The Cleveland Cavaliers were stunned by a barrage of Warriors’ buckets on Thursday. They held their own for a half before being run off the court in the second half, unable to keep up with Golden State’s pace and scoring.
Now, the Cavs are left wondering how to adjust in order to make this series interesting and give them a chance of repeating as champions. One such adjustment appears o be more about their mentality and style of play than any strategy.
Following via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
One point of emphasis from Cavs coach Tyronn Lue after reviewing the tape that showed Cleveland becoming the first team in NBA history to fail to record a steal on the defensive end in a Finals game, was to up the physicality to disrupt the Warriors’ potent offense.
“I think just make them feel us,” Kevin Love said on a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon. “That’s something that I imagine Ty probably talked about [with the media] and we can definitely do a better job of.”
That’s a start, at least. It’s not so much that the Warriors are soft, but being more physical can at least throw them off their rhythm. Even if it leads to the timing of a couple passes to Steph Curry running off screens be off, it’s worthwhile. The Cavs also need Tristan Thompson to be more physical on defense and on the boards. He wasn’t his usual self and that was a huge blow to the Cavs.
Who knows if any of this matters against possibly the greatest accumulation of talent ever. But it should at least make the games more competitive.
