King James Gospel
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Richard Jefferson Game Three Hero

By Quenton S. Albertie

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Richard Jefferson started for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals and excelled.

“I just think he gave us speed […] I thought he gave us the physicality on Harrison Barnes […] we were able to slide LeBron over to Draymond Green which really helped us out a lot. We were able to switch pick and roll and things like that” – Tyronn Lue on Richard Jefferson’s Game 1 impact.

Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, Richard Jefferson, LeBron James, Tristan Thompson. That was the lineup Tyronn Lue put in for Game 3 in place of his traditional starters in lieu of Kevin Love due to his concussion-related absence.

Jefferson started at small forward, while James started at power forward in Love’s absence. Jefferson finished the game with 9 points on 4-7 shooting, 8 rebounds (3 offensive), and a pair of assists and steals. He was particularly active in all phases of the game, made great and fast decisions as a ball handler and off the ball, played inspiring on-ball defense on Shaun Livingston and Harrison Barnes, and converted easily in the paint (3-4 2P).

James, at power forward, finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds (2 offensive), 6 assists, a pair of blocks, and a steal. James, leading his team with his performance, nailed a handful of jumpers in the third quarter that essentially took the Golden State Warriors out of the game mentally. Though they had been lingering, James nailed midrange after midrange shot capped of by a three, before giving way to ABC’s New program, “Put Em On Ice”, directed and produced by Kyrie Irving. Starring Kyrie Irving. Co-starring Stephen Curry.

In a way, the decision to Jefferson puts a few possibilities into perspective for many to analyze. First, Jefferson’s play as a small forward highlights James’ role on the team, albeit if simplified and less dynamic. Second, after James’ play as a power forward, it could be his best position for the Cleveland Cavaliers moving forward in this particular series, especially with their depth at guard/forward. Third, Jefferson’s starting solves a lot of problems the Cleveland Cavaliers had against the Golden State Warriors in a it-worked-itself-out type of way.

What Richard Jefferson did best, on the surface, was:

  1. Play with energy. The Cavs were reinvigorated by his presence. He ran around, flew around, sweated up and showed a passion like it was 2004 again. He earned his teammates’ respect and his shield with his Game 5 performance in particular. One play I recall, a bump and foul on the third quarter that led to Jefferson’s teammates pulling him back up and brushing his jersey off.
  2. Make quick decisions to help the offense operate more efficiently. There are multiple players who need a lot of time in the shot clock to score how they want. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson all tend to operate methodically in order to score. Or in J.R. Smith’s case, is really only supposed to shoot quickly. Richard Jefferson will take you to the rim when he sees fit, finish in transition, make smart cuts, or shoot the three off of a pass. He doesn’t need a lot time to do score any of these ways.
  3. Play very respectable defense on his man. There was no need to have complex defensive assignments because everyone could take their man one-on-one. He wasn’t blown by on the perimeter or backed down in the post. His game and his role was LeBron James’ without the play from the post and incredible vision.

The way Richard Jefferson secretly made the Cleveland Cavaliers clear contenders again, was:

  1. Playing a defining role. Maybe this isn’t “forever” Cavs, but as for “right now” Cavs, Jefferson starting works. Maybe the narrative shouldn’t be “Love is terrible” but that “LeBron is a better power forward than Love”. LeBron took less shots from three than he had been averaging from the previous two games. Instead, he converted well inside as usual. Is it wrong to think LeBron James is actually the most elite stretch four when he plays power forward?
  2. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving became the two primary scorers for the starters and thrived like only he and Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant had as superstar pairings go. Kyrie also focused a lot on getting the ball to LeBron, and LeBron focused a lot on getting the ball to JR. The players who are always supposed to be the one’s to take over, two first overall picks drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers themselves, did their jobs.
  3. Giving LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and J.R. Smith a greener light than they already had works for the starting offense. Jefferson doesn’t need to score, he does well playing off of other players but he’s capable of efficient, effective scoring from everywhere on the floor. In light of three point-shooting that was missing, Irving took twice as many threes as he was taking per game and converted a twice the rate. The Cavaliers finished with 12 made threes on only 25 attempts. Almost half of all the team’s threes (5) came from Smith who was the recipient of more passes from guys who set him up for those shots, namely LeBron James. James and Kyrie both scored 11 more points than they had been averaging, but the King did it by taking less threes but more midrange shots and remaining aggressive all game long in attacking the rim.
  4. The bench still struggled to score. Without Kyrie Irving or LeBron James on the floor, who are devastating together in a 1-4 pick and roll, there is no primary scorer on the floor. If Love is in as the focal point of the offense, Lue has the liberty of designing lineups around Love to hide him on defense, get him the ball, and give him space. Potentially, with a similar bench lineup and sets James ran over the Toronto Raptors, Love could do tremendous damage from the bench with his passing, shooting, and post-up ability should that be his role for any future games.
  5. Solving their defensive issues. Besides playing terrific individual defense Jefferson provided a solution to the team’s defensive strategy. Kyrie should guard Stephen Curry straight up as much as possible; Smith should guard Klay Thompson or Iguodala the same way; Jefferson can guard Barnes, who’s scoring spurt came while being guarded by Channing Frye, a forward-center who’s just a little stiff, or Iguodala; James can guard Draymond Green or will guard any other non-center even Curry; and Thompson can guard Andrew Bogut or Green. That was pretty much it, a simple switch to man-to-man, because their current worst defender was Irving. Kyrie only had to dig in and guard Curry, who has trouble getting free from a “prevent” defense.

More from King James Gospel

Tyronn Lue started Richard Jefferson at small forward, allowing LeBron James to play as power forward. In this particular matchup, that has been the only way the Cleveland Cavaliers have beat the Golden State Warriors.

The biggest change was the Cleveland Cavaliers created more impactful turnovers, played with more energy, urgency, and quickness defensively, and that the intent on finishing at the rim was aided by two players who added space for Tristan Thompson, Kyrie Irving, and others to finish there at very high rates, while finishing at a high rate themselves.

How important do you think Richard Jefferson was last night?