The Cavaliers proved that not only are they going to make
Golden State work for each win, they're intent on getting to four wins first
with grit rather than flash.
It's possible to overcome the loss of All-Stars when LeBron
James is on your team.
James delivered another memorable performance with
game-highs in points (39), rebounds (16) and assists (11) – his fifth Finals
triple-double and the 13th of his playoff career – and led the Cavaliers to a
95-93 overtime victory over the Warriors.
"All that writing off and underdog title and little
chances, that's a good thing," Cavs coach David Blatt said. "This
team has nothing on their mind but trying to win the championship.
"And the fact that Kyrie went down, the fact that Kevin
went down earlier has not changed our resolve in any way, has not caused us to
look for some particular break or sympathy because it's not coming. It hasn't
come to us all year. We've dealt with adversity from day one this year. These
situations only make us stronger."
"It's the Grit Squad that we have," James said.
"It's not cute at all. If you're looking for us to play sexy, cute
basketball, then that's not us. That's not us right now. Everything is tough.
We're going to come in with an aggressive mindset defensively and offensively.
"And for us to win a Finals game shooting 32% from the
field, it's just a testament of how gritty we can be. It has to be that for the
rest of the series, no matter how many games it takes."
The Cavaliers have changed identities multiple times this season
for a variety of reasons: personnel, style, trades and injuries.
During a stretch in which they went 32-7 after they acquired
J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov, the Cavaliers were an offensive
force, scoring 111.5 points per 100 possessions, which was best in the league
during that period, ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, Warriors, San Antonio
Spurs and Atlanta Hawks.
But circumstances forced them to change, starting with the
Love injury against the Boston Celtics in the first round. They learned to play
without Love then learned to play with an injured Kyrie Irving during the
conference semifinals against the Chicago Bulls and conference finals against
the Atlanta Hawks.
Now they're learning to play without Love and Irving, and
it's all grit and grind while playing some of their best defense of the season.
Cavaliers general manager David Griffin talked to a small
group of reporters Saturday and said, "We've had several iterations of our
team to this point. There was a point after the trade where we were an
offensive juggernaut. Now what we are is a group that has to hit you in mouth
and keep hitting. We're going to do that. We will."
Start with Matthew Dellavedova, who after James is the Game
2 star with ugly numbers. He was 3-for-10 from the field and had six turnovers.
But he also defended Steph Curry and forced him into his worst shooting game of
the season.
With all-hustle Dellavedova starting in place of Irving, as
he did during two games against Atlanta that Irving missed, the second-year
guard from Australia held Curry to zero points on 0-for-8 shooting, including
five three-point attempts while defending him in the half court. Curry also had
four turnovers with Dellavedova defending. The league's MVP finished with 19
points.
"It had everything to do with Delly," James said.
"He just kept a body on Steph. He made Steph work. He was spectacular,
man, defensively. We needed everything from him. When Steph shoots the ball,
you just automatically think it's going in because he shoots the ball so well.
...
"He just did a great job. Just trying to make it tough
on Steph. That's all you can do. You make it tough on him. You get a contest,
and you live with the results, and Delly did that."
Dellavedova also saved two possessions – grabbing a rebound
and passing it before he stepped out of bounds and getting on the floor to
procure a loose ball.
Then, he made the biggest play of the game for Cleveland,
getting an offensive rebound and drawing a foul on the putback. He made two
free throws, giving the Cavaliers a 94-93 lead with 10.1 seconds left in
overtime.
After James made one of two free throws with 4.4 seconds,
Golden State still had a chance for game-tying or game-winning shot. But Iman
Shumpert had the steal of the game. He got his hand in the passing lane as
Curry tried to get the ball to Klay Thompson and Golden State never took a
shot.
"I knew I had somebody chasing Steph down. I just tried
to do my best to keep the gap closed for Steph to penetrate and stay close enough
to where if he threw it to Klay, I could steal it," Shumpert said. "I
turned my back so I could slide with Steph if he kept the ball. It's what I've
been taught to do since I was young. You've got to play both sides. With LeBron
taking the pressure off everybody offensively, it's our job to lock in
defensively."
James said on Saturday he if he played much more than 40-42
minutes, he would be doing a disservice to his team. He logged 45 minutes in
regulation and played all five minutes of overtime and through two games, has
played 96 minutes, scored 83 points, grabbed 24 rebounds and distributed 17
assists.
Can James keep producing like that? Because the Cavs are
going to that and all the grit.
"Well, am I built for it? Well, of course I'm built for
it," James said while laughing. "I mean, it's a maximum of five games
left in the NBA season. So I'm ready for whatever. …
"We're undermanned. I mean, we're without two All‑Stars,
and I don't know any other team in this league that would be able to do that,
to be able to be without two All‑Stars on their team and
compete the way we compete and be a force. So the guys are taking that very
personal."
The Cavaliers don't have it easy, and they're not making it
easy on Golden State.
