No trust, no glory

Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue blew it in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the Cavaliers’ homecourt, the Quicken Loans Arena, yesterday morning (Manila time) as he failed to make the key adjustments down the stretch and the Golden State Warriors capitalized to win, 108-97. Now, the Warriors are just a win away from becoming the seventh NBA franchise to capture consecutive titles and could clinch in Game 5 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on Tuesday morning (Manila time).

Lue, 39, was badly outcoached in Games 1 and 2 which the Warriors took by a combined winning margin of 48 points. In Game 3, Golden State took the night off and Lue picked up his first-ever Finals win, 120-90. For a while, it appeared that the Cavs would tie the series, 2-all, in Game 4. Cleveland led, 55-50, at the half and was still in the driver’s seat, 83-81, early in the fourth period. Then the roof caved in on the Cavs.

Lue had no clue on what to do down the stretch except to run isolations for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. He forgot about ball-screens, movement and making the extra pass. As the Cavs got predictable on offense, it became easy for Golden State to play defense. On the flip side, Cleveland had no antidote for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

Clearly, Warriors coach Steve Kerr did a better job pacing Curry and Thompson than Lue with James and Irving. Curry logged 39:39 minutes and Thompson, 39:23. Two teammates had more minutes, Draymond Green with 42:14 and Harrison Barnes, 40:10. In contrast, James played 45:34 and Irving, 43:22. The lack of rotation took a toll on the Cavs. James and Irving aren’t supermen. They’re capable of performing spectacular heroics but they’re only human. They get tired, too.

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The Warriors put different defenders on James to wear him down and force him to settle. Barnes, Andre Igoudala, Green, Shaun Livingston and Thompson took turns tiring out the King. Kerr also rotated Thompson and Livingston on Irving. In the long run, it paid off. Golden State baited James and Irving to make it a two-man show for Cleveland and they bit hook, line and sinker. Lue showed little trust in his reserves and went almost exclusively to his two marquee players. It’s probably because with his limited experience, there was nothing left in his imagination to conjure.

Cleveland’s meltdown in the second half was an indication of Lue’s incompetence. Of the Cavs’ 42 points in the third and fourth quarters, Irving and James had 36. The only other scorers were Kevin Love with four and Richard Jefferson with two. The pair was responsible for 16 of the Cavs’ 18 made field goals in the second half. James and Irving took 33 of the Cavs’ 38 field goal attempts in that stretch.

Signs of Lue’s inability to adjust were evident when Golden State went on an 8-0 binge to turn a 69-64 deficit to a 72-69 lead midway the third period. That capped a 17-8 Golden State burst. Curry and Thompson had combined for five triples before Lue brought in Iman Shumpert to defend the two-time reigning MVP. With Shumpert back on the floor, Curry didn’t make another triple until the end of the period.

In the fourth quarter, the Cavs tried to get back the lead with desperation triples. There was a stretch where Cleveland missed seven straight field goals. After Curry buried a three to make it 96-86, the Cavs were in a panic. The Warriors’ last 10 points came from the line as the Cavs gambled on giving up free throws. Every one of those 10 points was delivered by Curry and Thompson, the Warriors’ best free throw shooters so the Cavs couldn’t even foul right.

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Golden State was phenomenal from beyond the arc, knocking down 17, one more than the Warriors’ made two-point field goals. The Cavs were atrocious in closing out and applying pressure off the switch, particularly in the homestretch. Irving and James were tired but surely, the other Cavs weren’t. There just wasn’t enough trust that Lue showed in the supporting cast for the reserves to step up.

The Warriors finished with 23 assists compared to the Cavs’ 15. They hit 17-of-36 triples to the Cavs’ 6-of-25 and 25-of-31 free throws to Cleveland’s 15-of-26. Tristan Thompson was 0-of-5 from the line to accentuate the Cavs’ woes. Thompson and J. R. Smith had 10 points apiece in the first half but were zero in the second as Irving and James turned the Cavs into a two-man gang.

Love came off the bench to contribute 11 points, seven in the first half, but he wasn’t in synch. Actually, it’s difficult for anyone in the Cavs lineup to be in synch when James and Irving are trying to do everything by themselves. It’s really not the players’ fault. The man to blame is Lue. But is Lue doing what he’s doing because that’s what James wants him to do?

A win for Golden State at home in Game 5 will clinch the series. In the regular season, the Warriors were 39-2 at home, losing only to Boston and Minnesota late in the campaign. In the playoffs, they’re 11-1 at home, losing only to Oklahoma City. Overall, that’s an impressive home record of 50-3. As for Cleveland, the Cavs were 24-17 on the road in the regular season. In the playoffs, they’re 5-4 away from home. So overall, their road record is 29-21, not an encouraging indicator for Game 5.

No team has come back from 1-3 in the NBA Finals to win the title so the trend is against the Cavs. In the PBA, it’s been done once – by San Miguel Beer over Alaska in the last Philippine Cup. The Warriors now have three chances to clinch, two at home, and it doesn’t look like they’ll pass up the opportunity to bury the Cavs for good in Game 5.