The narrative after Games 2 and 3 of the 2015 NBA Finals was the unfathomable effort of LeBron James, but after losing Game 4 in a manner that had the Golden State Warriors looking back in form, the question now becomes if LeBron and the Cavaliers have enough left in the tank going into Oracle Arena for Game 5.
Starting Andre Iguodala instead of Andrew Bogut was Steve Kerr’s adjustment that helped the Warriors get off to a quicker start in Game 4. In terms of the Cavaliers making active adjustments for Game 5, LeBron kept it plain.
via ESPN:
“We’re going to play our game,” James said before practice Saturday. “We’ve gotten to this point by playing the way we play, and we’re not going to change. We’ll make adjustments throughout the game, but we won’t change our starting lineup.”
David Blatt is being popularly called to go deeper into his bench to use veterans like Shawn Marion and Mike Miller. Those might be the kind of in-game adjustments LeBron is referring to, the important thing for the Cavs is to re-accept the challenge of guarding the Warriors when their match ups aren’t favorable.
“In this case with our bigs, Timo and Tristan, Timo’s starting off on Iggy, it’s a different match up than Bogut, obviously,” James said. “You’ve got a guy that’s primarily on the perimeter in Game 4 versus guarding a guy that’s always in the paint, for the most part, unless he’s initiating offense. So it’s definitely a different change for us. But I think we’ll be much more prepared for it tomorrow night if they go with the same lineup.”
The Cavs are desperate for any kind of contributions to aid LeBron, and the most likely candidate, J.R. Smith, has been in a funk. LeBron’s dominance and contagious determination has gotten the Cavaliers this far, as has their size and physical dominance. Timofey Mozgov punished the Warriors in the paint with a monster 28 points in Game 4. The Cavs have been successful in bully-balling the Warriors and they can’t get away from that.
As far as lineup changes, for the sake of endurance, some extra Cavalier bodies might be used on Sunday, but they only have that luxury if they get off to a good start. We’ll see if LeBron and the Cavs are the ones to return to form in Game 5.
