Three things the Cavaliers forgot in Game 1

Game 1 of the highly-anticipated finals trilogy between the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors is now in the books, with Kevin Durant leading the 113-91 annihilation of the wine and gold.

Instead of a competitive game from the Cavaliers as can only be expected from the only real competition for the Warriors right now, Game 1 became your standard Oakland whooping, with dunks and threes raining upon the hapless champs.

That’s because they forgot a few things, which they have to put back on their to-do list heading into Game 2.

1. Steph Curry

This one is a bit weird, as we can’t tell if they really forgot about him or not. One possession would show the defense leaving Durant wide open for an easy dunk because they closed out on Curry, then another possession would show them just leaving Curry open as they double-team Durant. This just resulted in 38 points for Durant (6 dunks) and 28 for Curry (6-11 from three), who both shot at least 50% from the floor.

Whatever the case may be, there must always be a man clamped on both stars at all times. Leaving them open at any point in the game is just disrespectful to the two former league MVPs. If they absolutely have to double-team, leave Green or Pachulia instead. Just never, ever Curry.

2. Holding the ball

“There’s no way you can have 20 turnovers and win.”

Well said, LeBron, as you had 8 yourself.

Another reason why the lead ballooned the way it did was due to the Cavaliers just not taking care of the ball. If they gave up 20 turnovers to the best transition offense in the league for the past 3 years, what else would they expect but a blowout?

Oh, and the turnovers on the other end? Two for Curry and two for Green. Four total, all unforced.

Cleveland did not tally a single steal. Wow.

3. The 12 other players they have

Basketball is supposed to be a team sport. Keywords being “supposed to be.”

Instead, fans bore witness to a three-man show of James (28 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks), Kevin Love (15 points, 21 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Kyrie Irving (24 points, 2 assists, 1 block).

The other 12 players on their roster combined for 24 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks. Dahntay Jones, running on a salary of just $9000, became the team’s fifth-highest scorer with 7 garbage time points in 4 minutes. In comparison, starters Tristan Thompson and JR Smith combined for 3 points (all from Smith) with a combined salary of $28 million.

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Plain and simple, Game 1 was an embarrassing outing from the defending champions who came back from a 3-1 series deficit (as if we needed reminding). If they continue to play garbage, stagnant basketball like this, their locker rooms in Cleveland would be smelling like wine after Game 4. – Rappler.com