The 2015 NBA Finals Game Thread AKA Battle Of The Australian Institute Of Sport

coremiller

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Also, David Lee was a +17 tonight in only 13 minutes.  WHAT!?
 
If Green continues to shoot this poorly I expect we'll see a lot more of Lee going forward.
 

tbrep

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As someone rooting for GS in these Finals, not terribly disappointed at where the Warriors sit. Down 2-1 with Curry looking like he's found his shooting stroke and the Cavs shortened rotation only having 1-day rest between Games 3-4.
 
Lebron has been unreal. Scary to think GS are one missed FG away from being down 0-3.
 

Blacken

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coremiller said:
Also, David Lee was a +17 tonight in only 13 minutes.  WHAT!?
 
If Green continues to shoot this poorly I expect we'll see a lot more of Lee going forward.
I want a David Lee podium game. I need a David Lee podium game.
 

luckiestman

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coremiller said:
Also, David Lee was a +17 tonight in only 13 minutes.  WHAT!?
 
If Green continues to shoot this poorly I expect we'll see a lot more of Lee going forward.
Could happen. Golden State doesn't need to have their best defensive players in because the cavs are not going to light it up. GS needs to score the ball better. They can win a shoot out.

Adjustments in game 4 will be interesting.
 

Blacken

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luckiestman said:
Could happen. Golden State doesn't need to have their best defensive players in because the cavs are not going to light it up. GS needs to score the ball better. They can win a shoot out.
LeBron will isolate on David Lee so very, very hard, though, and I don't know if they can do that.
 

amarshal2

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Nick Kaufman said:
I thought Golden State finally found its mojo on the fourth quarter after 7 bad quarters perhaps more. If they keep playing like this, they win. If not, Cleveland might steal it.
Curry found his mojo. David Lee was surprisingly good. Everyone else was TERRIBLE! I'm not sure they attempted a shot that hit the rim with anyone but those 2 for the last 10 minutes.

If the Warriors starters not named Curry don't figure their shit out soon they're going to lose a series they have no business losing to LeBron and the scrap heap. The 4 starters shot 10/37 (.270) combined from the field. Holy crap! Credit to the Cavs defense for making it tougher but Barnes, Green, and Thompson deserve at least as much blame. They shouldn't be shooting or playing anywhere nearly that poorly.
 

coremiller

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luckiestman said:
Could happen. Golden State doesn't need to have their best defensive players in because the cavs are not going to light it up. GS needs to score the ball better. They can win a shoot out.

Adjustments in game 4 will be interesting.
 
When they went on their run they were playing Green and Lee together.  Lee sucks at D and can't protect the rim and he can't shoot threes so he doesn't provide spacing -- which is why he's been behind Bogut/Green/Ezeli in the front court rotation all year.  But Bogut and Ezeli aren't doing a good job protecting the rim, and Green isn't providing any spacing, and Lee has what they don't -- which is the ability to knock down a 15-foot jump shot and finish on the drive as the roller in a PnR.  
 
Blacken said:
LeBron will isolate on David Lee so very, very hard, though, and I don't know if they can do that.
 
Yeah, Cleveland will put Lee in a PnR with LeBron every time down.  GSW would have to stop switching those and double, but LeBron is so good at passing out of those doubles that it becomes trouble very quickly.  Cle tried that a couple of times in the 4th quarter and GSW didn't double, they left Lee one-on-one and he did okay, but it was only two or three possessions and eventually that will backfire.  But if you're not getting great defense from Bogut or Ezeli anyway, maybe it's worth the risk.
 

luckiestman

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amarshal2 said:
Curry found his mojo. David Lee was surprisingly good. Everyone else was TERRIBLE! I'm not sure they attempted a shot that hit the rim with anyone but those 2 for the last 10 minutes.

If the Warriors starters not named Curry don't figure their shit out soon they're going to lose a series they have no business losing to LeBron and the scrap heap. The 4 starters shot 10/37 (.270) combined from the field. Holy crap! Credit to the Cavs defense for making it tougher but Barnes, Green, and Thompson deserve at least as much blame. They shouldn't be shooting or playing anywhere nearly that poorly.
Curry has to play way better early. That will open up things for his team mates.
 

luckiestman

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coremiller said:
 
When they went on their run they were playing Green and Lee together.  Lee sucks at D and can't protect the rim and he can't shoot threes so he doesn't provide spacing -- which is why he's been behind Bogut/Green/Ezeli in the front court rotation all year.  But Bogut and Ezeli aren't doing a good job protecting the rim, and Green isn't providing any spacing, and Lee has what they don't -- which is the ability to knock down a 15-foot jump shot and finish on the drive as the roller in a PnR.  
 
