After the Golden State Warriors handled the Cleveland Cavaliers easily in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, winning 104-89, the talk was about how the Warriors’ scoring came from unexpected people. It wasn’t the Splash Brothers — Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — leading the way with scoring (though they did have some big buckets) but the Warriors’ supporting cast that provided the points.
Watching the game back, however, it’s clear the Warriors’ scoring wasn’t a result of a game plan to have Shaun Livingston (who finished with 20 points), Leandro Barbosa (11 points) or Harrison Barnes (13 points) take the shots. Those guys scored because of who was defending them: Kyrie Irving.
By the fourth quarter, the Warriors’ game plan had become simple: Everyone work their tail off on defense, and on offense, find the guy who Kyrie is guarding. And then give him the ball and let him score.
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The Cavaliers had to have seen this coming, and thus went with the somewhat counterintuitive strategy of having Irving guard Curry to start the game. Cleveland knew they were probably going to have to send a double team anyway, so might as well make Irving the first guy there who can hold Curry up for a second until help arrived, usually in the form of LeBron James.
With James cheating to help Irving with Curry, though, the Warriors promptly found Barnes — James’ man — on a back-door cut.
So that wasn’t working. The Cavaliers then made the quick adjustment and decided to try and have Irving guard Barnes directly. The Warriors immediately sent Barnes baseline around a series of picks, which Irving had no chance dealing with. Another easy bucket for Barnes.
At the end of the first quarter, Livingston came in, and the Cavaliers thought they’d roll the dice and have Irving guard him.
Look where Curry immediately goes with the ball:
These are all just from the first quarter. The Warriors were running their offense, but every play seemed to reach the same conclusion. Wherever Irving was, that’s where the ball went.
I’m not trying to be mean to Irving here, I’m really not. But the Warriors are so good and so deep that this isn’t a team that allows you to hide someone on defense. All night, the Cavaliers tried to trap the Warriors’ shooters. At times it worked, but more often than not Curry or Thompson would just move the ball around until they found whoever Irving was guarding, that person would be open, and they’d get a bucket.
By the fourth quarter, the Warriors had stopped even pretending to do anything else:
Just rewatched 4th Q Warriors-Cavs.Cavs put Irving on Livingston,Shaun scores 6 pts and then they put Irving on Barnes then he scores 4 pts.
— Vedran Modrić (@vedranmo) June 3, 2016
By the fourth, Irving might as well have been wearing a neon green jersey. Every single time down the court, the Warriors did the same thing — they found the poor sap, and they picked on him.
I’m not sure what the Cavaliers do from here. Irving’s offensive game is so much better than the next option — Matthew Dellavedova — that he has to be on the floor. (And even though Delly is a better defender, he seems to be a problem the Warriors have solved, and in his ten minutes on the floor last night the Cavaliers were -19.) Irving is the better ballhandler, a better playmaker, and his shooting allows the Cavaliers to space the floor the way they want to. He has to play.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
I’m not sure what to do on defense, though. Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue can try to put Irving on Curry, but I’m not sure having Irving chase around the greatest shooter ever — or, god forbid, try to defend the Curry-Green pick-and-roll — is a sustainable idea.
Sadly, I think the defense they came up with last night — trying to hide Irving on Livingston, Barnes, Barbosa, whoever — is probably the best bet. The Cavaliers need to be sharper with their rotations, need to be quicker to help Irving. They only gave up 104 points last night, which is actually a decent number against this Warriors team. Someone on the Warriors is going to beat you, so if you’re the Cavaliers, you figure it might as well be that cast of characters.
The Cavaliers need to score the ball better (obviously enough), and they need to help Irving on defense. Until this game plan stops working, the Warriors are going to go to it. Keep your eye on Irving on defense this series: That’s where the ball is heading.
Confetti falls as spectators celebrate the Golden State Warriors 104-89 victory against Cleveland Cavaliers following game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) dunks to score a basket against Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) confronts Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) shoots the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts to a foul called against him in action against the Golden State Warriors during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli (31) dunks the ball during the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) dunks the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) during the first quarter in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) handles the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) grabs a rebound against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson (24) during the first half in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) grabs a pass against Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the second quarter in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Golden State Warriors guard Leandro Barbosa (19) shoots the ball over Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) during the second quarter in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) controls the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first half in game one of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena.
The court before game one of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena.
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