Facing an 0-2 deficit to the Golden State Warriors in this year’s NBA Finals, the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers will need to focus if they intend on defending the Larry O’Brien trophy.
There have been several contributing factors in Cleveland’s substandard performances in the Finals thus far, including lackadaisical transition defense and the low production of their role players.
In Game 1, the Cavs allowed 56 points in the paint, turned the ball over 20 times, and recorded zero steals. The champs played with better pace for the majority of Game 2, but fell a bit flat in the second half, resulting in a 132-113 defeat.
After today’s practice session, LeBron James, who is averaging 28.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals through the first two games of the Finals, was asked if guarding Kevin Durant is beginning to take a physical toll in the second halves of games. The King, seeming to feel a bit disrespected, shot the reporter a quick glance before reminding her of his triple-double average in the series.
“No,” James said as he paused and shook his head. “Do I look tired? Nah, I feel great. I’m averaging a triple-double in the Finals. I’m pretty good, I would think. At the end of the day, I want to win just as bad as (the Warriors) do. Obviously, they’ve probably got a bad taste in their mouth from what happened last year. We had one in our mouth last year from what happened the year before. I’ve had a few bad tastes in my mouth with what has happened in the Finals. I’ve always had that feeling. It never changed to me.”
“There shouldn’t be any urgency from one game to the next when you’re trying to win a series. We prepared well this morning. Now we gotta put that into game form and play a 48 minute game.”
Will James and the Cavs be able to change the narrative in this series with a win tonight? Only time will tell. Game 3 is set to tip at 9:00 p.m. EST on ABC.