 
Yeah, Cleveland will put Lee in a PnR with LeBron every time down.  GSW would have to stop switching those and double, but LeBron is so good at passing out of those doubles that it becomes trouble very quickly.  Cle tried that a couple of times in the 4th quarter and GSW didn't double, they left Lee one-on-one and he did okay, but it was only two or three possessions and eventually that will backfire.  But if you're not getting great defense from Bogut or Ezeli anyway, maybe it's worth the risk.
I think everything you guys are saying is smart and could play out but GS cannot keep scoring 40 fucking pts in the first half or whatever. They need to open the game up. I think they need to try Lee way earlier in the game if they are getting stifled again
 

radsoxfan

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coremiller said:
Golden State's problem tonight was that Barnes/Green/Bogut have been total black holes on offense.  The Cavs are doubling Curry on every PnR and sagging back in the lane to stop drives/lobs to Bogut from the roller and daring one of those guys to beat them with jump shots.  Barnes and Green were a combined 2-18 tonight.  If they can't knock down shots like they did in the regular season, the Dubs' offense doesn't work very well.
 
This is mostly an accurate synopsis to me (though to be honest, they aren't even sagging to stop Bogut, they are just letting him roam free and taking advantage of the fact that he has a giant fork sticking out of his back).  If all 3 of those guys are this bad, it will be tough for GS to win. 
 
Barnes and Green were awful, but  there is a chance they could rebound, no reason for them to keep being this bad. Barnes' D on Lebron is particularly terrible though, Iggy needs to give him some pointers.  Lebron's eyes light up whenever Barnes is on him. 
 
Bogut looks utterly finished. Feels like OKC wasting 20 minutes a game with Kendrick Perkins out there. Kerr just can't play him anymore. It's 4 on 5 on offense, and it's an easy trap on Curry for every pick and roll.  Its just killing their offense. 
 
Lee and Festus probably need to get some more minutes.
 

Drocca

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DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
As a side note, I have no problem with the officiating tonight whatsoever.  
 
This looks bad, in retrospect.
 
Hell of a game, hell of a series. 
 

Drocca

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Well, actually I look like the asshole. I posted that last response before I finished the thread. I thought for sure there would be some debate on the reversed call, simply because it was a call they were not allowed to review. 
 

nattysez

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coremiller said:
 
Yeah, Cleveland will put Lee in a PnR with LeBron every time down.  GSW would have to stop switching those and double, but LeBron is so good at passing out of those doubles that it becomes trouble very quickly.  Cle tried that a couple of times in the 4th quarter and GSW didn't double, they left Lee one-on-one and he did okay, but it was only two or three possessions and eventually that will backfire.  But if you're not getting great defense from Bogut or Ezeli anyway, maybe it's worth the risk.
 
I totally agree.  If Lee's in the game, the Cavs will do what it takes to get Lee defending him.  Then you have to double LBJ, so someone's open, and everything falls apart from there.  The whole GSW D plan seems predicated on defending LBJ 1:1, so Ron Adams is going to have to go back to the drawing board if they want Lee to play significant minutes.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Its a post-game presser but Kerr said he was not making any changes to the starting line-up.  That doesn't mean he won't but Kerr doesn't strike me as the type to deviate from what got him here.  
 
A couple of thoughts - Lee clearly presents Cleveland with a match-up problem when the Warriors are on offense and, as was noted above, an advantageous mis-match when the Cavs have the ball.  That said, James is going to score so if Lee can, at least, slow him like he did tonight (admittedly in the second half after LeBron had expended a lot of energy) Golden State may actually be ok with that trade.   As a side note, LeBron has played 142:06 of the series 154 total minutes or 92% - that is just insane.  He can have cramps and collapse on the court and people will still question him.  I mean, its cliche but fuck, we really are witness...
 
