Golden State had only lost three games at home all season long, including the playoffs. In 41 regular season home games, plus nine playoff home games before Sunday night's Cavs win, they only lost three games. With a 47-3 record at home all season, everyone had favored the Warriors to take a 2-0 lead to start the NBA Finals. King James had something else to say. And now the Cavs are tied 1-1.
Here are some of my thoughts on some of the commentary that has been going around.
First and foremost, while the injuries to both Love and Irving are tragic and have definitely been somewhat of a setback, their absence does not spell doom for the Cavs. The Finals would be a lot easier with them, sure. But let's not forget who's been stepping up in their roles. Tristan Thompson has taken over for Love and has become a defensive force and a rebound machine. His tenacity and drive to get after the ball has allowed the Cavs multiple second-chance point opportunities that are invaluable to the team. Love has also been hurt for the entirety of the Bulls and Hawks series, and for this current series as well. Thompson stepped up and has been providing consistent, solid minutes as he proves he deserves to be there.
Irving has been hurt since the Bulls series as well. He hasn't been playing 100% in weeks. So in reality, we've basically played the Bulls and Hawks without both Love and Irving. Not to mention Matthew Dellevedova has quickly become an instant fan favorite after busting his butt to go after loose balls. He was even the leading scorer for Game 6 versus the Bulls, outscoring LeBron James as well.
Additionally, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mosgov have all stepped up to fill the void that was left when Kyrie left Game 1 with a fractured knee. The Cavs know that a lot of their offensive production has been stifled, losing Big Weapons #2 and #0. But instead of panicking, they created a new game plan for Game 2: lock down defense. While Klay Thompson did have a career playoff high point total, they were able to force Steph Curry to set a record for the most 3-pointers missed in a playoff game. If they keep playing lockdown defense, they can disrupt the Warriors offense and. hopefully, keep winning games.
Only if they close out the Warriors before overtime.
To anyone that said the Cavs were screwed after losing Irving and only losing the first game of the Finals, you clearly didn't pay too much attention to the playoffs so far. Otherwise you'd know that everyone is stepping up and putting their work to win.
The series now returns to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4. The Cavs, if they want to have a shot, they need to take advantage of the three home games they have in the series. They've done the hard part and won one on the road - now they need to win out at home and assure their victory.
