WITH the Golden State Warriors storming to a 2-0 lead, the reigning NBA titlist Cleveland Cavaliers are in a must-win situation today, June 8 (PH time, 9 a.m.), in Game 3 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals at the Quicken Loans Arena in Wine City.
The Warriors thoroughly destroyed the Cavs with 113-91 and 132-113 victories at the Oracle Arena in the first two games of the third consecutive Finals matchup between the two teams. Their combined 41-point winning margin was the fourth-largest in NBA history for the 32 teams that had grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the Finals.
The Dubs also took a 2-0 lead in the 2016 Finals and owned the largest two-game winning margin ever at 48 points (104-89 and 110-77). However, the Cavs had the last laugh in becoming the first team in NBA annals to secure the Larry O’Brien championship hardware after trailing 3-1 in the Finals.
Transition defense remains Cleveland’s weakest link heading into Thursday’s Game 3. The Cavs are having a hard time engaging Golden State in a running game and may yet have to resort to “Slowball” to stifle the Warriors’ offensive juggernaut. The efforts of the Big Three of LeBron James (28.5 ppg, .553 FGA (21-of-38), 13.0 rpg, 11.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.5 bpg), Kyrie Irving (21.5 ppg .400 FGA 18-of-45), 4.5 apg) and Kevin Love (21.0 ppg, .444 FGA (16-of-36), have not been enough and the shock-troopers like Kyle Korver (4.0 ppg, zero in the series opener), Deron Williams (0.0 ppg, 0-9 FGA), Iman Shumpert (5.5 ppg), Tristan Thompson (4.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and J.R. Smith (1.5 ppg) need to step up in a jiffy.
That’s not even to say that turnovers must be kept to the barest minimum.
James is the first player to average a triple-double in the first two games of an NBA Finals series since the Philadelphia 76ers’ Wilt Chamberlain accomplished the feat against the San Francisco Warriors in 1967.
However, The King alone can’t get the job done. James has gotten little support from his teammates outside of Irving and Love.
Smith, a trigger-happy shooting guard whose motto is “when in doubt, shoot,” has been virtually invisible for the Cavs so far with a combined three points – three (1-4 FGA, 1-2 3FGA) in Game 1 and zero (0-2 FGA, 0-2 3FGA). With a regular average of 8.6 points and 5.9 ppg in the playoffs, Smith also has the unenviable task of chasing the Warriors’ backcourt snipers of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on defense. Smith has been so disappointing that Cavs bench tactician Tyronn Lue initially thought of replacing him with Shumpert in the Cavs’ starting lineup.
Down 2-0, the Wine and Gold team’s margin of error in strategy is very slim as a third consecutive loss means the series is over as no team has ever rallied from a 0-3 hole to capture the Finals.
Golden State, which is unbeaten in the ongoing playoffs at 14-0 and now owns the longest postseason winning streak in NBA history, is bidding for its second NBA crown in three years. In 2015, the Dubs broke a 40-year title jinx in whipping the Cavs, 4-2, in the Finals.
Already enjoying an advantage in bench depth over Cleveland with 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala (6.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg), Shaun Livingston (6.0 ppg), David West, JaVale McGee and Matt Barnes around, the Warriors also have too much power, speed and versatility with free-agent acquisition and former NBA regular season MVP Kevin Durant (35.5 ppg, .563 FGA (27-of-48), 10.1 rpg, 7.0 apg, 2.5 bpg, 1.5 spg), the early Finals MVP candidate, making the correct decision to leave Oklahoma City to join forces with reigning back-to-back regular season MVP Curry (30.0 ppg, .462 FGA (18-of-39), 10.5 apg, 8.0 rpg), Klay Thompson (14.0 ppg, .393 FGA (11-of-28), 5.0 rpg) and the energetic Green (10.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.0 apg).
If there is any advantage for Cleveland at this time, it’s still the presence of LeBron and the team having the home-court advantage in Games 3 and 4.
But first things first, home cooking has to translate into a “W” in Thursday’s Game 3 if only to keep the Cavs’ title-retention quest alive.
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