Also, it will be interesting to see if there is any sort of mean reversion from someone like Harrison Barnes who has really shot well excepting tonight and game three of the Houston series - he had some amazing looks but missed badly.  He shot 48% from the field this season including 40.5% from deep.    Ditto Dellavedova who shot 41% from the field tonight but averaged 36.2% from the field during the season (he was right on his season average from deep at 40%) - will his scoring drop off?
 
Finally, when all is said and done, the other difference from someone who watched a lot of Golden State and Western Conference basketball is none other than Tristan Thompson.  He is essentially Draymond Green with four inches, better athleticism and a worse offensive game.  He has made Green look awful, beaten Andrew Bogut into submission and has done a passable job jumping out on Curry on PnRs.  I don't care if LeBron and he share the same agent - the guy is an elite rebounder and defender in today's NBA - pay the man Mr. Gilbert.  If Cleveland goes on to win this series, the story will be LeBron and the gritty white Aussie but Thompson is really Cleveland's second best player overall.  Even if its against the Warriors, I have to admire the way the guy plays the game.
 

gaelgirl

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jon abbey said:
https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/status/608512409721016320
This may be the least surprising thing that's happened this entire series. Delly's expending every ounce of energy he has. I love him (GO GAELS!!!!!!), but I wonder if he can physically keep this level of play up. This, however, also works out for me because I'm pulling for the Warriors to win. 
 
If nothing else, Matthew Dellavedova has been the greatest recruiting tool St. Mary's has ever had. Thanks, Delly! 
 

lovegtm

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A few caveats before my question:
1. I do NOT think Golden State's issues stem from being a "jump shooting team."
2. I thought Dubs would win in four or five, and still think they take the series.
3. I can't watch as much of the games as I like due to time zone.
 
Now, to what degree do these playoffs make us question the predictiveness of the regular season? There's zero way you can play with the intensity Cleveland is playing with for 82 games, but they've also been able to dial in to something that has the Warriors looking like a different team.
 
Obviously the playoffs have always been more intense than the regular season. But in the new rules era of the NBA, and especially since Dallas beat Miami, it seems like we've been seeing more and more series in which teams get a bit weird and make massive adjustments that impact series (Spurs sagging heavily off LeBron in 2013 comes to mind). 
 
It seemed like San Antonio was already ahead of that curve in terms of resting players in the regular season, and then coming up with extremely specific strategies for its playoff opponents. Will we start to see teams ignore seeding to a greater degree, and focus more on rest and developing their well-roundedness to be able to function better in the playoffs? 
 

HomeRunBaker

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gaelgirl said:
This may be the least surprising thing that's happened this entire series. Delly's expending every ounce of energy he has. I love him (GO GAELS!!!!!!), but I wonder if he can physically keep this level of play up. This, however, also works out for me because I'm pulling for the Warriors to win. 
 
If nothing else, Matthew Dellavedova has been the greatest recruiting tool St. Mary's has ever had. Thanks, Delly! 
You've had a nice run these past two years, gaelgirl! Last year was Patty Mills and this year Matty Deli.
 

gaelgirl

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Indeed. I think you'll find, though, that among most SMC circles, there's much, much more love for Dellavedova than Mills.
 
Part of it is that Mills left after two years (after being injured for a good portion of the second year), so fans didn't build as much affection for him. He hasn't completely abandoned SMC, though. He mentions the school or his teammates on twitter now and again, especially Dellavedova. But by contrast, Dellavedova very clearly loved St. Mary's and remains extremely connected to it. I read one article that he's still in near-daily contact with the coaching staff. He and his parents dropped by to visit coaches and professors during the All-Star Break. He regularly tweets about SMC games/players. He shows up to alumni events. He even tweeted a congrats message to St. Mary's graduates a few weeks ago. I fully expect him to be a St. Mary's coach someday. 
 
Having said all that, Go Warriors! 
 

Soxfan in Fla

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DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
LeBron James has scored or assisted on 200 of the Cavs 291 points in these finals
That's just insane. He's been incredible. They win this series and it will have to be his legacy. He's been amazing.
 

jablo1312

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Lot of talk for GSW to keep playing Lee after that big 4th quarter run. The main lineup there would presumably be Curry-Thompson-Iguodala/Barnes-Lee-Bogut, with some potential to go smaller with Green in place of Bogut. FWIW, Lee and Bogut played a total of 152 minutes together this season; Lee and Green, 189, so there’s not a lot of experience with either combination, which makes it intriguing as a major in-series tactical adjustment. I saw a lot of talk about how the Cavs don't have the personnel to take advantage of D-Lee's defensive inadequacies (though he did alright last night), but is that actually true? Maybe they don’t have the true 4 (in the Aldridge/Randolph cut) to go after Lee…but don’t they have LeBron?
 
