It’s fourth and short for Cavs
Warriors dictate length of rivals’ latest meeting
Is anyone interested in a little fourplay?
That’s certainly what the NBA and its broadcast partners are hoping as the Goliath State Warriors and Cleveland LeBrons swipe right for a fourth consecutive best-of-seven-night stand.
Though no one appears to believe it will take nearly that long.
Beyond the fact that some people may just be bored with this seemingly annual event, there is the larger question of whether the Cavaliers can muster enough from King James’ court to create any true competitive drama.
The best thing the Cavs may have going for them is that the Warriors suffered bouts of impatience against Houston. There was a certain element of are-we-there-yet? to their game, and it might have bit them even harder than having to go seven games against the Rockets if Chris Paul had stayed healthy.
Celtics players and coaches duly noted that the same issue was dogging their own playoff run, particularly against Milwaukee and Cleveland. Where there were a number of Celts who were basically saying the hell with it and driving blindly into traffic versus the Bucks and launching quick, offense-busting treys at the Cavs, Golden State had to survive a mis-step by a far better player (Kevin Durant breaking plays) to go iso against Houston.
Had the Celtics stuck to their simple passing game and allowed their talented though inexperienced youngsters to exploit the openings and wear out the Clevelanders, they’d still have games to play this season.
Had the Warriors stayed their course more consistently, they would have had to play fewer games against Houston.
How many will they have to play against the Cavs? That’s pretty much up to their own focus.
There is no doubt LeBron James will explode on one or more occasions (put your money on more), but there is little possibility it will matter in the long run. If the Warriors want to lock in, this will be quick and relatively painless.
And if you’re wondering how we can be so dismissing of the Cavs, well, it’s because they needed a Celtics breakdown to get past a team that was missing Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
The other problem with which Cleveland must deal is that it, too, is missing Kyrie Irving.
The Cavaliers lasted just five games against the Warriors in last year’s Finals, and that was with Kyrie averaging 29.4 points and shooting 41.9 percent on 3-pointers in the series.
We said after Cleveland’s deadline trades that it had made itself more athletic and better able to take advantage of the regular season. But we noted, as well, that they would miss Irving when things got crunchy in the postseason.
In last season’s playoffs, the Cavs averaged 116.2 points and just once were held to fewer than 100 (91 in Game 1 of the Finals). This year they have averaged 101.2 points and scored fewer than 100 in eight of their 18 playoff games with five of them in the 80s.
The Warriors’ haven’t been as explosive this year either, with their playoff average going from 119.3 last season to 109.1 this time around.
A good part of that is because they got into halfcourt duels with San Antonio and Houston, but it’s also because they were too willing to fall into the isolation game.
Which is crazy when you consider how virtually unstoppable the Dubs are when they put on their running shoes.
Remember how concerned the Celtics were with getting back to deal with the Cavaliers’ transition game? Well, the Cavs are even more worried about what the Warriors can do to them on the fast break and with secondary offense against a defense that hasn’t yet gotten into proper position.
But even if Golden State gets stuck in the mud in these Finals, it still has more than enough to extinguish the Clevelanders for the third time in the last four years.
By the end of this series, the Cavs will wonder why they even chose to go out with the Warriors again. Then they get on with the business of sitting by the phone hoping LeBron wants to continue that relationship.