2017 Playoffs

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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 &amp; 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 &amp; 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 &amp; 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.

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Final(s) Flurry

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Top Photos of the 2017 NBA Finals

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#CavsWarriors Game 5 Photos - June 12, 2017

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#CavsWarriors Game 5 Road Game Watch Party

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With Big Mo on the Wine &amp; Gold's side, Cavs.com's Sunshine Analyst checks in from The Bay ...

I’m an Optimist. I’m back in California. Let’s get busy, yes?

No, not Big Mo, the long-time and current driver of the War Rig – (which, by the way, broke several land-speed records hauling arse across the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah on our return trip; simian man-child, Joe Vitanza, bouncing around with the gear and luggage down below, laughing: “Oh what a day! What a lovely day!!”)

No, I’m talking about big momentum – shifting back the Wine &amp; Gold’s way after thumping the Dubs on Friday night at The Q. It’s a well-established fact that TheBron is completely superhuman at this point of the postseason, but now Kyrie Irving has gone atomic, as well – and there’s no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Are the Cavaliers still down, 3-1, in the series?

But I can tell you that in just the short time that we’ve been back here that these folks in the Bay Area are shaking in they boots.

They’re trying to project confidence – and I get that. But they know that the King and Co. smell blood. And that the bear hath been poked.

The Cavaliers rolled through the Eastern Conference with a watered-down Swish, but J.R.’s starting to look like himself again – combining for 10 triples in back-to-back double-figure outings. Tristian Thompson grabbed 11 boards through the first three games and snagged 10 on Friday night. Richard Jefferson flummoxed K.D. Deron Williams got off the schneid.

At the same time, Draymond Green came within a hair’s breadth of taking das boot and Zaza Pachulia was flirting with disaster his own self, stooping to below-the-belt tactics against the Shump.

Combine this with the fact that Coach Tyronn Lue said during Sunday’s pre-practice media session that his squad was being “too nice” to the Warriors in Game 4 and methinks you’re going to see a group bent on great vengeance and furious anger when they roll into Oracle Arena on Monday night.

What do all these pics have in common? Y'uns just have to read to find out ...
Photo by The Optimist

At this same time last year, you readers and I huddled up in this very column and I told you that winning the World Championship would be even better after being down in a 3-1 hole because it’ll be like winning THREE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!

Well, this year’s taking of the Whole Enchilada will, by all mathematical logic, be even better – with the Wine &amp; Gold needing to win four straight title games to repeat as Champs.

That all starts with one game at a time – this evening’s matchup in Oakland.

Before we get there, I’m afraid we’ve got our usual educational housecleaning to take care of – [strict orders from the PR boy-wonder, Jeff Schaefer] – and a heart-wrenching exercise that will likely leave you Cavalier fans full of P&amp;V for Game 5.

I can tell y’uns that this was a bad, bad Day in History.

I need you guys pumped for the ballgame and trust me, I’ve combed June 12 with a fine-toothed comb. And the best thing that happened on this Date was the Battle of Ballynahinch during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. And that was no picnic.

Today’s Birthdays are nothing to write home about either, even considering that they include our nation’s 41st President, George H. W. Bush, as well as Anne Frank, Marv Albert, Chick Corea, Jim Nabors – who had a lovely singing voice – and former Cavalier and all-around nice guy, Antawn Jamison.

I checked and no celebrities died of a great white shark attack, so today’s guest on Dead on the This Day and (maybe) Still Dead is the one and only Henry Hill.

On this day in 2012 – one day after his 69th birthday – Henry Hill, the legendary New York mobster-turned-informant finally went and got that great shinebox in the sky.

Did someone from Paul Cicero’s or Billy Batts’ gang ice him? Did his wife shoot him in the face after a nap? Was he found riddled with bullets in a pink Cadillac like Johnny Roast Beef or hung in a freezer on a meat-hook like Frankie Carbone?

Henry Hill died of a heart attack in Los Angeles with his girlfriend by his side.

