After giving up 56 points in the paint (42 in the first half), committing 20 turnovers as a team (12 in the first half), and allowing countless unabated trips down the lane in their 113-91 loss in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers will need to focus if they hope to steal Game 2 from the Golden State Warriors inside a hostile Oracle Arena.
Another issue? Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver, and Deron Williams combined for just three points.
Aside from all of the aforementioned blunders, the Cavs also became the first team in NBA Finals history to record zero steals. For the record, Golden State had 12 takeaways.
Kevin Love, who tallied 15 points (4-of-13 field, 3-of-6 beyond the arc) and 21 rebounds (career-high for postseason) in Game 1, thinks physicality could be a factor in Game 2.
“I think, just make them feel us,” Love told cleveland.com when asked what the Cavs planned to do differently in Game 2.
Love spoke to Fox Sports Ohio’s Allie Clifton after Game 1. The former UCLA Bruin stand-out pointed out how the Cavs weren’t fighting for 50-50 balls as they should’ve been.
“There were certain points where, you know, they were getting deflections, they were getting hands on balls, and were first to the 50-50 ball,” Love said. “So that’s something we feel that we can definitely clean up. It’s uncharacteristic.”
https://youtu.be/iMqUp_pgeN8
Yesterday, the champs studied film of Game 1 in hopes of learning from their mistakes. Today (Saturday), the team will hold a practice session to prepare for Sunday’s game.
“We need to be better, that’s apparent,” Love told Joe Vardon of cleveland.com. “A lot of numbers and schemes lie, but the film won’t lie. We know that a lot of stuff will be tough to look at, but we have to learn from it and be better.”
Game 2 is scheduled to tip at 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, with ABC having live broadcast coverage. We’ll just have to wait and see what adjustments the Cavs have made.