Cavaliers’ cause all but lost in NBA Finals mismatch
In his search for answers, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue so far has no clue. His player rotations and game plans resulted in his team blowing out two tires on a disastrous road trip to California.
The Cavaliers were supposed to be new, improved and ready to rumble with the Golden State Warriors in a heated NBA Finals rematch. But that was the storyline last week.
A week later, it has become obvious this is a bigger mismatch than last year. Lue is calling the shots for a dead underdog, and it appears there’s not much LeBron James can do. The Cavaliers, outscored by a combined 48 points while dropping the first two games of the series, find themselves on the butt-end of a joke.
“It’s ugly,” said Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill sports book director. “Even if you didn’t win a game in Oakland, you had to be competitive. The Cavs’ confidence has to be low. It has been an across-the-board wipeout so far.”
The best-of-7 series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday, when the Cavaliers are 1-point underdogs and have their best shot to win a game. Teams trailing 2-0 and returning home typically are in a bet-on spot.
But it also gets more complicated for the Cavaliers, who are already severely outmanned and could be without one of their top scorers. Kevin Love left in the third quarter of Sunday’s game with concussion-like symptoms, and his status is unknown.
Love and point guard Kyrie Irving, both sidelined in last year’s six-game finals defeat to the Warriors, were supposed to help Cleveland make up ground this time around. However, Love shot 9-for-24 in the first two games, and Irving was mostly ineffective while running a punchless offense.
Shooting guard J.R. Smith has lost his shooting eye, scoring a total of eight points in two games. A supposed tough guy covered in tattoos, Smith took a hit to the mouth in Game 2 and quit rather than fight back.
James has not been the same, either. He is averaging 21.0 points, a year after carrying the team by scoring 35.8 points in six finals games. He hit only 1 of 5 3-pointers and had seven turnovers Sunday.
“The big thing I think people don’t realize about LeBron is he can’t shoot from the outside,” Sportsmemo.com handicapper Erin Rynning said.
Remember all of the open 3-point looks the Cavaliers capitalized on while rolling through the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 12-2 record? Golden State is too good defensively to allow that to continue. Almost every shot by James, Irving and Love has been contested.
The Warriors are simply better on both ends of the floor, and they also are exploiting a coaching advantage. The more experienced Steve Kerr is making all the right moves. Lue is losing every time he rolls the dice.
Lue left Irving and James on the bench at the same time early in the fourth quarter while Game 1 got away. Lue said the Cavaliers needed to play at a faster pace in Game 2 — a strategy that played into the hands of the NBA’s most dangerous transition offense — and the result was a disgraceful 110-77 loss.
“Every way the Cavs turn, the Warriors are going to have an answer,” Rynning said. “And the Warriors have not even played a great game yet.”
The most surprising aspect of the series is that Golden State is making a bold statement by winning big without major contributions from star guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Warriors are not overwhelming the Cavaliers with a 3-point assault, as expected.
Curry, the league’s scoring leader at 30.1 points per game in the regular season, has totaled only 29 points against the Cavaliers. Thompson, the savior in the series comeback against Oklahoma City, has 26 points in two games.
“I thought Cleveland would give them a better series,” Bogdanovich said. “But I also said it could be a class difference, and it looks like the class difference is going to win out.”
In a role reversal from years past, the team from the West is tough, and the team from the East is turning soft.
The Warriors, who went in as 2-1 favorites, have been adjusted to minus-900 favorites to win the finals.
“So far, it has been all Golden State money,” Bogdanovich said. “But I could see why people would bet Cleveland in Game 3. No question, if you’re going to bet on the Cavs, this is the spot down 0-2 and getting a point at home.”
This is the Cavaliers’ last chance, but if they play dead again Wednesday, the Warriors probably will sweep Cleveland into another depressing offseason.
It’s on James to find answers, because his coach is clueless.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247