Cavs Are Down, But Not Out of These Finals!

The Cleveland Cavaliers are down two games to none in these NBA Finals. There is reason to be nervous, but not to count them out. Especially, when they are coming back home.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have reason to be nervous going into game three of the NBA Finals Wednesday night. They have not played the kind of basketball that we are accustomed to seeing them play. Not just losing, but the way in which the Cavs have lost and looked, is quite troubling to anyone that is watching this unfold. However, the first two games of the Finals were on the road, and now games three and four are in Cleveland. Here are a few ways the Cavs can win game three and make the series competitive.

Play the Bigs More:

Last year, the Cavs won two games in the NBA Finals, without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. In large part, it had to do with LeBron James and him playing out of his mind for most of the series. However, they also had contributions from the likes of Timothy Mozgov. Unfortunately, Mozgov is not seeing a lot of minutes these days and is regulated to the bench. Cleveland can possibly shake things up and play Mozgov more to just have a body out there on the floor to make it difficult for Golden State to go inside the hole.

Be Yourself:

After game one loss, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue expressed to LeBron and company that he wanted to push the tempo up the court. That didn’t workout too well for the Cavs, as they were blown off the court by the Warriors in-game two. With the Warriors’ potent line-up, many teams find themselves trying to play the Warriors brand of basketball, which is up tempo. The teams that seem to give the Warriors fits were the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Two teams that didn’t steer away from what made them who they are. They kept their bigs in the game and the Warriors weren’t able to run over them like they’ve down most of the league, this season. The Cavs should stick with the style of basketball. It got them this far, no need to change it up now.

Role Players Need to Step Up:

There’s little doubt that LeBron James is going to be ready to play, tomorrow night. I believe that Kyrie Irving is going to have a much better showing than he has done in the Finals, thus far. If Kevin Love is healthy, he can produce. That leaves the role players. Not much production have come from them, so far. The midseason trade pick-up of Channing Frye has not worked out well in these Finals. He’s been forced to watch from the bench, as the Warriors defense has made it near impossible for Frye to get a shot off. J.R. Smith has disappeared in these Finals. Iman Shumpert has been a non-factor and so has the rest of the Cavs bench. They must come out with a sense of urgency to play well, especially in front of the home crowd. Hopefully, being at home can give the role players an extra spark that is desperately needed.

Take One Game At A Time:

Often times, when times find themselves down in a series, they try to go for the fences in the next game and hit a home run. Don’t go out of character. If this is down, they’ll start jacking up shots, players playing roles that they are not familiar with, and you try to win the series in just one game. Take it one game at a time. Just because you are down in the series, doesn’t mean that you have to go for it all. Give a 100% effort, but don’t all try to be the superstar for the team. Know your role and know that if you win game three, the series will be two-one Golden State, not four-two, Cleveland.