The 2015 NBA Finals Game Thread AKA Battle Of The Australian Institute Of Sport
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The Cavs are 4-24 from 3 tonight. Their inability to knock down open shots is the story of the game. Tired legs probably a factor there.
For every person that says that the NBA is difficult to ref..I ask why is the NBA still running out Crawford? There's no ref in there 30s or 40s that can't do this? Joey is 63...seems like an argument should be made that he's gonna miss stuff. Is there any other sport he could ref in given his age?
Might be time to rest James. If the Cavs don't have more energy next game it could get real ugly.
The Delly-like syndrome hasn't been addressed either. He's doing a great job of keeping the ball out of Curry's hands in the frontcourt.PC Drunken Friar said:
The <48 hour turn time really affected Cleveland tonight.....particularly LeBron.jon abbey said:
It is a little reminiscent to the Memphis series in that it took the Warriors several games to figure out how to adjust to the intensity and grind it out style. Of course Memphis lost Allen and don't have LeBron. It's a Best of 3 now....i'm still expecting and looking forward to a Game 7.radsoxfan said:
Here's the crazy thing about basketball fans.....
Cavs lose tonight it's 2-2 and they go on to lose in 7......"LBJ gave the most gutsy effort we've ever seem carrying his undermanned team to 7 games.
Cavs win tonight up 3-1 and they go on to lose in 7....."LBJ is a choker who can't close out a series up 3-1! Michael never lost a 3-1 lead, LBJ is no Michael.
If the Cavs are to lose this series it would actually help LeBron's legacy to lose tonight. That's how stupid we are.
Cavs lose tonight it's 2-2 and they go on to lose in 7......"LBJ gave the most gutsy effort we've ever seem carrying his undermanned team to 7 games.
Cavs win tonight up 3-1 and they go on to lose in 7....."LBJ is a choker who can't close out a series up 3-1! Michael never lost a 3-1 lead, LBJ is no Michael.
If the Cavs are to lose this series it would actually help LeBron's legacy to lose tonight. That's how stupid we are.
Feed Mozgoz More. Cavs still scoring in the paint at will and dominating offensive boards, just had a horrible night shooting.
LeBron James has now played 183 out of a possible 202 minutes in this series so that means he is averaging just under 46 minutes per game. He is also responsible for 143 of the Cavs 373 points on 50-129 shooting. Those number seem insane on any level but he is doing what his team needs him to do to stay competitive in this series. Tonight he looked worn down but I suspect a full two days of rest will rejuvenate him for Sunday's game. Regardless of the outcome, the guy is amazing and is doing things no other player in the NBA and, perhaps NBA history given his size and conditioning, could ever do.
JR. Smith has given Cleveland nothing all series. Considering how thin the roster is, I don't think the cavs can win if that continues.
Glad Stephen curry's mom straightened het hair. She's kinda hot now that the curls are gone
Glad Stephen curry's mom straightened het hair. She's kinda hot now that the curls are gone
Cleveland a missed lebron shot (or drive) from 3-1.bosockboy said:
This series is right where it should be at 2-2
Sox and Rocks said:
She's still very hot imo.
JR has been even hotter garbage. He is the only other Cav who can create some semblance of perimeter offense by himself. It's not a good option, but outside of LeBron its the only one they have if the ball stops moving/isn't in the post. I'd much rather have JR try to do something that Dellevedova. Delly has had 2 good iso's on Curry, and otherwise ends up taking horrific 3's that you would probably want JR to be taking instead. The Cav's need some scoring outside of LeBron and Thompson/Mozgov putbacks and postups. In Game 3 they got that from Delly, in Game 4 they got it from nobody (and LBJ himself missed a solid number of make-able shots around the rim).
A few other thoughts:
-The big difference between last night and Tuesday for me was that the Warriors started taking & making their open looks. No more Green driving helplessly into Mozgov, and no more Barnes burping up bricks. They were 17-35 on uncontested looks according to Zach Lowe, which is something the Cavaliers more or less have to continue conceding to some degree as they try to force anyone outside of Curry and Thompson to beat them.
-For all the talk about how the Warriors got the Cav's to run with them and play their style, the pace of last nights game was the 2nd slowest of the series. Even after just the first quarter, the game was on pace for 88 possessions, which would be the slowest of any game thus far. Last nights result was far more about the Waariors making their shots then speeding up the pace.
-Cavaliers were 4-27 on open looks (and 4-24 overall from 3). So the Warriors and Cav's basically switched their shot-making abilities from Tuesday night.
-Iguodala is, in my opinion, unquestionably the Warriors MVP thus far. He's played the most, and best, defense on LeBron, and had a breakout offensive game last night. He seemed like the best player on the floor (though making a bunch of open jump shots will do that for just about anyone).
