Final(s) Flurry
Cavs Head Into Offseason Needing to Solve Dubs, But Still as Beast of the East
by Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG)
6/15/17 | Cavs.com
Right now, the Cavaliers and their fans are still stinging just a bit.
They lost to what will go down as one of the most dominant two-way teams in NBA Finals (and Playoff) history, but that’s not a ton of consolation.
What is somewhat consoling is that 28 other teams are currently trying to reach that next level, too. There’s only one team that wins their last game after May.
Those 28 teams aren’t all gunning for the Dubs. The Kings want to reach the Blazers’ level. The Knicks want to reach the Bucks’ level. The Nuggets want to catch the Jazz. The Hawks, Pacers, Clippers and Grizzlies want to get out of “the middle” and the Sixers want to go anywhere but the cellar.
The Cavaliers – and maybe the Spurs – are the only two teams who have only one peer to solve.
But it’s a pretty formidable one. And it’s built to last.
The offseason improvement plan begins for teams in earnest next Thursday night when the 2017 NBA Draft tips off – with the Celtics, Lakers and Sixers holding the top three picks.
At this point, the Cavaliers don’t have a pick next Thursday – having traded their 2017 first-rounder (back) to Portland to clear space for the Kyle Korver deal and dealt their second-rounder to Boston back in September 2014.
We’ll have plenty of time to look ahead at the Draft, Free Agency, Trades and Summer League in the coming months. But before we conclude the final week of the Wine & Gold’s memorable 2016-17 season, here’s a wrap-up of their heavyweight Finals matchup with the Warriors.
Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving high-five in Game Four of the 2017 NBA Finals.
Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Big Two -- In the 2015 Finals, Kyrie Irving was limited to one game and Kevin Love was already sidelined in the two previous Playoff series.
Last year, both turned in big performances – with Kyrie averaging 30.8 ppg over the final five games of the Finals, notching 41 in Game 5 and drilling the Championship-winning triple in Game 7. Love doubled-up in Game 1, leading both teams in boards and coming up with the biggest defensive stop in franchise history in Game 7.
This year, Irving found his footing after Game 2 and was nearly unstoppable over the next two contests – averaging 39.0 points in Games 3 and 4 before coming back to Earth in Game 5, finishing with 26 points on 9-for-22 shooting.
Love averaged a double-double in the series. He came off an excellent Eastern Conference Finals against Boston, grabbing a Playoff career-high 21 boards in the opener and went off for 27 points in Game 2. Love led the Cavs with 13 boards in the Game 3 heartbreaker and went 6-of-8 from deep for 23 points in Game 4.
But Love didn’t have much in the tank on the return trip to Oakland – going scoreless in first half and finishing with just eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Kyle Korver goes rises up for a triple against the Golden State Warriors in Game Three.
Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Reserve Judgement -- After being waived by the Wizards three days earlier, the Cavaliers gave Shaun Livingston a new lease on NBA life – inking him on Christmas Day, 2012. The angular point guard revived his career in Cleveland and has since won two titles with the Warriors.
And what thanks does the Wine & Gold get? Livingston, still in Cavs-Killer mode, that’s what. He didn’t torture Cleveland like he did back in 2015, but one of Golden State’s super-subs did net double-digits twice and shot 54 percent on the series as the Warriors bench handily outplayed Cleveland’s.
The Dubs bench outscored Cleveland’s in every game – including a painful 35-7 disparity in Game 5. In the series, Golden State’s reserves averaged 29.0 points per game compared to 18.4 for the Cavaliers. In no game did a member of the Cavs second unit notch double-figures.
Richard Jefferson was easily the Cavaliers’ best two-way reserve in the series – making life as uncomfortable for Kevin Durant as one can and averaging 5.8 points per.
Kyle Korver was never able to shake loose – shooting 31 percent, attempting just 16 triples in the series. Channing Frye was limited to 11 total minutes and four DNPs in five games while Deron Williams canned exactly two shots in 16 attempts in his first career Finals appearance. Iman Shumpert was solid defensively, but averaged just 3.6 points on 24 percent shooting.
The Warriors got contributions up and down their bench – from Andre Iguodala to JaVale McGee on down to rookie Patrick McCaw.
J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson talk in Game Five of the 2017 NBA Finals.
Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
The Bounce-Back -- Had Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith’s season ended after the first two games of the 2017 Finals, both would have gone into the postseason in a funk.
Instead, the non-Big Three portion of Cleveland’s starting lineup indemnified themselves beautifully over Cleveland’s final two contests – the final three for Swish.
Thompson had been a thorn in Golden State’s side heading into this year’s Finals – grabbing double-digit boards in all six games in 2015 and averaging a double-double – 10.3 points and 10.1 boards – in last year’s epic seven-game series.
But Golden State completely mitigated what Tyronn Lue has called his team’s “heart and soul” – holding Thompson to eight total points and 11 total boards through the first three games.
But Tristan bounced back nicely over the final two, averaging 9.0 rebounds (grabbing eight offensive boards) and finishing with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the Game 5 defeat.
For J.R. Smith, his season simply ran out of time.
After posting just two games of double-digits heading into the 2017 Finals, Swish tallied double-figures in each of the last three games of the series – including his 25-point outburst in Game 5, going 7-of-8 from long-range, 9-of-11 from the floor overall.
Smith began the series going 1-of-6 from the field, including 1-of-4 from beyond the arc through the first two games of the Finals. He was 17-for-27 from deep in the three games following.
LeBron James huddles with teammates before Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Photo by Ronald Martinez/NBAE via Getty Images
Long Live the King -- It’s been said many times: “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
LeBron James has always understood this. But for many of his teammates, this season might have been their first practical application of the Bard’s age-old axiom.
LeBron was sensational all year long, got typically better after the All-Star Break, rampaged through the Eastern Conference bracket of the Playoffs and became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in the Finals.
But the number that will stick with the game’s greatest all summer is his Finals record of 3-5 – having reached the NBA Finals in each of his three seasons back with the Cavaliers, but winning just a single title against a team that has all the earmarks of a dynasty.
Of course, the King did everything he could for the Wine & Gold.
In the 2017 postseason, James averaged a team-best 32.8 points on 57 percent shooting from the field to go with 9.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.94 steals and 1.28 blocks. Against Golden State – the Association’s top defense – the 12-time All-Star averaged 33.6 points on 56 percent shooting to go with 12.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists.
Along the way, James – who topped the 30-point plateau in 14 of Cleveland’s 18 postseason contests – passed Michael Jordan as the NBA’s all-time leading Playoff scorer.
But LeBron is no longer about monster numbers. He’s posted enough of those to last a lifetime.
LeBron is concerned with legacy – and bringing the World Championship back to his hometown. The Cavaliers will have to get back to the drawing board. They’re still the top team in the East, but some young squads have gotten better and they’ll be gunning for Cleveland again next year.
The Cavaliers have some issues to address before Training Camp tips off September.
Where exactly they’re headed, it’s hard to say just days after a 100-game campaign. But the plan begins with (still) the best basketball player on the planet.
And that’s one hell of a place to start.