#5 Coaching
Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn Lue’s instructions to his players were clear, take the ball into the paint and use the height advantage to make shots in close. The Cavs did exactly that, going to the line a total of 35 times, making 28 of those shots for free points.
Boston failed to match their intensity, instead opting for low-percentage outside shots, ending up with just 10 free throws made and a 31% clip from deep, going 12 from 38. While this no doubt speaks to the tremendous talent of the Cavs, it also tells us about the coaching mindset going into the game.
Brad Stevens will undoubtedly be looking to make a variety of changes after viewing the game tapes, including reducing Cleveland’s chances down low, better defensive switches on LeBron James, reducing Kevin Love’s good looks from deep and fewer distractions, à la Isaiah Thomas picking fights with both Tristan Thompson and Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart not fouling out in the fourth quarter and J. Crowder getting dangerously close to a similar fate with 5 personal fouls.
