Jim Brown, LeBron James and Cleveland
June 11, 2015Optimistic Cavs take, Ballers, Podcasting, and Dusty Rhodes: While We’re Waiting
June 12, 2015Golden State Warriors – 103
Cleveland Cavaliers – 82
NBA Finals tied 2-2
Well that wasn’t as fun as Tuesday’s game, was it? After an incredible team effort and rambunctious crowd blasted the Cavaliers to interstellar heights after a Game 3 victory to take a 2-1 series lead over the Warriors, they came came crashing back to earth in Game 4. The Warriors made some smart adjustments and played with the desperation of team fighting to avoid a 3-1 deficit that would have put their season on life support, and the Cavaliers ended their brief homestand with a dull thud.
Game 3 brought euphoria. Game 4 brought despair. Game 3 had Matthew Dellavedova, Messiah. Game 4 had Matthew Dellavedova, Leper. Game 3 featured LeBron James, superhero. Game 4 featured LeBron James, mild-mannered alter ego. Game 3 made Cavs fans feel waves of orgasmic pleasure. Game 4 made Cavs fans feel a groin-crunching kick to the love-bits. Such is the nature of sport.
After all the ups and downs Cavs fans have experienced in the NBA Finals thus far, the team is largely right where it started at the beginning of the series: a giant underdog without homecourt advantage trying to disable a fully operational destroyer of worlds. Which is to say that 28 teams in the NBA would give anything to have the opportunity the Cavs have. Which is to say they have a chance at this thing. Which is to say long odds be damned!
GSW back up to a 76% favorite to win the Finals per Elo ratings, which is about where the series started.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 12, 2015
We know the series is tied, but wha’ happen?? Let’s take a peek behind the box score and try and figure it out.
4-of-27 – If you want to reduce Game 4 to one stat, it would be the final score. But if you wanted to use another one that largely summarized how 103-82 was the game’s imminent final resting place, it would be the Cavs’ four made three-point field goals made on 27 attempts. That’s a grotesque 14.8 percent three-point field goal percentage. The Cavs had only three games all season in which they shot less than 20 percent from three-point range entering Game 4,1 and they lost all three previous games. The Warriors shot 12-of-30 on threes, which is 40.0 percent … that’s good. It’s not as if there weren’t open shots either — the Cavs shot only 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) on uncontested shots, contrasted with the Warriors’ 23-of-43 (53.5 percent) on uncontested shots. The Cavs need more uncontested attempts, sure — but they need to capitalize on the open looks they have. There was a lot more going on in this game than bad shooting, but considering the entire Kyrie-less Cavs offense is predicated on surrounding LeBron James with shooters and offensive rebounders, the Cavs can’t sustain such an abysmal shooting night.
19 – The Cavs guards were only able to muster a lowly 19 points in the most important game in franchise history. There would be no sequel to the Dellavedova-inspired, soon-to-be classic fan fiction novel Love Down Under on Thursday night, as Matthew Dellavedova scored only 10 points. Dellavedova (3-of-14 on field goal attempts), Iman Shumpert (2-of-9), and J.R. Smith (2-of-12) all stank mightily on the offensive end. 19 points is exactly what Cavs guard Kyrie Irving averaged in the postseason before his season ended in Game 1 of the series. No one is asking Delly, Shumpert, or Smith to replace Irving, but the three (3) of the secondary guards working together ought to be able to amass the point total of one (1) Kyrie Irving. At least Dellavedova was decisive and shot with confidence at times, but Smith and Shumpert were frequently hesitant, and couldn’t seem to figure out whether to shoot or attack the rim, leading to half-hearted shot attempts. James didn’t shoot well, either (7-of-22 on field goal attempts), and the Cavs are not going to win any games in the remainder of the series in which their backcourt contributes such a meager share — plain and simple. After the game, J.R. Smith assessed his own game as “horse shit” to the media. Well … your words, J.R.
JR Smith just categorized his play tonight as "horseshit." Talk about accountability.
