Warriors have struggled against the Lebron James and the Cavaliers in their last 5 meetings. Who does Golden State need to get them over this hump?
Warriors have only lost five games this season, yet their Christmas day loss seems a tad bit concerning considering this is a likely finals matchup. With the addition of Kevin Durant, a lot of people, myself included, assumed this would propel an already great Warriors squad into something nuclear; something so explosive that, on paper, would be too much for the likes of even King James and his blood thirsty teammate Kyrie Irving.
With that being said for the first 3 and a half quarters it looked like this was the Warriors game, yet when the minutes waned and palms began to get sweaty, the Warriors two best players looked nearly outmatched by the Cavs two best players. Warriors only scored 109 points, which contrary to almost every team ever, is a slow day for them.
Granted, had Kyrie missed his turnaround (a clear travel) jumper and the Warriors won the game there might be an entirely different narrative.
But nonetheless, blowing a 14 point lead for a team of this caliber is an issue that had an awfully familiar vibe dating back to the last 4 games of last year’s NBA Finals.
The Cavs formula seems to be to just hang in there and keep the score close. They have faith in their matchups and their ability to close out a game. Kyrie Irving dropped 16 points in the team’s final 9 minutes. They clearly believe that their elite duo of LeBron and Kyrie is more lethal than that of Durant and Curry in the closing moments of the game, turning it into a game of your best vs our best.
This of course does not means to out Klay, but he is the third best player on this team at best, therefore the load of executing in primetime falls on the shoulders of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
The Warriors worst scoring quarter was the 4th quarter in which they mustered just 21 points. In addition to being outrebounded on the offensive glass 18-5 they were also outshot from behind the arc. Crazy right.
Dec 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (32) comes up with a loose ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland defeats Golden State 109-108. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Curry
2x MVP Stephen Curry tallied 15 points; 5 of which came from the charity stripe in addition to only having 4 made field goals. The question is beginning to beg on Curry’s un-Curry like play versus the Cavs. Last season’s excuse boiled down to Draymond’s suspension as well as Curry’s health, yet for some reason the Warriors have struggled to close tight games against the Cavs.
His 3 assist certainly did not help. And getting pulled for the team’s last possession may not have been solely because of his struggles but it appears clear that Steve Kerr has some concern for Curry’s lapses of excellence against the Cavs.
The true X Factor is Stephen Curry if the Warriors want to repeat as NBA Champions. On last season’s NBA Finals, Steph averaged a pedestrian 22 ppg on 40% shooting coupled with a mild 3.7 assist average; a complete plot twist to what everybody saw in the regular season.
Against Lebron James in the playoffs, Curry is only averaging 24 points on an un-Curry like 39% from deep and 42% from the field. James on the other hand is out performing Curry Simply must get better if he plans on reclaiming the title this season.
Dec 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) defended by Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland defeats Golden State 109-108. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Durant
4x scoring champion and former MVP Kevin Durant, one of the top five scorers to ever sweat on NBA hardwood had a relatively good game posting 36 points.
However, the issue lies in the fourth quarter, where he posted just 3 points. Mustering just 3 free throws after the 9 minute mark and one of those came off a technical foul. Meaning Durant had 0 made baskets in that span. This will not get it done. Especially against Lebron James.
Durant is 3-14 against King James and that not including his finals lost. Safe to say King James has owned the matchup and while it is hard to quantify a psychological effect on a player, it should at least be considered in Durant’s case. He puts up numbers for sure, averaging 29 ppg in their head to head matchups, but without the win, how much does that really matter.
The Warriors problem is not at all a deficiency of talent, but more so shrinkage of the same efficiency and execution that was responsible for them being up 14 points in the first place. The swagger that carried them to the commanding leads was not apparent in crunch time.
Dec 25, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (32) celebrates with guard Kyrie Irving (2) after dunking against the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland defeats Golden State 109-108. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Conclusion
Labeling Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant choke artists is very unwise and very incomplete as they have routinely shown their ability to come up in big moments. The losses after being up 3-1 for both players are insignificant compared to what these guys have accomplished in there career.
However, against Lebron James in Kevin Durant’s case, and the Cavaliers in Steph’s’, there has been an all too common shrinkage of MVP level production in too many of their encounters the last few season.
So even with the addition of Kevin Durant, the Warriors biggest strength lies in Curry’s sheer presence and ability to make the floor larger than anybody has…ever. So even with Durant putting up 30 every night, it is up to Curry and his performance to give the Warriors the best chance to win.
If the Warriors plan on capturing the championship trophy that narrowly escaped them last season, both of these players are going have to adjust. When playoff time rolls around and legs start to get tired, we know Lebron will be ready.
But for the Warriors, it is Steph who must be ready. Because the psychological edge seems to belong to Bron Bron and Kyrie right now. Durant, if he ever hopes to become a champion has got to do better against King James.
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