LeBron James is putting on one of the greatest NBA Finals performances we have ever seen. He is averaging 41.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 8.3 assists for the first three games of the NBA Finals and as a result has his Cleveland Cavaliers leading the Golden State Warriors 2-1. LeBron James is playing so well that he is single-handled exposing a Golden State Warriors team that cruised to 67 wins and an NBA Finals appearance. He is taking on the best team in basketball and making them look like a bunch of jump-shooting sissies.
Does that sound harsh? Well, it's the truth. The Cavaliers are winning this series because LeBron James wants this series more than anybody else on the floor and it is rubbing off on his teammates. Matthew Dellavedova is diving on the floor for loose balls like he needs them to feed his family, Tristan Thompson is grabbing every rebound in sight, and Timofey Mozgov is attacking the rim like it owes him money.
As for the Warriors, they look timid and reserved. They aren't playing aggressive basketball and they appear to be waiting for the NBA commissioner to stop the game and hand them the Larry O'Brien trophy. Steve Kerr seems to know this and is trying his best, but so far, his team isn't responding. Rather than being patient, waiting for a good shot opportunity, and aggressively attacking the basket, the Warriors instead have elected to settle for contested jump shots early in the shot clock, expecting shots to magically fall for them as if basketballs just magically find their way through the hoop.
To the Warriors' defense, everything has gone that easily for them so far or at least so it has seemed. The Memphis Grizzlies gave them a nice punch in the mouth for the first three games of their second round series, but the Grizzlies fell apart due to injuries and an inability to hit shots. The Cavaliers on the other hand are doing everything the Grizzlies tried to do with the addition of having LeBron James playing like a man possessed.
What has been somewhat surprising to me in this series is that nobody on the Warriors has been able to do an adequate job defending LeBron James. This is a team that prides itself on defense and having quality defenders like Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, and Harrison Barnes, but so far, none of those guys have been able to defend LeBron James even remotely well. LeBron James has his way with all of them whenever he so chooses. All he does is back them down in the paint, drive past them on the baseline for a thundering slam, or lull them to sleep before making a play for somebody else.
I don't blame any team for having a hard time containing LeBron James, but the Warriors simply don't appear to be working hard enough. If the Warriors are working hard enough, then they are not going to win this series because their lack of defense on LeBron James is pathetic. LeBron James is backing down Warriors defenders like he is Shaquille O'Neal when in reality he is built like Karl Malone. Karl Malone was a physically imposing player, but he wasn't anything as imposing as Shaquille O'Neal.
One would think that Draymond Green, who prides himself on defending all five positions, wouldn't let LeBron James dominate him like this, but so far, there is nothing that Draymond Green appears to be able to do. All that Draymond Green can do is hope for some other lazy teammate of his to pick up the slack and make a play for him, but in Game 3 we saw that even Andrew Bogut is afraid to challenge LeBron James at the rim.
Probably the most embarrassing thing for the Warriors in all of this is that Kyrie Irving is done for the series. With Kyrie Irving out, there is no reason to believe that the Cavaliers have anything higher than a 15% chance of winning. Keep in mind that I'm saying this as someone who picked the Cavaliers to upset the Warriors in six games. The Cavaliers are doing everything I thought they would do in this series: Defend on the perimeter, hit shots, and control the paint. But what has surprised me is that they've been able to make enough shots without Kyrie Irving, who is their number-two scoring option behind LeBron James.
I definitely want to give the Cavaliers a tremendous amount of credit for how they have played in this series so far. They have played with a tremendous amount of heart, fire, and determination. LeBron James has been playing out of his mind and inspiring his teammates like Blake Griffin inspires soldiers in Kia commercials.
But all the same, the Warriors' struggles have been very disappointing. Stephen Curry has disappeared and nobody on his team has been there to pick up the slack or make any sort of effort to make things hard on LeBron James. With the way things are going right now, I have to pick the Cavaliers to win this series in six games. They don't appear to need Kyrie Irving in the way that I thought they would need him and the Warriors simply don't appear capable of answering the bell.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord
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