— Scott (@WFNYScott) June 12, 2015
94.1 – The most important coaching adjustment made in Game 4 was Warriors coach Steve Kerr finally — with the emphasis to imply inevitability, not desirability — deciding to go small and do so with some oomph. Entering Thursday’s game, the Warriors had only played small ball2 48.6 percent of the time, while the Cavs did so over 52 percent of the time. The Warriors had a plus-minus of +21.8 per 48 minutes with their small lineups compared with -20.0 per 48 minutes for all other lineups entering Game 4. That’s a huge difference, especially compared with the Cavs -4.1 per 48 (small) and +3.9 per 48 (biggish). To summarize that qualitatively, the Cavs are slightly better with both Thompson and Mozgov on the floor than the alternatives, but the Warriors are demonstrably better playing small because it suits their style so perfectly. Kerr started Andre Iguodala instead of Andrew Bogut in Game 4, and played small the entire game (94.1 percent by my calculations, to be exact),3 and the Warriors won by 20 points. After averaging over 23 minutes per game in Games 1-3, Bogut played less than three minutes in Game 4. This allowed the Warriors to play the style they wanted. Sometimes, basketball isn’t that complicated; credit Kerr for making the drastic move that paid dividends.
22 – While the Cavs backcourt failed to deliver, the Warriors’ secondary scoring threats delivered precisely what coach Steve Kerr ordered, particularly 22 points from Andre Iguodala. Kerr said after the game that Iguodala has been the best player in the series for his team, and he certainly was in Game 4. Iguodala was aggressive in catch-and-shoot and off-the-dribble situations, hitting an aberrant four threes on nine attempts. Earlier on Thursday, I reduced the Cavs’ defensive plan to, “Make Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green beat them; hope they don’t.” Well, Iguodala and Green beat the Cavs in Game 4, as Green added 17 points to Iguodala’s 22. The Cavs need to live that way, because the alternative is letting Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have free reign off of screens and pick-and-rolls. It is interesting that Iguodala has been the bellwether for the Warriors so far, as his best games have come in the team’s victories in Games 1 and 4. But James Jones left Iguodala hanging on a high five, so I guess we’ll call it even.
28 & 10 – While the Cavs backcourt was a letdown, Timofey Mozgov probably had the best game of his career. Mozgov was the game’s leading scorer in a game featuring LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson with a career high 28 points. He was mildly successful posting up on the Warriors small-ball lineups, but was a smashing success in the pick-and-roll, moving off the ball (such as in the clip below on the receiving end of the incredible no-look pass from James), and on the offensive glass. Mozgov had six offensive rebounds (out of 10 total), plus a host of tip-outs that he’s become masterful at directing toward teammates. Because of the Golden State small lineups, he was often forced to defend much smaller defenders and patrol the paint at the same time. Tristan Thompson also added 12 points and 13 rebounds, as the Cavs big men shined while their guard counterparts provided few rays of sunlight. Gov-zilla has been the Cavs second best player in the NBA Finals by a wide margin (yes, even over Thompson), and continues to be a season-long revelation.
105 – As in the 105 times I made an unpleasant face when Joey Crawford was on television. In the clip below he tells the hyper-likeable Mozgov to “shut up.” Rather than turn this space into me complaining about his officiating, let me just say that he’s the only ref in the league that petulantly yells at players, and is probably the only person on planet earth who actively dislikes Tim Duncan. Joey Craword is an angry, hate-filled man that I’d prefer not to have polluting my NBA viewing experience.
22 & 3 – LeBron James continues to be uncharacteristically inefficient. We know that the Cavs need James’ volume more than his efficiency this series, but he only had 20 points in Game 4. His low productivity might have something to do with the fact that he was averaging over 47 minutes per game in three games over the course of the preceding week, the gash in his head suffered after a hard Bogut foul in the first half that would require stitches after the game, and the weight and expectations of the entire Western Hemisphere. But on the other hand, James Jones only had three field goal attempts. It’s not inspiring to have to rely on James Jones, but the Cavs need to make some adjustments to counter the Warriors amped-up small ball attack, and a helping of Jones with a sprinkling of Mike Miller may be their best chance (especially if J.R. Smith continues to struggle). If there’s optimism to be taken from Game 4 and the Cavs’ plight, it’s that the series is tied at 2-2 and the Cavs haven’t had a single great shooting game yet from James or their perimeter players. Credit the Warriors stifling defense, but if the Cavs can get one great shooting performance that’s long overdue, then they can steal this series yet.
- Among regular season and postseason games, using Basketball-Reference.com game logs. [↩]
- By “small ball” I mean when a team has zero or one “bigs” in the game. It’s a somewhat objective determination, depending on who you classify as big or small, and whether you differentiate based on style — as a team may “act” small or big depending on matchups. For the Warriors, I count small ball to be when they play one or none of the following players: Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Festus Ezeli, or Mareese Speights. [↩]
- Using lineup data from NBA.com. [↩]
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