-One thing of note for the Cav's: Draymond Green had 0 fouls at the half. I think they need to force the issue w/ Mozgov a bit more when the Dubs go small in order to get him in earlier foul trouble (he picked up 3) that could lead to more opportunities against David Lee (an inferior defensive player) or make Kerr put Ezeli/Bogut in, which the Cavaliers would certainly prefer for their own defensive purposes.
-The Cav's O w/o LeBron is horrifically ugly. The team looks like a D-League squad without him out there.
Last night's game wasn't about the pace or the Warriors making their shots. It was about Cleveland missing their shots.(as you noted the 4-27 on open looks) They were tired and they missed so many shots. That was the difference in this game.
jablo1312 said:
Cleveland made a run and got the deficit to 2. But they were COMPLETELY out of gas after that run. It was spirited, but GS did a nice job of making Cleveland chase them around in the first and it wore them down. The best thing for Cleveland right now is the mandated "no Saturday night game", so they get two full days of rest. They really need it. Not just Lebron or Delly. All of them. Except maybe Mazgov. He might be the Terminator.
I'm with Socks & Rocks. Smith has got to flat-out shoot better for the Cavs to have a chance. Delly should be expected to struggle within the arc and Shumpert outside of it, but all three of them can't suck and Smith can't go 0-8. That, and Lebron's rather apparent fatigue, is the difference in this game.johnmd20 said:
As for feeding Mozgov, they were feeding him and Tristan Thompson. Mozgov had the biggest game of his career. I'm not sure you can feed him more. With Thompson, it felt to me at least like a lot of those postups led to kickouts for him (can anyone else confirm this sense?). The fact that he took 0 FT's is remarkable.
Fishy1 said:
Yea, Moz used a lot of possessions in the post. It felt like a lot of those were in the 2nd half to me, with more of the 1st half ones coming off of LeBron drives. Thompson scored mostly on putbacks, and it seemed many of his post-up shots were of the jump hook variety (at least thats what I remember). He did also seem more likely to kick the ball out than Mozgov.
Given their limited personnel, I'm not sure how many other options the Cav's have to combat the Warriors small ball then to try to force them away from it through foul trouble. If Draymond can start hitting his jumper more, or making better plays off of the dribble, it will be very tough to beat the Warriors w/o an exceptional team shooting performance (which is not where I'd place my eggs if I was David Blatt).
Random things from listening to radio and surfing the net this morning:
--44% of Golden State's shots were open. Cavs too tired to switch.
--Cavs shot under 20% from outside the paint--tired legs.
Also, the Warriors decision to start Iguodala started with a 28 year old special assistant whose main jobs are editing videos, playing music, and reminding Kerr that he has a radio interview.
Apparently in his hotel room the other night, he loaded up tape of the Spurs-Heat 2014 finals and noted that when the Spurs went small with Diaw for Splitter, they blew Miami's doors off. He called Luke Walton and suggested the move. Walton bought in and at 3 am texted Kerr, who made the call.
--44% of Golden State's shots were open. Cavs too tired to switch.
--Cavs shot under 20% from outside the paint--tired legs.
Also, the Warriors decision to start Iguodala started with a 28 year old special assistant whose main jobs are editing videos, playing music, and reminding Kerr that he has a radio interview.
Apparently in his hotel room the other night, he loaded up tape of the Spurs-Heat 2014 finals and noted that when the Spurs went small with Diaw for Splitter, they blew Miami's doors off. He called Luke Walton and suggested the move. Walton bought in and at 3 am texted Kerr, who made the call.
Random question: How do the Cavs not have a JAG 3rd point guard on their roster?. Even someone like Pressey would be helpful.
BigSoxFan said:
Apologies for the dumb question from someone who doesn't follow the NBA that closely - is Miller complete toast at this point? He was once a useful player who could shoot 3s. Sounds like what the Cavs need, since JR is JR and Dellevadova is (whatever his virtues as a defender) terribad at scoring (not only is his form for shit, but he consistently made bad choices last night). Is there too big a fork sticking out of Miller's back now?
I assume you saw more of him than I did this season. I only saw him a few times and he seemed to have lost a step and his shooting appeared to have deteriorated. Looking at his O and D ratings as well as his BPM tells me he my eyes weren't totally fooling me.BigSoxFan said:
That said, I saw him play the most during what was his best season as a pro. More to the point, the current Jack would be a huge help for the Cavs in this series.
Was thinking this too while watching Cleveland miss shot after shot. If I had to guess I would say he's going to retire at this point.Ed Hillel said:
Really good article about the physical grind of the NBA, and how what Lebron is doing is completely insane: Lebron James' unfathomable workload.
If the NBA isn't going to shorten the amount of games played, perhaps they need to consider lengthening the season and stretching the 82 games over a longer period of time.
If the NBA isn't going to shorten the amount of games played, perhaps they need to consider lengthening the season and stretching the 82 games over a longer period of time.