Defending Lebron James: Double team vs Straight up

Jun 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) handles the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the fourth quarter in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of a few transition buckets, the Warriors did a good job of limiting the Cavs in transition.  Most of Lebron’s damage occurred in the half court.  Klay Thompson and Draymond Green did see limited opportunities off switches but for the most part, the Warriors primary defenders on Lebron were Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes.

Against both Barnes and Iguodala, Lebron spent most of the night in isolation from the left wing.  Facing up from this spot with a live dribble, the mid range jumper was available all night. That jumper is simply a reality that the Warriors have to deal with.  Crowding Lebron to the point where that jumper is significantly disrupted isn’t an option when the dribble is live.  The alternative is immediately sending a hard double team from one of the surrounding guards.  As previously discussed, this isn’t an option the Warriors are comfortable with, and for good reason.

In the end, both primary defenders were able to move Lebron off his spot to disrupt the jumper just enough.  The possibility exists that Lebron will have a night where that jumper is falling at an uncontrollable rate.  If that night occurs during this series, you simply tip your cap and hope the Warriors can counter with a Steph + Klay barrage of their own.

The bigger concern when Lebron faces up with the live dribble is keeping him away from the rim.  Iguodala was much more effective at achieving this desired outcome than Barnes.  Lebron, determined as he was, found his way to the basket on a few occasions against Iggy, but generally he was played exceptionally well.

Against Barnes, however, Lebron had a much easier time getting himself to the cup.  Anticipating as much, Kerr installed a fail-safe of sorts.  When Lebron faced up against Barnes on the wing, Andrew Bogut would slide over toward the strong side and away from his man in preparation for a frontal attack.  The Cavs were well prepared for this strategy, and on more than a few occasions Lebron found Timothy Mozgov flashing toward the hoop for easy buckets.  The Warriors clearly prefer Lebron forcing passes into a jammed middle to Mozgov than having the ball swing across the perimeter for open threes.

The plan was mostly successful. While Mozgov was able to score from this setup at times, the Warriors also forced a number of turnovers when this scenario played out.  More importantly, only a few times was Lebron able to parlay this situation into open threes for teammates.

In addition to facing up on the wing, Lebron worked heavily with his back to the basket in the post.  Not surprisingly, Lebron is also almost impossible to stop straight up from this spot as well. Iguodala did a formidable job down the stretch, keeping Lebron off the foul line the entire 4^th quarter and all of overtime.  Nevertheless, Lebron did score plenty with his back to the basket.

Although for much of the game, the Warriors appeared to accept this outcome, Lebron did see more double teams with his back to the basket than when he faced up.  This is likely due to decreased visibility. The flashes toward the rim that got Mozgov open looks when faced up, weren’t as accessible when Lebron had his back to the basket.  Thus, the Warriors were able to apply a more creative array of double teams without being punished.

Next: Golden State's Plan