NBA Finals: How the Warriors can bounce back and defeat the Cavaliers

After the overtime Game 1 win, the Warriors have not been themselves on both ends of the floor.

Grinding their way to a 96-91 win at home in the Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken a 2-1 lead in the Finals putting league MVP Stephen Curry and his Golden State Warriors in a must-win situation, come Game 4 on Thursday. Before we jump the gun and criticize the Warriors for a couple of bad games, let’s understand how good this team really is, by recapping their regular season:

-The Dubs have been the only team in the league to be in the top 2 in offensive (109.7-2nd) and defensive efficiency (98.2-1st) yet they have struggled to score more than 60 points in three-quarters for the past two games. They registered a league-best and franchise record 67 wins sealing the Pacific Division title for the first time since 1975-76. Although they are the 10th team to record 67 wins in NBA history, they are the first team to register those many wins under a rookie Head Coach.

That’s the jist of how good they have been but the Cavaliers don’t seem to care or at least that’s how they are playing. Cleveland have slowed the pace of the game, killing the Warriors transition offense and forcing them to take contested shots in the half court. Matthew Dellavadova along with Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith have given the Splash Brothers (Curry and Klay Thompson) hardly any airspace to shoot with. In the paint, the size of Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov is wearing down the Warriors front court of Draymmond Green and Andrew Bogut.

And we haven’t even began to speak about LeBron James’ impact on the game. While the rest of the team contributes defensively, James has been doing almost everything for the Cavs on the offensive end. In the three games of the Finals so far, he is averaging 40.5 points, 12 rebounds and 8.3 assists while playing 142 out of a possible 149 minutes.

Like the West Semis series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State are once more facing a must-win Game 4 situation and just like that series, they can win. Here’s how:

Insert David Lee into the starting line-up

Warriors need more of David Lee on offense.

If it wasn’t for the strained left hamstring that David Lee suffered in the last pre-season game before the regular season, Draymmond Green might have still been a reserve having not been given the playing time to prove what a good fit he is for this Warriors system. Green’s three-point shooting and incredible passing on the perimeter is what set him up to be a better fit for the team than Lee however the former is struggling with his long range shot, shooting only .250 from beyond the arc in the Playoffs.

Struggling to knock down his shots, Green is driving into the lane but is getting his shots blocked more than once every game by the Cleveland bigs especially Mozgov. Not just that, he is only losing the rebounding battle against opposing power forward Thompson.

In such a situation turning to a more experienced Lee is the best solution for the Dubs. In Game 3, it was his contribution along with Iguodala and Curry that helped Golden State cut Cleveland’s 20 point lead to one with a fourth quarter run. He is a better finisher at the basket than Green and can make much better passes to teammates from the post.

The move to insert him into the starting line-up could also catch their opponents off guard giving them some momentum to build on even before a basket has been made in Game 4. He does give up some size against Thompson on defense, but Green didn’t fare any better with the back injury he suffered because of a bad fall in Game 2 after blocking a James’ shot.

Stick to plan on help defense

Golden State must be disciplined on the help defense they provide off of LeBron James in the post.

Throughout these Finals, the Warriors have decided to let LeBron James play one on one and let him score but eliminate his ability to pass and get teammates going. The plan is excellent because it makes the contest between James and the Warriors, eliminating the rest of the Cavaliers. The trick worked in Game 1 where James had only 6 assists however the Warriors have failed to execute this trick well enough over the past two games.

With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love out with injuries, the number of players that can create their own shot are limited on the Cavaliers roster. Golden State need to take advantage of that by being extremely disciplined when they provide help defense on LeBron. They must communicate with each other, be verbal so that they can help each other on defense and not allow LeBron be successful as a facilitator.

They won Game 1 with LeBron scoring 44 points. his highest of the series so clearly they have proven the strategy can stick. It’s all about handing Iguodala the bulk of the duty to guard LeBron and execute the strategy to help them win games.

Improve decision making on offense

There are multiple reasons why the Warriors are an elite team on the offensive end this season. Head Coach Steve Kerr’s play calling off of a timeout is certainly one, however, a large portion of the credit goes to the players’ and their decision making on offense. This team is a high volume shooting team and when those shots don’t go in, they will their way by driving to the basket or going to the free throw line.

Have a look at the Warriors’ shooting percentages through 3 games:

	Field Goal Percentage	3-point Field Goal Percentage	Free Throw Percentage	Turnovers
Game 1	39-88 (.443)	10-27 (.37)	20-22 (.909)	12
Game 2	33-83 ( .398)	8-35 (.229)	19-25 (.760)	19
Game 3	36-90 (.400)	12-34 (.353)	7-12 (.583)	14

In Game 2, other than Klay Thompson everybody was struggling to knock down shots including Curry. The disastrous 3-point shooting percentage from the game is a clear indicator of that. In Game 3, the number of free throw attempts is far too less when your shooting just 40% as a team. Golden State needs to be more efficient on offense NOW than it has ever been all year.

The adjustment is simple-dictate the pace of the game and don’t let the Cavaliers slow it down. The passes have to be crisp and on point, nothing fancy. A majority of the minutes during the series, the Warriors are playing catch-up therefore a higher priority has to be given to open layups rather than contested long range shots jacked up by players who are not particularly hot. When a shooter like Klay Thompson or Curry finds theri stroke, the team should most definitely look for them every possession but agaisnt a team like the Cavaliers, the Warriors should avoid trying to find their stroke by shooting too many long range jumpers.