With the lineup described above, I’m assuming the Cavs would counter with Dellevedova-Smith-Shumpert-James-Thompson. Is there really a place to hide Lee w/ that lineup? Put Iggy on LeBron, and then hide Lee on 1 of the 3 guards (probably Shumpert). Could the Cav’s run Shumpert-LeBron PnR’s to get Lee to switch onto LBJ? Because that’s a win for the Cavaliers every time in my opinion. And if they don’t switch, I feel like getting GSW’s 4 20+ feet from the rim is a win in itself, considering how much they’ve been killing the Warriors on the glass. Alternatively, the Cavs could replace Shump/Smith with Mozgov, go big, and try to bang on the boards against Lee and Bogut/Green. Although I’m not sure how well they’d hold up defensively playing Moz & Tristan against the Lee/Green combination.
 
I’m not sure. Lee played well last night, but I still think their ceiling as a team in this series is lower with him on the court. Unfortunately, Green and Bogut have alternated playing poorly enough so that Kerr has to make some kind of adjustment. I’d be wary of playing Lee major minutes, especially with the Cavs certain to find some ways to attack him defensively in their preparation over the next 36 hours.
 

johnmd20

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There is no place to hide Lee on defense but what he provides on the offensive side, from scoring to rebounding, might be worth it. Obviously it's not a big sample size, but without Lee in the past two games, Golden States offense was, not to put too fine a point on it, atrocious. The tactical adjustment might be needed.
 

coremiller

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jablo1312 said:
Lot of talk for GSW to keep playing Lee after that big 4th quarter run. The main lineup there would presumably be Curry-Thompson-Iguodala/Barnes-Lee-Bogut, with some potential to go smaller with Green in place of Bogut. FWIW, Lee and Bogut played a total of 152 minutes together this season; Lee and Green, 189, so there’s not a lot of experience with either combination, which makes it intriguing as a major in-series tactical adjustment. I saw a lot of talk about how the Cavs don't have the personnel to take advantage of D-Lee's defensive inadequacies (though he did alright last night), but is that actually true? Maybe they don’t have the true 4 (in the Aldridge/Randolph cut) to go after Lee…but don’t they have LeBron?
 
With the lineup described above, I’m assuming the Cavs would counter with Dellevedova-Smith-Shumpert-James-Thompson. Is there really a place to hide Lee w/ that lineup? Put Iggy on LeBron, and then hide Lee on 1 of the 3 guards (probably Shumpert). Could the Cav’s run Shumpert-LeBron PnR’s to get Lee to switch onto LBJ? Because that’s a win for the Cavaliers every time in my opinion. And if they don’t switch, I feel like getting GSW’s 4 20+ feet from the rim is a win in itself, considering how much they’ve been killing the Warriors on the glass. Alternatively, the Cavs could replace Shump/Smith with Mozgov, go big, and try to bang on the boards against Lee and Bogut/Green. Although I’m not sure how well they’d hold up defensively playing Moz & Tristan against the Lee/Green combination.
 
I’m not sure. Lee played well last night, but I still think their ceiling as a team in this series is lower with him on the court. Unfortunately, Green and Bogut have alternated playing poorly enough so that Kerr has to make some kind of adjustment. I’d be wary of playing Lee major minutes, especially with the Cavs certain to find some ways to attack him defensively in their preparation over the next 36 hours.
 
