The Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Golden State Warriors game was the highlight of the Christmas Day offering of the NBA on ESPN. It was the first meeting of the 2015 NBA Finals Eastern and Western Conference champions that also pitted the top two teams from their respective conferences this season.
Golden State won this rematch 89-83 before they renew their acquaintance next month when the teams meet again, this time on Cleveland’s home floor.
Here are three things we learned from the game:
The Cavs can hold the Warriors down defensively
It was a low-scoring affair for the most part as the Cavs and Warriors engaged in a playoffs-style basketball as both teams shot poorly from the field. Cleveland recorded its third worst shooting performance of a LeBron James team shooting an atrocious 31.6% (30-95) from the field and a woeful 16.7% (5-30) from three-point range.
Cavaliers shot 31.6% in loss today, 3rd-worst by a James team for a game pic.twitter.com/25qKEwbw9p
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 26, 2015
Golden State, on the other hand, shouldn’t be too happy with their performance either as they shot 41% (32-78) field goals and just 27.8% (5-18) from downtown.
#Cavs have held big guns in check. Curry, 4-11FG, Thompson, 5-14FG; it's been Livingston (8-9FG,16pts) & Green (18pts, 14reb) doing damage.
— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) December 26, 2015
Any combination of field goals and free-throws from the Cavs could have turned this game around. Even if only two of those 25 missed threes fell along with a single free-throw, we’d be talking about a Cavs win.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever see [Kyrie] Irving and myself go 0-for-11 from the 3 ever again,” said Kevin Love after the game.
Cleveland was able to keep the Warriors from shooting the lights out from long-range as well, but they were unable to make enough shots of their own to win the ballgame.
According to ESPN, the Cavs were also able to keep the Dubs from reaching 100 points at the Oracle Arena “for the first time in more than a year.”
The offense needs more adjustment
With the game on the line and the clock ticking down the final minutes of the game, the Cavaliers resorted to one-on-one basketball that mostly netted either a turnover or a miss.
Regular rotation players like Richard Jefferson and Anderson Varejao were nowhere to be found on the floor despite Blatt fielding in ten players during the course of the game.
The Cavs have one of the deepest benches in the entire NBA. This is only the third time that the team has had its full lineup together after All-Star guard Kyrie Irving returned in the game against Philadelphia.
Dec 25, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) shoots against the Golden State Warriors in the first half of a NBA basketball game on Christmas at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Coach David Blatt is obviously still struggling to find a regular rotation and the players are still trying to find consistency in their playing time.
The adjustment might take a while, though, but the rustiness showed against a superb defensive team like the Warriors. We needed to make a few buckets here and there but everyone was off and we still only lost by six against the best team in the NBA this season.
Things will get better once Blatt settles on a consistent rotation.
[J.R. Smith] made 4-8 from three-point territory, accounting for 80% of the Cavaliers five three-point makes.
J.R. Smith redeemed himself from poor Finals
If there was a bright spot shooting-wise for the Cavs, it’s J.R. Smith. The three-point marksman made 4-8 from three-point territory, accounting for 80% of the Cavaliers five three-point makes. One of them was a crucial three-pointer during the final minute of the game that cut a six-point deficit in half.
J.R. had a horrible Finals series after shooting the lights out during the playoffs last season. He came ready to fire and make his shots this time against the Warriors and he ended up being the second-leading scorer for the team behind James.
Whenever Smith is shooting that well, the Cavs need to give him the ball early and often as his hot-shooting could have given the team more points on the board especially from three. That would have also opened up the lanes for James and Irving to drive and score.
Conclusion
Yes the Cavs lost versus the team that beat them in the NBA Finals last season but there is a silver lining to the loss—they know they can hang with the defending NBA champions.
Other teams may fear facing them, but the Cavs aren’t and they will carry the confidence they built from this game into their next meeting at the Quicken Loans Arena on January 18.