This year’s NBA Finals were supposed to be different.
‘If the injury-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers pushed the mighty Golden State Warriors to six games last June, imagine what a healthy roster with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving on the floor can do.’
That was the narrative anyway, right up until the Warriors crushed the Cavaliers’ hopes and dreams with wins in each of the first two games, which in truth felt more like three and a half victories.
The series is not over. I’ll spare you the ‘a series doesn’t start until the road team wins’ line, but Golden State did what they were supposed to do. Had Cleveland managed to squeak out one win at Oracle Arena, even by the slightest of margins, we’d be saying they’re in the driver’s seat. Instead, because they were blown out twice, we’re ready to pour dirt on them.
I’m not ready to say the Warriors will win in a sweep, or even in five games for a gentleman’s sweep. But it ultimately won’t matter because the Cavaliers have to beat a team that set the all-time record with 73 regular-season wins four times in five chances. Suffice to say, the odds aren’t exactly in their favour.
But how did we get to this point so quickly? The Finals started less than a week ago and before Game 1 tipped-off, it was Cleveland who were coming in red hot while Golden State were lucky just to be there after surviving against Oklahoma City.
First off, let’s make one thing clear. There’s a lot of blame going around the Cavaliers for their poor play, but there are two teams on the court and one of them is in the discussion for greatest team ever.
So while Cleveland may not be performing well, they’re not blowing the series or choking it away. The Warriors are really damn good and every criticism thrown the Cavaliers’ way should be reframed in the context of who they’re playing against and what that requires.
What makes Cleveland look even worse is what the Thunder did in the last round, when they pushed Golden State to breaking point.
There are many differences between that OKC squad and these Cavaliers, but chief among them is how long and athletic the Thunder are. That attribute allowed their defence to suffocate the Warriors’ high-powered attack and made everything harder – something Cleveland are struggling to do.
The presence of Irving and Love certainly gives LeBron James more firepower at his disposal, but in no way do those two help the defence’s cause. In fact, they hurt it. Neither has been as good as they’ve needed to be offensively, so if they’re not helping LeBron carry the scoring load, their use is limited.
Irving and Love’s limitations represent the fundamental flaw of the Cavaliers: their lack of quality two-way players. It’s ironic considering they have one of the best two-way players ever in James and depending on how you choose to see it, he’s been the one pulling the strings and building the team behind the curtain.
Look up and down the roster. Irving and Love are great offensively, terrible defensively. Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert can provide stifling perimeter defence, but are black holes on the other end. Then there’s guys like Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye who bring one elite skill – rebounding and 3-point shooting, respectively – and really nothing else.
That mix can destroy teams in the Eastern Conference and maybe even beat everyone aside from the defending champions in the West, but it’s not good enough to overcome the historically-good Warriors, who are as balanced and as deep of a squad as we’ve seen in a long time. Maybe ever.
Again, it’s hard to knock Cleveland too much considering they reached the Finals in consecutive years. It’s not their fault that their championship timeline has run parallel with the window of a team that could be on its way to becoming a dynasty.
This is what Golden State have done to every hopeful contender. It just so happens by the nature of the conferences that the Cavaliers get the closest to the ultimate prize before being the latest victims.
It’s a hopeless feeling and one that LeBron is getting the full brunt of this time around after being shielded by the justified excuse of injuries last year.
The Warriors are going to win again and there’s nothing Cleveland can do about it.
