Jun 14, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; (editor note: caption correction) Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The year was 2007. The Dallas Mavericks, coming off a 67-15 regular season and a Most Valuable Player campaign from Dirk Nowitzki, were heavy favorites in a series against the fun-sized Golden State Warriors, a quirky team that managed to make the playoffs after winning their final five games of the season.
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Don Nelson, the Grand Master of offensive ingenuity, was coaching a team of underutilized talents, castoffs and misfits with nothing to lose. “We just went in there and figured we had a good team and we could beat anybody, or anybody could beat us,” said the winningest coach in league history.
“They were a bad matchup for us,” Nowitzki would later say. “They had a bunch of small guys, they switched everything. They were hot that series, too.”
Sound familiar?
The 67-win Mavericks team made the same fatal mistake the Cleveland Cavaliers made on Sunday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals: they tried to match offense with offense. Avery Johnson sat Erick Dampier for Devean George and David Blatt chose to play Timofey Mozgov just over nine minutes in the most crucial game of his early NBA coaching career.
May 27, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The results might end in an eerily similar fashion: the Mavericks lost in six games that series while the Cavaliers are heading home for a Game 6 with their season on the line. LeBron James might end up bringing a championship to the fans of Cleveland after all, only in the form of the opposite team celebrating on his own floor.
Steve Kerr, like Don Nelson before him, forced his opponent to adopt a style not suited to their talent. It’s no secret the Warriors love controlled chaos, a faster pace and enough ball movement to find the best shot available (there are usually many). Blatt, like Avery Johnson, wanted to beat the Warriors at their own game but failed miserably.
“We were in the game the way we were playing,” said Blatt following the 104-91 loss Sunday night. “We were right there. So that’s the way that we played it.”
His tone was uninspiring and his team’s execution was even worse. Once again, outside of LeBron James the Cavaliers failed to muster up any type of consistent production. James had another ho-hum triple double – 40 points (15-for-34 shooting), 14 rebounds and 11 assists – but a suddenly iced JR Smith and the epic return of Stephen Curry proved too much for even a King to overcome.
Smith, seen as the firestorm the Cavaliers needed to steal Game 5 in Oakland, started the game hot but failed to hit a basket after the 9:26 mark in the second quarter. Despite the streakiness Klay Thompson has shown offensively during the series, his defense has continued to impress, forcing Smith and his other assignments to earn every basket through his stellar on-ball defense and tight off-ball pressure.
Although the Cavaliers kept the game close due to more James heroics – even taking the lead with 7:47 left in the game – there was never any real scare. Following a James 34 foot three to put them ahead 80-79, Curry immediately hit a three of his own after sending Matthew Dellavedova back to Maryborough, Australia with a vicious crossover-to-stepback move, forever stunting the “Steph Stopper” narrative.
The game was lost when Blatt decided to play right into the Warriors’ hands by playing small. Sitting Mozgov for the majority of the game in favor of Smith and other smaller players was suicide. It’s no secret Golden State prefers to play small with Green at center, which gives them the ability to switch everything on defense while pushing pace on offense.
June 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
“The way we needed to play tonight to give ourselves a chance to win,” was Blatt’s response as to why they went small. Sure, the Cavaliers were in the game, but aside from the fourth quarter of Game 4, had they ever truly struggled this series? Mozgov presented problems for the Warriors throughout the first three games and scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Game 4. He wasn’t the problem.
Kerr’s move to play David Lee in Game 3 was the first hint that additional smaller lineups were on the horizon. Lee played well, providing an offensive lift when the team was in dire need of one. He benched Andrew Bogut in Game 4 for Andre Iguodala, sacrificing size for pace, pressure and ultimately, points. Kerr had the talent and depth necessary to make such a drastic move. Blatt did not.
“It’s not a series for bigs right now, the way that everything is unfolding,” Steve Kerr said after Game 5. “The reality is that this is a small series. That works well for us. We’re comfortable with this style.”
There’s certainly no guarantee of a Cleveland win if Mozgov played his usual allotment of minutes. Yet, Blatt detracted away from his best lineup, the best chance he had at beating the Warriors and securing an NBA championship. Can the Cavaliers will their way back to win two straight games with the self-proclaimed best player in the world leading the way?
James was brilliant again on Sunday, but the talent disparity, the lack of Mozgov and, perhaps most importantly, the return of the ethereal skills were too much for the Cavaliers. In the fourth quarter, it became clear: it was LeBron vs. everyone else. Curry led the way, displaying the same exciting skillset that first made him a household name back at Davidson. He’s matured both on and off the court since then, and it was only a matter of time before the otherworldly point guard returned to his mean.
Curry’s importance can’t be quantified. He’s risen from ankle-ridden afterthought to MVP. The brief showdown between James vs. Curry in the final quarter was a glimpse at the once and future greatness this league has to offer. James is still King, but Curry is the Warrior that the league and this franchise needed. He’s on the cusp of achieving the impossible, and with the help of ownership, Kerr and talent from top to bottom, he’s bound to do just that.