The Cavaliers looked horrible on Thursday and one guy that must step it up in Game 2 is SF LeBron James (24.3 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 7.1 APG, 2.2 SPG in playoffs). Although James didn’t have much help from his teammates in Game 1, he did shoot just 9-for-21 from the floor and turned the ball over four times.
This team is at its best when James is playing mistake-free basketball and he must be more efficient for the remainder of this series. He also took far too many jumpers on Thursday and will need to make it his goal to get more shots around the rim on Sunday.
PG Kyrie Irving (24.4 PPG, 5.0 APG, 1.6 SPG in playoffs) is going to need to be a lot better defensively moving forward for Cleveland. He had 26 points in Game 1, but his deficiencies on the defensive end were what stood out. The Warriors kept attacking him on Thursday and he’ll need to show a lot more effort on that end in Game 2.
PF Kevin Love (17.3 PPG, 9.8 RPG in playoffs) also needs to be better in this series. He had 17 points and 13 boards in Game 1, but he was 7-for-17 from the floor and that is not a very good percentage for somebody with his size. He’ll need to start getting some more out of his touches around the basket, as it would really give him some more space to utilize his jumper moving forward.
The Warriors dominated the Cavaliers in Game 1 and the guys that were responsible for that were PG Shaun Livingston (8.8 PPG, 3.5 APG, 3.1 RPG in playoffs) and SF Andre Iguodala (8.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.3 SPG in playoffs).
Livingston and Iguodala came off the bench to combine for 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Both of them were excellent on defense and the Warriors are going to be unstoppable if they can continue to provide this type of offensive production.
PG Stephen Curry (25.4 PPG, 6.1 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.7 SPG in playoffs) and SG Klay Thompson (25.2 PPG, 1.1 SPG in playoffs), meanwhile, combined for just 20 points in Game 1.
The two of them were really off with their jumpers, but that is actually a reason for the Warriors to be even more confident about the way this series will go.
It’s unlikely that Curry and Thompson will combine to score less than 40 in many games in this series, so the Cavaliers are going to have to deal with them going off eventually.