I’d love to move past the Grim Reaper – with tonight’s Game 5 just hours from tip-off. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t ask the group to pause and honor the passing of the baddest Batman that’s ever been, Adam West, who passed away (also) in Los Angeles earlier this weekend at the age of 88.

Adam West was a mint Batman. He didn’t spend hours brooding over his folks in the Bat-Cave or jet off to the Far East to practice martial arts and find his chi. Hell, he didn’t even work out!

No, Adam West’s Batman was too busy fighting Jokers and Riddlers and Eggheads – not to mention getting down with multiple Catwomen.

With all that sweet 60s action, who the cuss had time to fight Superman?!

So to cap this weekend of mourning, I’d like to ask you to closeth thy cakeholes and to removeth thy hats and/or hairpieces in order to pause for this well-earned Moment of Silence™ …

What the Caped Crusader ever did to Golden State to deserve this fate, I’m sure I don’t know. But somebody’s gotta pay for Batman’s untimely demise, old chums. And I’m gonna pin it on the Warriors, just like the Rogues did with Cyrus back at the New York Gang Summit in Van Cortland Park.

"We got a second lease on life when the Cavaliers crushed Golden State on Friday night. Now the real work begins. Are you ready to make history once again?"

Before I book outta here, I have two closing messages today.

One is for tonight’s opponent, the said Warriors and their fans. The other is for you guys back in Cleveland and Cavalier fans worldwide.

To the Warriors – I’m thinking you’d better knock the Wine &amp; Gold out tonight. If you do, I say mazel tov on a wonderful season and on your second title in three years.

But if you don’t, and you allow TheBron and Kyrie and K-Love and Tristian to fight another day – and this series comes back to Quicken Loans Arena for Game 6 – that means you got Trouble with a capital “T” which rhymes with “C “and that stands for Cavs.

And that brings me to you Cavalier fans out there.

We got a second lease on life when the Cavaliers crushed Golden State on Friday night. Now the real work begins. Are you ready to make history once again?

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The Optimist in the NBA Finals

The Wine &amp; Gold's Wise Man Looks at Cleveland's Road to the Repeat

On a veteran-laden team filled with consummate professionals, the squad’s true sage remains James Jones – the man they call “Champ.”

Like teammates, LeBron James, Kyle Korver and Dahntay Jones, this is Jones’ 14th season in the league. In exactly half of them – consecutively – he and James have reached the NBA Finals, including the title defense Cleveland currently finds itself embroiled in.

So, as the Wine &amp; Gold travel back to Oakland in a familiar situation as one season ago, Cavs.com continues our annual tradition of tapping into the thoughts of the team’s intellectual leader in Champ’s 2017 Finals Blog …

In my first entry, I said that we have to put zero stock in what we’d done in the past and treat this year’s Finals completely separately. And we have to keep that mentality, even with the series mirroring last year’s right now.

Evidently, we’ve come back from this deficit before. But it’s still a totally different team were facing in Golden State.

We’re pretty much the same this year, but with different experience. We’ve had a year of continuity, so I think that’s another year of trusty, another year of familiarity.

That makes it easier to go into an adverse situation like this and be confident that your teammates will respond and have the capacity to respond.

But I still say that it’s totally different; it’s nothing like last year, just because it’s two totally different teams.

I’m not going to say that Golden State’s not conscious of what happened last year. They’re conscious of it.

Everyone knows. They know: we know we came back from 3-1. And the way we did that last year was playing one game at a time.

But while everyone is thinking ‘3-1’ or ‘winning three straight,’ all we’re thinking is: win one game. Leave it all out there for one game – and let’s see what happens from there.

"As good as we were on Friday night, I still think we can hit another level. Some guys still have another gear they can get to."
James Jones

You saw it in Friday night’s Game 4 win.

I think, really, that game was an emotional game – and not just in terms of how hard guys brought it, how hard they played.

More important was how focused we were. I think in the first half we had three or four turnovers. We made our shots, we moved the ball. But more importantly, it was a focus to do the things were supposed to do offensively – limit our mistakes so that they can’t punish us in the transition game.

