The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a disappointing 113-91 loss in Game 1 of the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors.
Despite that, the Cavaliers have remained optimistic on how the series will play out moving forward. According to Anthony Slater of the San Jose Mercury News, veteran forward Richard Jefferson stated that he doesn’t believe his team will make many adjustments for Game 2 on Sunday night.
“They shot the ball 42 percent from the field. We turned the ball over 20 times and they had nine dunks and only shot 42 percent from the field – one of the best shooting teams in the history of the NBA. How far off are we? Not very far. But that only shows you, it only takes you to be a little off for things to get very, very ugly..If we keep holding them to 42 percent and cut our turnovers from 20 to 12 and maybe turn them over instead of four times, maybe eight times. All of a sudden, we’re in a position where we’re either winning that game, up by 10. The formula is there, we just have to execute it and not panic.
Jefferson opines that things just swung the opposite way in the third quarter, allowing the Warriors to pull away in the second half. Cleveland struggled to get any offensive consistency on Thursday shooting just 34.9 percent from the field with 20 turnovers including LeBron James being responsible for eight of them. They were also outscored in the paint 56-30 while shooting 20 fewer shots in the contest.
Although the Warriors controlled the opening game of the series, things could be much different come Sunday with a refocused Cavaliers team looking to even up things. A bulk of this may start with James playing a more efficient game taking care of the ball, while the supporting cast beyond their big three such as J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson, who combined for just three points on 1-for-7 shooting from the field, will make a larger impact.
Ultimately, the way the Cavaliers respond in Game 2 will go a long way in dictating how the rest of the series plays out.