The teams on the marquee and the end result might have been the same, but Game 1 of the 2016 NBA finals wasn’t much like its predecessor. In 2015, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors traded heavy body blows en route to a nail-biting overtime victory for the eventual champions. This year’s Game 1 never even felt close, even with the Warriors’ superstars playing more like mere mortals. A thorough demolition of the turnover-happy Cavs was only threatened by a brief Cleveland spurt squashed after yet another controversial foul from their backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova.
Shaun Livingston came off the bench to lead the Warriors with 20 points, one of three Golden State substitutes to finish in double digits as they won 104-89. On a night when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were both distinctly subpar, that production from the bench was crucial. The impact from the opposite bench was non-existent. Channing Frye, who was looked at as a potential game-changing force for Cleveland, was held to two points in just seven minutes of action. The best efforts of LeBron James (a near triple-double of 23 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists) and Kyrie Irving (26 points, four assists) were wasted when the rest of the team couldn’t get going.
“The one thing we’ve talked about all year is if we defend and take care of the ball, then we’re always going to have somebody score enough points for us, whether it’s the starters or the bench,” said the Warriors’ coach, Steve Kerr. “So I thought we played great defense.”
Curry also praised the team’s bench. “I missed some shots and didn’t get a rhythm ... You don’t win championships without the entire squad coming in and making an impact on games,” he said.
Coming off a grueling seven-game slugfest against the Oklahoma City Thunder, there was some expectation that Golden State would lag against the fresh legs of the Cavs. Instead, it was Cleveland who looked fatigued, blowing assignments, getting caught in mismatches off pick-and-roll switches, and offering free passes to the basket to streaking Warrior cutters. Golden State were so dominant offensively that they won the battle for points in the paint 54-42, another weak spot from the previous series. As a whole, it looked like the issues the Warriors faced in Games 3 and 4 of the conference finals would not linger in the championship round.
The offensive action of the Warriors – something OKC were able to disrupt – hurt the Cavaliers badly. With 50 seconds left in the first half, a faked screen by Curry drew Frye away from his defensive assignment, Draymond Green. As Frye followed the roll man to the hoop, the wide-open Green received a pass behind the three-point line. If you have seen even one Warrior game in your life, the end result is academic. Green buried his shot and further exposed Cleveland’s defensive struggles.
The home crowd was almost as relentless as their team, erupting for every basket as though it was a dagger buzzer-beater. The first two quarters of the game belonged to the Warriors. The decision to start Harrison Barnes over Andre Iguodala paid off swiftly, with Barnes able to rattle off nine points on 4-5 shooting, plus supply superior defense on the wing. In two back-to-back possessions, Kevin Love and James attempted to post up Barnes far from the basket. Instead of bullying the smaller Barnes, the Warriors small forward kept his feet planted and forced both men to settle for low percentage fallaway jumpers that clanked off the rim.
Barnes also exposed Cleveland’s notoriously porous defense. With Irving offering a clear mismatch, Barnes was able to go around his opponent’s attempt to draw a charge, catching him totally flatfooted. Barnes finished the night with 13 points in 30 minutes of play, cooling off in the second half. Livingston would pick up the slack, exploding as the Warriors finally finished the job.
“[Thompson and Curry] command so much attention,” Livingston said. “Especially Steph off the pick-and-roll, so we try to make ourselves available for him and be able to make plays and relieve pressure for him because all it takes is one shot to go in, we know that – same for Klay – and they get rolling fast.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Cleveland though. The Eastern Conference champions found their rhythm midway through the third quarter, cutting the lead to four points thanks to a Tristan Thompson putback of a Love miss that benefitted from a strategically placed elbow to the back of Andrew Bogut. A Love and-one narrowed the Warrior advantage to one point and from there the teams would trade baskets until the Dellavedova personal foul that we’ll likely be talking about for the next few days. A futile attempt to strip Iguodala resulted in what could be generously described as a firm slap to the groin area. Iguodala responded with a few expletives and a hard look, but the two men were separated quickly. The game would never be close again.
If Cleveland are to strike back against their arch-rivals, they’ll need to keep track of the basketball. Golden State punished the Cavaliers for their 17 turnovers, taking 25 points off those miscues. Their hope also lies on the glass. They won the rebounding battle 47-41, and must continue to use their size to box out the smaller Warriors.
“We’re not a team that loses our composure over anything,” James said. “We played well in the third quarter to get ourselves back into the game, even taking the lead a couple times. It was a six-point game to start the fourth, and we just didn’t start the quarter like we should have, and they did a great job of pushing the lead up to double digits really fast.”
But, if Game 1 is any indication, rebounds won’t matter as long as Golden State keep making their shots at a 49.4% rate. The Cavaliers are going to have to get stops if they want to win. There’s no hope for Cleveland in a shootout. If their best answer for the Warriors’ magnificent offense is a slap to the crotch, then this would-be classic might end up being a basketball bloodbath.