The situation we’re in reminds everyone that for some reason, this team seems to love and thrive on adversity. We play our best with our back against the wall.

I mean, if you look at our history, it’s accurate. It’s totally true.

I really can’t tell you why, to a man, that’s the case. But overall, I think it’s just because this group has a ton of pride.

But human nature kicks in at a certain point. We all know that humans have a tendency to relax when things are calm and to press when things are tight. And I think the build and makeup of this team is that guys thrive on that pressure. That pressure unlocks their talent.

And so when we’re under pressure situations, it’s like we’re a totally different team.

As good as we were on Friday night, I still think we can hit another level. Some guys still have another gear they can get to.

Guys that struggled earlier in the series came alive at The Q. It’s a sports cliché, but role players really do perform better at home during the postseason.

"We know we have to win. It’s that simple. That’s the only acceptable outcome for us. And we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that happens."

One, you obviously have the crowd on your side. You’re in familiar surroundings.

But I really do think, in this league, unless you’re an elite team where every place you go, you’re the enemy, there are very few places where the atmosphere is contentious. You have a lot more experience at home in front of a crowd cheering for you and sending you a positive vibe.

Now, you’re in the playoffs where every visiting arena hates you – whatever role you fill with that team. And for guys who aren’t accustomed to that, something they haven’t dealt with a lot in their careers, it’s a different atmosphere and one you’re used to. And you have to adjust to that.

Road or home, we’re gonna need everything we can get from everyone on the floor, on the bench, from the folks who made the trip and our fans back in Cleveland.

We know we have to win. It’s that simple. That’s the only acceptable outcome for us. And we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that happens.

And I really do believe that when this team collectively decides and determines that the outcome is the one we want – which is a win … we do it.

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Champ's 2017 NBA Finals Blog

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General Manager David Griffin has always maintained that the Cavaliers are a team that feeds off adversity. As talented and accomplished as they’ve been, these Cavs are best when the chips are down.

“I don't like it,” LeBron James joked after Friday’s season-saving win at The Q. “It causes too much stress, man.”

Either way, the Wine and Gold have another tall order in 2017, facing a familiar Finals hole. But if they make history after climbing out of this one, it’ll truly be one for the ages – in any professional sport. That goal is a long ways off, but it starts on Monday night, when the Men in Black return to Oakland for Game 5 after going wire-to-wire on Friday night in Cleveland.

In Game 4, Tyronn Lue’s squad put on a record-setting offensive display – setting NBA and franchise records with 49 first quarter points and 24 three-pointers on the night. In the process, the Cavs ended Golden State’s dream of an undefeated postseason run and got themselves back in the series.

The Warriors haven’t lost a home game since March 8, but there’s no chance last year’s Game 5 isn’t on their minds – especially with LeBron and Kyrie Irving – who netted 41 points apiece in last year’s classic – coming into the contest on major rolls.

Cleveland has basically three Game 7s to win between now and next Sunday. But as J.R. Smith said after Friday’s win at The Q: “Ain’t nothin’ we ain’t seen before.”

In the first three games of the series, the Warriors’ backcourt had mostly outplayed Cleveland’s. But on Friday night, that took a sharp turn.

Kyrie Irving had a solid start to the series, struggled in Game 2 (as he did in last year’s Finals) and bounced back with a 38-point outburst in Game 3 and a 40-point explosion in Game 4. (In 2016, Kyrie’s progression through the first five games was: 26 points, 10, 30, 34, 41.)

On Friday night, Irving was nearly unstoppable in the second quarter, netting 17 points in the period and finishing 15-of-27 overall, including 7-of-12 from long-range to go with seven boards and four assists. The four-time All-Star was still stinging on Thursday after missing a go-ahead three-pointer the previous evening, and he took it out on Golden State from the opening tip – playing with a ferocity reminiscent of last year’s run.