[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]If Lee plays bigger minutes, it will almost certainly be at the 5, not at the 4.  The point of playing Lee on offense is to run 1-5 PnRs with him that get CLE's rim protector (esp. Mozgov) away from the restricted area.  I don't think the starting lineup will change, but if Barnes and Bogut don't improve I think we'll see some lineups with Curry-Thompson-Igoudala-Green-Lee.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Some talk this morning about Green's back injury preventing the Warriors from rolling out their super-small Curry-Klay-Igoudala-Barnes-Green lineup that was very successful in Games 1-2.  When GSW went small in Game 2, Blatt pulled Mozgov out of the game; if GSW goes small again (with Lee in for Bogut), it will be interesting to see how Blatt reacts.  Taking out Mozgov makes it harder to punish Lee in PnRs on the other side, but Lee is a bad matchup for Mozgov on defense and Blatt seems willing to sacrifice offense for defense in this series.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Btw, for anyone interested in the nits of tactics w/o any hot takez BS, I highly recommend Nate Duncan's podcast.  [/SIZE]
 

ifmanis5

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Kerr needs to rip up his defense plan on LeBron and start over again. They're basically single-teaming him with some help. He has to be doubled all the time and trapped whenever possible. Get the ball out of his hands at all costs and let JR Smith or some scrub beat you.
 

TheRooster

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I disagree.  LBJ is shooting 40.1% from the field.  GSW's problem is offense and maybe the odd James Jones shot. 
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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David Lee isn't exactly a turnstile on defense - his D-rtg has improved each year that he has played for Golden State. I am not suggesting that he will look good defending LeBron because he won't and James got his even when a plus defender like Iguodala was on him.

That said, if he can simply slow down James, grab some boards (he appears to be more effective against the Cavs given his height advantage over Green coupled with Draymond's sore back) and contribute on the offensive end, it will help Golden State. As TheRooster points out, the Warriors have struggled on offense this series.
 

HomeRunBaker

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TheRooster said:
I disagree.  LBJ is shooting 40.1% from the field.  GSW's problem is offense and maybe the odd James Jones shot. 
Yes LBJ is shooting 40% but let's think this through a little deeper. He's getting to a line a shit ton for one and secondly when he puts the ball to the floor is causes the entire Warrior interior to rotate.....I don't know the exact number of times this has resulted in Tristan rolling freely to the rim for a follow but I'm guessing 2-3 per game. The FG% is deceptive in this regard as he's often creating 2 FT's for himself or a follow at the rim by Tristan or Mozgov.

Secondly when LBJ is attacking the rim it is in essence dictating the tempo the Cavs want.....no runouts or long rebounds. By double/tripling LBJ on occasion to take the ball out of his hands you eliminate both LBJ getting to the line and the Tristan/Mozgov followup opportunities. But what is MOST crucial IMO for what the Warriors truly need is that you are enticing long misses that can trap the bigs (and LeBron) under the basket so you can effectively increase tempo to get Curry in the open floor.
 

FredCDobbs

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It's pretty hilarious that the groundbreaking offense that is confounding the Dubs is Lebron hammering the ball into the floor twenty times and slowly backing his man down. It must work with great players because Larry used to do it all the time.  
 

NatetheGreat

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FredCDobbs said:
It's pretty hilarious that the groundbreaking offense that is confounding the Dubs is Lebron hammering the ball into the floor twenty times and slowly backing his man down. It must work with great players because Larry used to do it all the time.  
 
Well, there isn't really another player in the NBA who could do this, and even for Lebron its clearly not something he can do for a full season--hell even keeping it up the rest of this series would be insane. Which means the Warriors haven't really encountered anything like this before, and moreover seem pretty unsure of how to adjust. 
 

jon abbey

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CLE"s offense isn't what GS is having problems with, they haven't gotten to 100 points in regulation once yet. Their problem is their offense is being largely shut down by CLE, but possibly they have finally found the fix to that by running Curry/Lee pick and rolls (22 points the 13 times they ran this in the fourth quarter last night). 
 

radsoxfan

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ifmanis5 said:
Kerr needs to rip up his defense plan on LeBron and start over again. They're basically single-teaming him with some help. He has to be doubled all the time and trapped whenever possible. Get the ball out of his hands at all costs and let JR Smith or some scrub beat you.
 
The Cavs are averaging 97 points a game (with 2 OTs in there), I don't think thats all that bad for GS.   I'd be OK with a few more double teams here and there, especially when Barnes is on him, but Lebron is going to have an insane usage rate with this team and get big stats no matter what they do.  If they hold Lebron to 40% shooting and the Cavs under 100 points a game, thats a pretty good outcome for the Warriors IMO. I wouldn't want to give Smith, Shumpert, Jones, Miller wide open 3s all game.
 
The Warrior's problem is their offense right now. If they could score like many thought they could, no one would care about the stats Lebron is putting up. 
 

