LeBron, rest of Cleveland Cavaliers must take it to the Indiana Pacers
By Dan Gilinsky
Let’s face it: Many people around the country, and of course, the basketball world, want to see LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers fail. They want them to be dethroned in the Eastern Conference.
To those people, LeBron James needs to say “deal with it.”
James is the leader, the hero, the villain, whatever you want to make him out to be. He needs to stop worrying about what others think of him.
For THIS Cavs team, he needs to score the basketball. 24 points (not a bad day at the office for most NBA players), is alright for the King, but he wasn’t aggressive enough. I know what you’re thinking, that “aggressive” coaching buzz word again?
I get your eye roll but I’m just saying what everyone else was yelling at their TV screen in their basement, across the bar, or wherever. James having just three field goal attempts in the first quarter of Cleveland’s first playoff game at home is not enough.
He had just two points in the opening period, and had the worst plus-minus of any player in that time (minus-19), per nba.com. He eventually got it going and the Cavs were able to make a game of it near the beginning of the fourth, and then Victor Oladipo slammed the door shut again.
Nonetheless, Cleveland can’t get out hustled and Indiana cannot be more physical, and that starts with James having that attacking mindset early on in games. If he does that, the rest of the troops will follow suit, including Kevin Love (who had just eight field goal attempts for the game and looked disengaged offensively).
The assists, rebounds, memes, impersonations and everything else will come after that for James.
Aside from a gritty performance from fan favorite J.R. Smith and arguably Larry Nance Jr., James was the only guy who showed up with his big boy jersey on in Cleveland’s gut-wrenching Game 1 loss to the upstart Indiana Pacers Sunday evening. This kind of flat showing is concerning for a Cavaliers squad that no longer has two superstars.
The starters featured non-factors in George Hill (who eventually got banged up and didn’t return after a hard but I thought clean screen by Trevor Booker), Rodney Hood, alongside Jeff Green to go with Love and James.
As a starting unit, they were a combined -55 (per ESPN), and none of them had double figures outside of LeBron. Maybe as Stephen Jackson alluded to on First Things First, “not everybody can play in the playoffs.”
Their lack of urgency and settling for jumpers (especially a scoreless Green) was particularly uninspiring in a home playoff game. Obviously, Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue needs to put Green back on the bench, as he does not bring the rebounding presence of Nance Jr. against quality bigs like Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis.
Nance (banged up hamstring and all) was more productive with his hustle and energy on the glass, and was more active defensively with active hands that caused some nice deflections.
The silver lining here is that the Cavs still are a more than confident bunch. LeBron has been in the playoffs a few times and he’ll flip the script in Game 2. The Cavaliers can’t let Oladipo, Lance Stephenson (and Bojan Bogdanovic in the early going) and the Pacers set the tone early on.
They need to be more stronger defensively at the point of attack, trap Oladipo earlier up the floor, go harder after loose balls, and not be afraid to shoot the ball when a good (not always perfect) look is open.
Cleveland had a disgusting 14 first quarter points, and at times their indecisiveness led to costly live-ball turnovers. I’m pretty sure I can still see Bogdanovic Euro-stepping (pun-intended) his way into an And-one in transition. That first half was disgusting in general, and was highlighted by the Pacers getting out and running and finishing with authority at the rim on multiple occasions.
For the game, Cleveland was outscored in transition by 8. That’s how the Pacers can make this series interesting, and Cleveland has to make them earn it more. That means the Cavs might want to insert Smith back into the starting role, and have more energy to begin Game 2 and the others following.
The Cavs D picked it up in the second 30 minutes, and were making some impact defensive plays of their own in spots. Indiana was taking it to the Cavs, and it seemed as if Cleveland was waiting around and waiting for somebody else (probably Bron) to take over and rescue them, yet again.
Instead of getting into a deep hole at the jump, here’s a novel idea: Get a lead so you don’t have to dig out of a hole.
That includes having more physicality on the offensive end, too. The Pacers were setting quality, crisp screens for Dipo and others both on and off-ball and the Cavs need to do that more often on their offensive end. If it results in a foul or two, so be it. It sends a message.
Thompson brings some of that physicality and toughness with his screen-setting skillset, and he (along with Love) could create some room via flare screens for Kyle Korver and with well-timed flex screens for Jordan Clarkson on the wing as directed by James. Thompson also could help contain putback opportunities from clearing the glass and commit some hard fouls if needed so other bigs don’t get in foul trouble.
Thompson is not an upper echelon rim-protector but Love needs his help a bit in this series, as Indiana has a number of quality bigs and Nance could use a hand with rolling duties.
TT has had his hiccups as of late off the floor but the Cavs need him on the floor right now to give them much-needed grit against a hungry Pacers team that is not going to back down.
The Cavs have several players that do not have a boatload of playoff experience, but that’s not an excuse for being passive. This Cleveland team is not without flaws but the Cavs have more than enough talent on both ends to swing momentum back to them and move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Indiana is not the better team but they are no slouch either. Oladipo is a budding star.
All that aside, if the Cavaliers get out to good starts and give more consistent effort, they’ll have no problem getting back in control in this series.
For as good as Indy was in that convincing Game 1 win, the Cavs could have still pulled that out in the fourth quarter. However, the Cavs needed their 586,983rd wake-up call of the season.
Typical Cavs fashion.
That said, Indiana still scored 98 points, which is not a million in today’s NBA. I would assume the Cavs will make the adjustment in regards to lineups (especially getting Nance and Korver more minutes), I would assume James will be a scorer more early on and the pace will speed up from Cleveland getting more physical defensively and finishing at the other end.
Clarkson will most likely not have just six points (or only six shots) again in this series. When he’s getting out in transition, it often is a spark plug for Cleveland and James, and that gets the crowd in it.
Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead recently wrote a piece titled the “Cavs Blowout Loss to the Pacers is the Best Thing That Could Have Happened,” in relation to the psycho of the Wine and Gold. I agree.
This shocking L will bring the Cavs back to earth, and remind them that nothing is given in the postseason, and everything is earned (pun intended again).
If they are just playing and not thinking about the perfect shot, diving on the floor for loose balls, not content giving up layups and dunks, getting to the free throw line more and not settling for Green three-pointers, they will be fine.