Keidel: Cavaliers Need More Of LeBron's Game 2 Magic To Save Series
By Jason Keidel
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The problem with beating the Golden State Warriors -- which only happened nine times over the regular season -- is they don't have to play a pristine game to win. The Cleveland Cavaliers just found that out in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Stephen Curry -- the new NBA messiah and unanimous league MVP -- had eight points with five minutes left in the game, and the Warriors were still up by 20. At that moment, the top five team scorers did not include a single Splash Brother. It was their lowest combined output all season, including the playoffs. With 60 seconds left in the game, the Warriors' bench outscored Cleveland's 45-9.
The Warriors are the hardwood version of whack-a-mole. Stuff Curry, and Klay Thompson scorches you. Imagine the frustration of chasing Thompson and Curry, only to have Andre Iguodala drain a 3, Shaun Livingston spin toward the rim for a layup, or forgotten old man Leandro Barbosa sink soft bank shots.
The Warriors darted out to 15 straight points in the fourth quarter, and 13 of them were scored by bench players.
If the Cavaliers are going to fix this, they need to do so in a nanosecond, or as fast as it takes a Warrior to release a 3-pointer.
The overwhelming sense, despite the MVP voting, was that the Warriors were the more complete team and could spread points like butter across across the box score. Meanwhile, the Cavs were still largely LeBron James, two heralded teammates who hadn't won anything as pros and an abyss of role players.
Depending on your analysis or allegiance, the fact that Golden State won by 15 despite the poor performance by Thompson and Curry is a great or galling sign. In Oakland, they can say that this was the game for the Cavs to win, and they still lost by double digits. And once their bejeweled backcourt starts draining jumpers from NASA range, it's over.
But there are ample silver linings for the Cavs and the King. The last nine times James lost Game 1 of a playoff series, he won Game 2. And despite the final, 15-point bulge, Cleveland was in the game until the fourth quarter and, perhaps, the Cavaliers would have fared better had they scored more than 13 points on 16 second-chance shots. They also missed a total of 28 shots in the lane -- not indicative of an NBA team, much less one in the NBA Finals. You'd like to think Cleveland will be better on Sunday just by default.
That's good news for King James, who hasn't assumed the league throne a while. And it's even better than he has such a stellar record in the second game of a series, because if the Cavs get wiped out again in Game 2, the King could forfeit another jewel from his crown.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel