games of the series is the largest in Finals history. Cleveland has scored just 83 and 77 points in back-to-back games. College basketball teams generally score more than that in a 40 minute game.
The biggest challenge the Warriors have thrown at the Cavaliers is obvious when you watch the film: so many different Warriors players can guard Cleveland players, out on the perimeter or the post.
There aren’t enough schemes in the world to expose Golden State’s ability to defend multiple players at a time. Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes are all between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-8. They’re interchangeable. They’re poisonous to Cleveland coming up with matchup problems.
For this reason, Cleveland’s adjustments won’t matter.
“I think the switching has worked for us,” Green said. “We don’t want to switch. We don’t want unnecessary switches, but I think we do have the personnel to guard these guys if we are switching, which has been good for us. I think it’s really necessary. It’s been frustrating for them, but it’s something that has worked to our advantage.”
For Cleveland to have any chance, they’ll have to cut back on isolation plays on offense. Per Synergy Stats, the Cavaliers are averaging 17.5 possessions per game in the finals playing isolation style. The first three rounds of the playoffs, less than 12 of their possessions were isolations. Kyrie Irving has been spearheading this ineffective playing style and will need to be choosy when he attacks. It’ll be a fine balance.
“I’m not really good when I’m not being aggressive,” Irving said bluntly on Tuesday.
SB Nation broke down why the Warriors are correctly betting that LeBron can’t beat them 1-on-1, hindering his court vision in the process. Iguodala remains his kryptonite — James has shot 35 percent in the last 10 games when Golden State’s lengthy forward has marked him.
What can LeBron do to spark the Cavs?
“I think being aggressive, getting into the paint.” James said. “Then if we can make a couple shots at the rim, which we have not been so successful with in this two-game series so far, it will start opening up our guys on the perimeter.”
Will James put his money where his mouth is, though? James went 7/17 in Game 2 and was an ugly 1/7 on shots outside of the paint. James is 3/9 from three-point territory and may have to start firing up triples if Cleveland gets down early in Game 3. Cleveland’s strategy at home, although it’s bold, should be to outshoot the Warriors.
Don’t expect any new and creative wrinkles from the Warriors on defense.
Golden State’s job will be the exact same as the first two games: play suffocating, switching defense.