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If Game 4 showed us anything, it was that Golden State Warriors can still be the Warriors and get a blowout win on the road while down in the Finals series. They won the game by 21 points to level the series 2 each and are headed home to Oakland for Game 5.
Steve Kerr’s candid strategy to play small against the Cavs by replacing Andre Iguodala for their big man Andrew Bogut paid off. Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t keep up with the pace where all the five men on the offence were contributing significantly. Harrison Barnes who was struggling offensively ended his drought by scoring a respectable 14 points with 8 rebounds.
Draymond Green got the same types of shot as he did in Game 3 but made a significant improvement scoring from 7 points (20 %FG) to 14 points (55 %FG). Stephen Curry along with the experienced Iguodala put up a good 22 points each. LeBron struggled since the start and maybe fatigue is to be blamed. The guy had averaged 41 points this Finals series before Game 4 while playing 3 games in 5 days. There is a lot riding on his shoulders and the question “How long can LeBron keep this up?” has been answered.
The King faced a head injury in the second quarter after driving into a courtside camera. He bled on the floor, but only a player like James can act like the Hulk after a fall like that and continue playing. He should be more than alright after getting a refreshing two-day rest and it shouldn’t be worrisome for a Cavs fan.
The Cavaliers at Oracle
Home court advantage is usually a very important factor for strong teams with stronger fan bases. With Cleveland and Golden State, both hungry for championships, the arenas are insanely loud and the energy shown by around 20,000 fans translates to the energy shown by the home teams on court.
This series has been unusual in that regard since home court advantage so far has been non-existent. Both teams have won one and lost one on the road. In spite of the fans giving excellent support, we are yet to see them having an impact on these conference champions. It will be interesting to see if the Warriors capitalize of home court advantage or if the Cavaliers are indifferent to it.
Defending LeBron vs Defending Curry
The two ‘un-guardable’ guys in league have been successfully guarded at times in this series. For the King, it’s been Iguodala who’s managed to slow him down a little. James isn’t so good when Andre is defending him:
The Golden State Warriors relied on double teaming LeBron in Game 4 to control him to a relatively low 20 points. While this makes life tough for James, it opens up space for his teammates to get open shots and they have to make the most of it in Game 5.
As for defending Curry, Matthew Dellavedova has proved his worth at it in the past. However, he isn’t used to playing 40+ minutes a game and fatigue has taken over him. There is no question about his skills, but his body isn’t conditioned like James to play almost full games. Iman Shumpert has to pick up his teammate and guard Curry when Delly needs a breather.
The Warriors played a lot of isolation in Game 4 giving Curry and his shooters better looks. Cleveland has relied on slowing down the pace of the game to contain the Warriors and unless they continue to do so, they’ll face trouble on the defensive end to contain the quick Warriors.
Blatt’s Dilemma: Small vs. Big
With Steve Kerr’s ‘going small’ strategy working, Cavaliers head coach, David Blatt has to decide if he’ll match small with small or stay big.
Cleveland outscored the Warriors 16-6 on offensive rebounds in Game 4. However, they couldn’t handle the offensive speed Kerr’s small lineup brought to the court and suffered defensively. Blatt in this situation could opt to go small for small and bring players like JR Smith to the starting lineup instead of Mozgov and try to contain the Warriors.
On the other hand, the Cavs’ big man Timofey Mozgov scored the most points on the floor in Game 4 (28). Replacing him with a struggling-to-shoot JR Smith may not give them the offensive boost they so dearly need. The decision David Blatt takes may make or break Cleveland’s chances in this upcoming road game.
With the series tied, these playoffs Finals become a best of three. The past two games in the Oracle Arena have gone into overtime; let’s see if this one does too.
How important is this game? Well, statistics say that the winner of Game 5 in a tied Finals series goes on to win the championship 71% of the times. Need I say more?
Guess the Lakers players!