Tony C

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jon abbey said:
CLE"s offense isn't what GS is having problems with, they haven't gotten to 100 points in regulation once yet. Their problem is their offense is being largely shut down by CLE, but possibly they have finally found the fix to that by running Curry/Lee pick and rolls (22 points the 13 times they ran this in the fourth quarter last night). 
 
I think a bit too much weight is being put on a good 4th Q run by GS. I'm not sure it shows that they figured things out any more than Cleveland began coasting a bit, came down from their emotional high, and had a tired team...two players of whom headed to the hospital, one out of physical exhaustion the other for an MRI.
 
Lee definitely did look good. And Curry began sinking shots when he had more time. And the Lee-Curry combo definitely seemed to click. But there's a reason Lee is a bench player. And Curry's a great player so of course he's going to hit shots. The question is if that combo can click for a full game and if Curry will get that room from Delly in game 4 and beyond. If Delly can't keep it up physically, a la Tony Allen (broadly speaking), then I could easily see GS sweeping. But if not...all bets are off.
 

mauf

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lovegtm said:
A few caveats before my question:
1. I do NOT think Golden State's issues stem from being a "jump shooting team."
2. I thought Dubs would win in four or five, and still think they take the series.
3. I can't watch as much of the games as I like due to time zone.
 
Now, to what degree do these playoffs make us question the predictiveness of the regular season? There's zero way you can play with the intensity Cleveland is playing with for 82 games, but they've also been able to dial in to something that has the Warriors looking like a different team.
 
Obviously the playoffs have always been more intense than the regular season. But in the new rules era of the NBA, and especially since Dallas beat Miami, it seems like we've been seeing more and more series in which teams get a bit weird and make massive adjustments that impact series (Spurs sagging heavily off LeBron in 2013 comes to mind). 
 
It seemed like San Antonio was already ahead of that curve in terms of resting players in the regular season, and then coming up with extremely specific strategies for its playoff opponents. Will we start to see teams ignore seeding to a greater degree, and focus more on rest and developing their well-roundedness to be able to function better in the playoffs? 
Sometimes, you have to dismiss part of a season as anomalous -- such as the Cavs' 19-20 start this season, or the 2010-11 Mavericks' struggles when Nowitzki was hurt. In both cases, a properly adjusted regular season performance was predictive -- those Mavs were easily the league's best team when Dirk was on the floor and played like it in the playoffs; this year's Cavs have played like the 64-win team they were in the second half.
 

jon abbey

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maufman said:
this year's Cavs have played like the 64-win team they were in the second half.
 
They're playing great in this series, but I still think there's no way they would have gotten out of the West. This is a year where the unbelievably lopsided conferences is affecting the Finals, we so desperately need a 1-16 reseed regardless of conferences at the start of the playoffs. If this had happened this year, instead of Boston/Chicago/Atlanta, CLE would have drawn Dallas or Chicago/Atlanta/Houston or San Antonio or Memphis. If they had made it through that and then were doing what they're doing in this series, I'd be much more impressed. 
 
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/league

(And to be clear, I have rooted for the Cavs in all four rounds this year.)
 

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jon abbey said:
CLE"s offense isn't what GS is having problems with, they haven't gotten to 100 points in regulation once yet. Their problem is their offense is being largely shut down by CLE, but possibly they have finally found the fix to that by running Curry/Lee pick and rolls (22 points the 13 times they ran this in the fourth quarter last night). 
Except Cleveland's offense is what's restricting GS offense by slowing it down and not allowing breaks. Cleveland is set up on D almost every time and that's what GS hasn't been able to crack. Shooting like crap doesn't help, but GS needs to find a rhythm and flow. Cleveland has been able to prevent it on D, by what they're doing on the offensive end.
 
