The Golden State Warriors were embarrassed in Game 3.
This wasn’t surprising considering what was at stake for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lebron James once again had his legacy questioned, J.R Smith was the source of “who shot J.R” jokes, and Kyrie Irving and Tyronn Lue were also being questioned.
The Cavaliers showed they had heart and aren’t going to go away quietly. They moved to 8-0 at home this postseason after a 30 point route of the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors are in control of the series, but what do they have to do to put the Cavs on life support.
It’s simple; play harder, start the death lineup and wake up the best shooting back-court in NBA History.
The Cavaliers out hustled every Warrior player except Harrison Barnes. Barnes was the only guy battling Tristan Thompson on the offensive glass. The Warriors have to gang rebound in game 4. If they gang rebound in game 4 Thompson becomes irrelevant because the only thing he does is rebound.
Also, the Warriors have to keep Irving, James and Richard Jefferson from penetrating. When the Cavs penetrate it makes Thompson effective. The Cavs penetration opens everything up for them. The Warriors stopped their penetration in the first two games, they were awful in every defensive category in game 3.
Defense fuels the Warriors. They need to get back to it in game 4.
Steve Kerr needs to embrace death.
The Warriors have the perfect opportunity to start their death lineup. By starting Jefferson the Cavs are playing right into the Warriors hands. The injury to Kevin Love is a blessing in disguise for the Cavs. They play better without him, and game 3 showed this.
However, starting Jefferson allows the Warriors to start Andre Igoudala. Kerr needs to make this switch. Andrew Bogut was phenomenal in game 2, but with Jefferson starting for Cleveland they are too athletic for the Warriors.
There’s a number of reasons the Warriors should start the death lineup.
First, keep James at bay. James attacked like a mad men to start game 3. His attacking, in conjunction with Irving set the tempo for Cleveland. Second, Cleveland’s defense with Jefferson improved tremendously. With Iguodala starting these things won’t be a problem.
Iguodala calms the Warriors down, gives them a different tempo and in a series like this does the best job on James.
Having Iguodala on James will put Draymond Green on Thompson. This will allow Green to be more active defensively because he’s not guarding James every possession like he did in game 3.
The most important adjustment is find a way to awake the Splash Brothers. So far in the NBA Finals they have been the Zombie Brothers.
Stephen Curry has been Zombie like the whole series and Klay Thompson has missed more open shots than any of us can remember.
The Warriors will not win the NBA Championship unless the best shooting backcourt in NBA History shows up.
Even though there’s concern about Curry and Thompson it would be very surprising if they are bad once again in game 4. These two are coming. Expect them to combine for at least 50 points tonight, if not more.
Kerr can help the cause by putting the ball in Curry’s hands and saying attacking Irving he can’t defend you. Having Curry off the ball gives Irving and the Cavs the opportunity to hold him, push him and wear him down. If the balls in his hands this won’t happen, it will be the Cavs who will get worn down.
The Warriors are in control of this series because they are the better team. They were pissed with how they played in game 3. Expect a different team in game 4 incorporating these minor adjustments.