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Cavs' limited success on Steph Curry will be tough to duplicate in Game 2
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Hidden in a thrilling Game 1 overtime, the devastating Kyrie Irving injury, the battle over whether LeBron James "got" or "was given" 44 points, and the rest of the drama of the NBA Finals was a facet which escaped scrutiny:
Neither of the Splash Brothers played well for the Golden State Warriors in their 108-100 victory Thursday.
The numbers look fine. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry scored a combined 47 points, with Curry making 10 of 20 shots. But within that context is the fact that Thompson shot 5 of 14, and with four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Warriors trailing, Curry had only 18 points. And "only" five 3-pointers.
It really felt as though Curry hadn't made his presence truly felt in Game 1 until those final nine minutes, where the Warriors took over, survived a LeBron winning attempt and an Iman Shumpert near-buzzer-beater, then dominated in overtime. The Finals are as much about mental approach as strategy for superstars, and it took Curry a while to get going. But then, the problem early on wasn't isolated to Curry.
The Cavaliers lead by 14 points early, largely because of an extremely slow start by the Warriors. Golden State has had problems with first quarters in home playoff games, but it was especially evident in Game 1 that nerves were kicking in. But it wasn't overactivity; the Warriors on Friday pointed to forcing shots and a lack of movement for causing their early strugle.
"I think we had to settle in and move the ball a little more," Harrison Barnes said. "The first 5-[to]-10 minutes of the game, we got a lot of quick shots, we didn't move the ball like we usually do. We kind of forced some shots."
"We had seven days off in between games," Curry said. "Obviously, they had eight. But it kind of was an adjustment period just to get back into the flow of a game-like atmosphere and experience."
The Warriors had expected some nerves coming in, and their experience coming back from so many double-digit deficits this postseason, and typically early ones, helped in allowing them to move past the nerves. The Warriors shot 50 percent after the first quarter.
"We finally settled in," Curry added. "I think guys, I don't want to use the word nervous, but we were just so excited to be finally playing that we might have been in a little bit of a rush, or your bodies might be moving a little slower than your minds are."
Still, the Cavs were somewhat successful in defending Curry. He was quick to point out, much the same way LeBron James does, none of it was anything new. However, coming in the slower Cavaliers faced questions about their ability to switch bigs onto Curry and contain him in pick and rolls. Both Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson stepped up to answer that call big time.
"We only let Curry and Thompson get good looks a few times," Shumpert said, acknowledging bad looks for most players can be good looks for Curry. "One off an offensive rebound, one our big relaxed for just a second and Curry got one off in the corner. But we did a great job even when our bigs switched onto him, taking on the one-on-one challenge. Lot of positives to take away from Game 1."
Meanwhile, James Jones spoke to the Cavs' transition defense which prevented many of Curry's devastating pull-up 3s.
"We controlled the tempo. that's primarily what you want to do. You want to minimize mistakes and minimize their opportunities. They take a lot of shots, they want to create more possessions and they get up those shots in transition. We did a good job of containing them in transition."
Of course, the Warriors and Curry will adjust. The nerves won't be as bad in Game 2, and the Warriors will be more than prepared to punish the Cavs for making other players into playmakers, which Jones said was key.
"They're really good when they create a trigger that allows him to probe and continue the possession," he said. "We want to string him out and make the other guys the playmakers because in a perfect world, they want the ball in his hands 100 percent of the time."
One of those plays was a dagger overtime 3 in which the double came on Curry, he passed to Andre Iguodala, who drove, forcing the wing defender to help and opening up a corner 3 for Barnes.
"Just playing our type of basketball," Barnes said. "Double-team Steph, Andre gets the ball, he drives to the paint, finds me for the wide-open 3. That's the kind of movement we want, early in the game we didn't get that."
They'll likely get more of it in Game 2. If the Warriors' other players can make plays, that slow start may not be a problem, especially with Irving's impressive defense from Game 1 absent. Even if the Cavaliers do continue to find success, the Warriors feel it's only a matter of time before the Splash Brothers get going, no matter what Cleveland does.
"We'll find ways to get our shots off through our normal offense," Curry said, "no matter really how they defend because we have certain counters and certain attacks that we rely on to get those shots."