And for the record, I think LBJ can keep it up for the next 4 games. Dubs have to figure out how to shoot, or otherwise crack the code.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I know LBJ has been incredible, but I would like to say that Blatt should be given some credit. He has his team playing hard and playing - particular defensively - at a really high and cohesive level. The defensive rotations have been consistent and his substitution patterns have spot on. Pretty impressive show of coaching IMO.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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wade boggs chicken dinner said:
I know LBJ has been incredible, but I would like to say that Blatt should be given some credit. He has his team playing hard and playing - particular defensively - at a really high and cohesive level. The defensive rotations have been consistent and his substitution patterns have spot on. Pretty impressive show of coaching IMO.
Agreed.  Blatt and Lue have been solid and despite Golden State's performance to date, I think Kerr, Adams and Gentry have done an impressive job as well.   By and large, this has been a pretty well coached series.
 

lovegtm

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wade boggs chicken dinner said:
I know LBJ has been incredible, but I would like to say that Blatt should be given some credit. He has his team playing hard and playing - particular defensively - at a really high and cohesive level. The defensive rotations have been consistent and his substitution patterns have spot on. Pretty impressive show of coaching IMO.
Isn't this similar to the kind of situation Blatt has a reputation for doing well in? Taking a team that has some flaws and isn't as talented as its opponent, and coming up with a plan to maximize what they do have?  Obviously having LeBron helps...
 

johnmd20

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jon abbey said:
 
They're playing great in this series, but I still think there's no way they would have gotten out of the West. This is a year where the unbelievably lopsided conferences is affecting the Finals, we so desperately need a 1-16 reseed regardless of conferences at the start of the playoffs. If this had happened this year, instead of Boston/Chicago/Atlanta, CLE would have drawn Dallas or Chicago/Atlanta/Houston or San Antonio or Memphis. If they had made it through that and then were doing what they're doing in this series, I'd be much more impressed. 
 
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/league

(And to be clear, I have rooted for the Cavs in all four rounds this year.)
 
But what can you do, other than play by the rules set forth by the league? I don't think anyone on Cleveland is looking to impress you by increasing their degree of difficulty. They are 14-3 in the playoffs, so it's not like they had to hold on against suppar teams to get to where they are. They are winning almost all of their playoff games. But you're not impressed. Ok.
 

Wake's knuckle

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HomeRunBaker said:
Yes LBJ is shooting 40% but let's think this through a little deeper. He's getting to a line a shit ton for one and secondly when he puts the ball to the floor is causes the entire Warrior interior to rotate.....I don't know the exact number of times this has resulted in Tristan rolling freely to the rim for a follow but I'm guessing 2-3 per game. The FG% is deceptive in this regard as he's often creating 2 FT's for himself or a follow at the rim by Tristan or Mozgov.

Secondly when LBJ is attacking the rim it is in essence dictating the tempo the Cavs want.....no runouts or long rebounds. By double/tripling LBJ on occasion to take the ball out of his hands you eliminate both LBJ getting to the line and the Tristan/Mozgov followup opportunities. But what is MOST crucial IMO for what the Warriors truly need is that you are enticing long misses that can trap the bigs (and LeBron) under the basket so you can effectively increase tempo to get Curry in the open floor.
 
It's really been a turn-back-the-clock series for the Cavs. They are playing like an 80s team. They weren't originally designed like this. Injuries have taken out two players (Love and Irving) that were great on offense and bad on defense. The Cavs are a little thin, so outside JR Smith, the rest of the team is basically defense-first people. LBJ can get away with playing one-on-one and shooting 40% because they are beating up GSW on defense -- let's not forget that Curry only had 6 shots in the first half in game 3. That means the defense is REALLY doing something right.
 
Can they keep it up? The Cavs are only playing 6 players. If they can win game 4, I like their chances. But if they can't, you have to think that fatigure will catch up to them...
 

Cellar-Door

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This finals is great evidence for the "playoff series are all about matchups" theory. The crazy Delladova/Curry matchup, Tristan Thompson taking Green out behind the woodshed, Bogut 's inability to match up.
 

Tony C

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jon abbey said:
 
They're playing great in this series, but I still think there's no way they would have gotten out of the West. This is a year where the unbelievably lopsided conferences is affecting the Finals, we so desperately need a 1-16 reseed regardless of conferences at the start of the playoffs. If this had happened this year, instead of Boston/Chicago/Atlanta, CLE would have drawn Dallas or Chicago/Atlanta/Houston or San Antonio or Memphis. If they had made it through that and then were doing what they're doing in this series, I'd be much more impressed. 
 
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/league

(And to be clear, I have rooted for the Cavs in all four rounds this year.)
 
Seems to me this is an argument that there's no major difference. They would have rolled Dallas just as they did Boston, and the next rounds they'd have been as like to face Atlanta and Chicago as any others, and they beat both. And then would have come Golden State. Seems like more or less the same level of difficulty, or only slightly less.