NBA Finals Game 1: 6 Things We Learned

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is in the books and the Cleveland Cavaliers are licking their wounds.

For the second straight year in a row, the Cavaliers dropped game one of the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. And for the second year in a row it was a very winnable game, even though the final score doesn’t reflect that.

The Cavaliers found themselves down by 14 in the first half, but they clawed their way back to a lead in third quarter thanks to good play from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. But their efforts were all for naught when the Warriors responded with a 15-0 run.

There is still a lot of time left in the series, but it does hurt to lose a game where both Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are completely off of their game. Here’s what we learned from this one.

1. The Big Three needs help offensively.

The Big Three carried the scoring load in game one, but they weren’t able to get any help offensively.

Many people questioned whether Kevin Love could have an impact this series because of his terrible pick and roll defense, but he showed that he can be serviceable on defense in game one. Love also proved to be a solid rebounder and scorer.

Even though Love played better than some expected on the defensive end of the floor, the Big Three wasn’t good enough to pull out the win. They finished with a combined 66 points on 23 of 60 (38%) shooting. While that isn’t a great showing by the Big Three, the scoring load being completely on them is partly to do with them not getting contributions from other players.

The Cavs’ role players did not contribute offensively. Players not in the Big Three had only 23 points on 9 of 24 (38%) shooting. 10 of those points were from Tristan Thompson. Key role players like J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Channing Frye combined for only 8 points.

To put this in perspective, the Warriors’ Big Three of Curry, Thompson, and Green combined for 36 points. But the rest of the players put up 68 points on 30 of 49 (61&) shooting.

While you need your starts to shine in big games, every team does need their role players to step up to some extent. That simply wasn’t the case in game one.

2. Turnovers can kill you.

One of the battles that the Cavs needed to win was the turnover battle. They simply did not in game one. Cleveland was sloppy with the ball and turned it over 15 times. The Warriors got 25 points off of those turnovers. Being more careful with the ball could’ve led to a far different outcome in game one.

The Cavs needed to play a near perfect game to steal one in Oakland, but that can’t be done when you turn the ball over 15 times.

3. Golden State’s bench can win them a game.

Going into this series many, including myself, felt that the Cavs’ bench was one of the biggest advantages that the Cavs had. That proved to not be the case.

The Warriors bench outscored the Cavs’ bench 41 to 10 this game. Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa had the game of their lives. They combined for 31 points on 13 of 15 shooting.

While the bench was able to steal the Warriors this one game, this isn’t something that you would think is sustainable. Livingston and Barbosa really aren’t as good as they showed in game one.

On the other side of that coin, the Cavs’ bench isn’t as bad as they showed in game one. The LeBron and bench unit that was so successful throughout the playoffs was barely given any time to show what they are capable of.

What’s even more perplexing is the fact that Channing Frye only played 7 minutes. 2 of those minutes came in garbage time at the end of the game so he really only played 5 meaningful minutes. The reason the Cavs traded for Frye was so they could use him in small ball situations in series like this. Frye was a plus 4 in this game and was the only Cavalier to finish on the right side of the plus/minus besides those that played only in garbage time.

While the Warriors’ bench played great, it’s important to not overreact because of that. This great performance isn’t something that is sustainable.

4. Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green can “contain” LeBron for at least one game.

LeBron needs to have a tremendous performance for the Cavs to win this series. there’s no denying that. James only had one field goal on the 22 plays that Iguodala guarded him. Iguodala was able to frustrate LeBron last year in the Finals. He is picking up right where he left off last year.

Green also did a great job covering James. LeBron was only 1 for 7 on field goal attempts when Green was guarding him. This was unexpected considering how well LeBron did against him last year in the Finals.

Most of LeBron’s success came when those two weren’t guarding him. We’ll see how LeBron adjusts to Iguodala and Green’s success in game one.

5. This is a series Tristan Thompson can really impact.

Thompson’s play was one of the few bright spot for the Cavs. He grabbed 12 rebounds including 6 on the offensive end. Thompson finished with 10 points, and he really should’ve had more points then that. He missed a few around the rim that we’re used to seeing him make. Even though he didn’t finish like we were used to, he was still one of the Cavs’ better players on the floor. Thompson was only a minus 5, which is somewhat amazing considering he played over 30 minutes. To put that in perspective LeBron and Kyrie were both minus 10.

Getting extra possessions is important to do against the Warriors given how great they are offensively. Thompson is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. His ability to grab extra possessions will prove to be valuable as the series goes along.

Thompson also did a good job of switching on the Warriors’ pick and rolls. He was able to say in front of guards like Curry and Thompson when he was forced into a situation where he needed to guard them.

Steven Adams showed just how valuable a good rebounding center that can switch on pick and rolls can be against the Warriors last series. Thompson is trying to duplicate what Adams did for Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals.

6. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are susceptible to off nights.

Curry and Thompson were awful in game one. They finished with a combined 20 points on 8 of 27 (30%) shooting. If this kind of performance would’ve came in a losing effort the national media would be pointing out how they continue to struggle in the Finals, but since it didn’t it will most likely be overlooked.

Curry especially played awful. He didn’t appear to know what he was doing at all out there. He committed a game high 5 turnovers and looked totally lost on the court. He wasn’t able to create the normal separation for his jump shots, and when he did get an open look he wasn’t able to knock it down.

There are two ways to approach the bad performance of Golden State’s two star players. The first way is to see it as a good things for the Warriors. Golden State showed that they are good enough to win games even when their stars play bad. If they can beat the Cavs by 15 with their stars playing bad, who knows how many they’ll beat them by when Curry and Thompson are on their game. You know it’s impossible to keep shooters that good off their game for long.

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However, this can also be looked at as a good thing for the Cavs. Curry and Thompson weren’t great in the Finals last year. Golden State won last year because of the Cavs’ fatigue and from a balanced attack, not because of Curry and Thompson. Maybe the Finals is too big of stage for them. Maybe the Cavs have found a way to contain them.

There are two drastically different ways to look at Curry and Thompson’s off performance. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle of those two drastic views.

The Cavs did not play great in game one. But there is no need to panic. It is a long series that will be filled of ups and downs. Cleveland will have a few days to rest before they try to steal home court advantage in game 2 on Sunday night.

What did you learn from Game 1?