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Hidden in a thrilling Game 1 overtime, the devastating Kyrie Irving injury, the battle over whether LeBron James "got" or "was given" 44 points, and the rest of the drama of the NBA Finals was a facet which escaped scrutiny:
Neither of the Splash Brothers played well for the Golden State Warriors in their 108-100 victory Thursday.
The numbers look fine. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry scored a combined 47 points, with Curry making 10 of 20 shots. But within that context is the fact that Thompson shot 5 of 14, and with four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Warriors trailing, Curry had only 18 points. And "only" five 3-pointers.
It really felt as though Curry hadn't made his presence truly felt in Game 1 until those final nine minutes, where the Warriors took over, survived a LeBron winning attempt and an Iman Shumpert near-buzzer-beater, then dominated in overtime. The Finals are as much about mental approach as strategy for superstars, and it took Curry a while to get going. But then, the problem early on wasn't isolated to Curry.
The Cavaliers lead by 14 points early, largely because of an extremely slow start by the Warriors. Golden State has had problems with first quarters in home playoff games, but it was especially evident in Game 1 that nerves were kicking in. But it wasn't overactivity; the Warriors on Friday pointed to forcing shots and a lack of movement for causing their early strugle.
"I think we had to settle in and move the ball a little more," Harrison Barnes said. "The first 5-[to]-10 minutes of the game, we got a lot of quick shots, we didn't move the ball like we usually do. We kind of forced some shots."
"We had seven days off in between games," Curry said. "Obviously, they had eight. But it kind of was an adjustment period just to get back into the flow of a game-like atmosphere and experience."
The Warriors had expected some nerves coming in, and their experience coming back from so many double-digit deficits this postseason, and typically early ones, helped in allowing them to move past the nerves. The Warriors shot 50 percent after the first quarter.
"We finally settled in," Curry added. "I think guys, I don't want to use the word nervous, but we were just so excited to be finally playing that we might have been in a little bit of a rush, or your bodies might be moving a little slower than your minds are."
Still, the Cavs were somewhat successful in defending Curry. He was quick to point out, much the same way LeBron James does, none of it was anything new. However, coming in the slower Cavaliers faced questions about their ability to switch bigs onto Curry and contain him in pick and rolls. Both Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson stepped up to answer that call big time.
"We only let Curry and Thompson get good looks a few times," Shumpert said, acknowledging bad looks for most players can be good looks for Curry. "One off an offensive rebound, one our big relaxed for just a second and Curry got one off in the corner. But we did a great job even when our bigs switched onto him, taking on the one-on-one challenge. Lot of positives to take away from Game 1."
Meanwhile, James Jones spoke to the Cavs' transition defense which prevented many of Curry's devastating pull-up 3s.
"We controlled the tempo. that's primarily what you want to do. You want to minimize mistakes and minimize their opportunities. They take a lot of shots, they want to create more possessions and they get up those shots in transition. We did a good job of containing them in transition."
Of course, the Warriors and Curry will adjust. The nerves won't be as bad in Game 2, and the Warriors will be more than prepared to punish the Cavs for making other players into playmakers, which Jones said was key.
"They're really good when they create a trigger that allows him to probe and continue the possession," he said. "We want to string him out and make the other guys the playmakers because in a perfect world, they want the ball in his hands 100 percent of the time."
One of those plays was a dagger overtime 3 in which the double came on Curry, he passed to Andre Iguodala, who drove, forcing the wing defender to help and opening up a corner 3 for Barnes.
"Just playing our type of basketball," Barnes said. "Double-team Steph, Andre gets the ball, he drives to the paint, finds me for the wide-open 3. That's the kind of movement we want, early in the game we didn't get that."
They'll likely get more of it in Game 2. If the Warriors' other players can make plays, that slow start may not be a problem, especially with Irving's impressive defense from Game 1 absent. Even if the Cavaliers do continue to find success, the Warriors feel it's only a matter of time before the Splash Brothers get going, no matter what Cleveland does.
"We'll find ways to get our shots off through our normal offense," Curry said, "no matter really how they defend because we have certain counters and certain attacks that we rely on to get those shots."
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