Irving’s opposite – Stephen Curry – had his worst outing of the series in Game 4, finishing with 14 points after averaging 28.7 through the first three. The Cavaliers flummoxed the two-time MVP all night, holding him to 4-for-13 shooting, including 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Curry did hand out 10 assists, but the Cavaliers were finally able to keep him off the boards, snagging five rebounds after piling up 23 over the previous two games.

It’s been a difficult year both on and off the court for J.R. Smith. He returned from a thumb injury before the end of the regular season, but hadn’t found his rhythm in the 2017 Playoffs – netting double-figures just twice in the lead-up to the Finals.

Swish was very good on the defensive end and has drawn some of the postseason’s toughest assignments, but had attempted just 62 shots through the Cavs’ Eastern Conference run and six through the first two games of the Finals.

But things changed for J.R. when the Cavaliers came home. He got started early in both contests and stayed aggressive all night – looking again like the player from last year’s crucial Game 7 run, when he scored eight straight points to start the second half.

In Game 3, Smith was 5-of-10 from three-point range; on Friday night, he was 5-of-9, stringing together back-to-back double-figure games for the first time this postseason. And once again, he was a thorn on the defensive end, menacing both Curry and Klay Thompson.

After struggling in Game 1 and a red-hot run in Games 2 and 3 – Thompson, who’d gone 19-of-30 from the floor in the previous two contests, was 4-of-11 in Game 4.

Kyrie kept Thompson busy on the defensive end and if Smith is hitting his shot, that adds another dimension the Cavaliers didn’t have in the first two games of the series.

The series officially got interesting when LeBron James and Kevin Durant – two of the greatest players of this or any generation – got into each other’s grills at midcourt during Friday’s one-sided (yet highly-contentious) battle at The Q.

Of course, And as much as they both wrote it off as two high-level guys going at it, they both know that legacies are at stake this June – and these final games will rewrite the record books.

James has been spectacular throughout the postseason and is posting yet another incredible Finals performance – averaging a triple-double in the 2017 Finals: 31.8 points on 54 percent shooting to go with 11.8 rebounds and 10.5 assists through the first four games.

On Friday night, he continued his historic ascent, passing Magic Johnson with his ninth career Finals triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and a game-high 11 dimes. The Warriors haven’t figured out a way to stop the four-time MVP through the first two rounds of the title trilogy – and he just piled up 70 points over two contests before heading back to Oakland.

Against any other opponent, James’ numbers would dominate. But K.D. has been every bit as good as the King – averaging 34.3 points so far in the series. Durant did most of his damage on the strip in Friday’s affair – going 15-of-16. From the floor, the Cavs held him pretty much in check, shooting 41 percent from the field, including 2-of-9 from long-range.

Among all the big-name, big-number performances in the 2017 Finals, Kevin Love, in a quiet sort of way, has had a very solid series.

Sidelined two years ago and bouncing back from a concussion that sidelined him for a game in last year’s Finals, Love has had some outstanding nights this year – including his 23-point effort on Friday night, going 6-of-8 from long-range, 7-of-14 from the floor overall.

In Game 1, Love grabbed a Playoff career-best 21 boards and finished with 27 points in Game 2. He came back down to Earth in Game 3 at The Q – going 1-for-9 from the floor – but Love still led Cleveland with 13 boards and both teams with six steals.

Love has found ways to contribute big and small through the first four games of the Finals, and he’s excelled in the first two games at Oracle. The Cavaliers will need a third if they hope to extend their season.

Draymond Green has had his hands full with Love, and he’s been a lightning rod again in this year’s Finals – dodging an ejection on Friday night as his squad fell for the first time in the postseason. Green’s all-around game has left a footprint on the series and he was very good again in Friday night’s Game 4 – finishing with 16 points and a game-high 14 boards. But the Cavaliers also saw that they can get under his skin.

The mercurial star was famously sidelined for Game 5 last year against Cleveland but won’t be this June. Should make for an interesting Monday night at Oracle.

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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers at Warriors, Game 5

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