Draymond Green is wrong, LeBron and Co. just make it look easy
Draymond Green is wrong about LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers not playing good competition. At the end of the day, they’re just the better team with the best player.
According to Draymond Green, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ opponents haven’t been playing good basketball (per ESPN’s Chris Haynes). Perhaps he’s just blinded by the greatness of LeBron James.
I’ll preface this by saying that I completely respect Green’s talent and what he means to the Golden State Warriors. I also think that Green, who played four years for Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans, is an intelligent basketball player who knows what good basketball looks like. Especially considering that he’s the defensive anchor and glue player for the Golden State Warriors and being coached by two former point guards who had a lot of success at the NBA level.
That doesn’t mean he’s right.
Let’s start of with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first round opponent, the Indiana Pacers.
Although the series resulted in a sweep, the Cleveland Cavaliers only won the series by the total of 16 points even though it resulted in a sweep. That tied the NBA’s record for the lowest point differential in a playoff sweep.
Paul George was a dominant two-way presence until Game 4, when he only managed 15 points. George averaged 32.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He shot 43.3 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from three-point range (on 11.0 attempts per game) and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line (on 9.0 attempts per game).
He was dynamic and looked like one of the top four small forwards in the NBA, along with James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard. He found his teammates, made tough jumpers and attacked the rim. He was guarding James and elite shooters on defense, so his numbers weren’t going to look too good. However, both he and his team competed.
In the playoffs, the Pacers averaged 108.8 points per game (5th), 22.5 assists per game (4th), shot 46.6 percent from the field (6th) and 8.0 steals per game (6th) according to CBS Sports. All numbers rank them around the top-five out of all 16 playoffs team. They were playing good basketball defensively.
While nobody has been able to stop James, they did play tough defense against the King. In addition, there wasn’t a single game in the series decided by more than 6 points. Kyrie Irving (41.9 percent from the field, 21.9 percent from three-point range) and Kevin Love (41.5 percent from the field) weren’t particularly efficient.
The Pacers competed, they were just outmatched.
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The Raptors didn’t come out and play terrible in four straight games either.
In Game 1, the Cavs came out with more energy after a week of rest while the Raptors only had two days off. The Cavs punched first and James was clearly still in a groove. The game was over by the end third quarter with the Cavs leading by 22 heading into the fourth quarter.
In Game 2, Derozan played terrible and Lowry got hurt and by then, the Raptors just looked woefully ill-prepared for the level of basketball that the Cavs were playing on both ends with their frenetic, trapping defense and their pick-your-poison offense.
However, in Games 3 and 4, the Raptors put up a fight. Basketball is a game of runs though and most times, the Cleveland Cavaliers went on a run at the right time. Or I should say, Kyle Korver went on a run at the right time.
After scoring 9 points combined in Games 1 and 2, Korver scored 32 points combined in Games 3 and 4. Most of his shots coming when the Raptors and Cavs were neck-and-neck. In Game 4, Korver’s boost preceded hot shooting from Channing Frye, who had his second double-digit scoring game of the series, and Irving, who scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter to close the game for the Cavs.
Really, the Raptors fought and played well in Games 3 and 4. Derozan scored 37 points in Game 3 and in Game 4 the entire starting lineup played well. In Game 4, P.J. Tucker played his best defensive game, in particular against James.
What may have been the death kneel for the Raptors was starting Norman Powell this series, who James terrorized for the whole series and “sonned” even without pulling his jersey.
It’s true that neither the Pacers or Raptors played an aesthetically pleasing series against the Cavs. The reason that it’s true is because of James and the Cavs’ defense mucking the game up.
It’s not the Cleveland Cavaliers’ opponents fault that the Cavs are peaking as a team while James is at his peak as a player.
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Do you think that the Cleveland Cavaliers have had it easy so far in the playoffs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.
*If unreferenced, stats courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com