NBA Finals Game 1: Four takeaways
By Ian Levy
Kevin Love’s defense is what we thought it was
Kevin Love’s defense is notoriously shaky, both in space and as a rim defender. The Warriors know that and exploited it repeatedly during their two regular season matchups, hunting him out in the pick-and-roll and often forcing him to switch onto a smaller, faster player. Having Love maintain at least some semblance of defensive integrity was crucial for Cleveland, as they need to keep him on the floor for his offense.
Tyronn Lue made an unsurprising adjustment to begin Game 1 and had Love defending Andrew Bogut. This left Tristan Thompson, a much more mobile defender, on Draymond Green, Golden State’s preferred pick-and-roll big. The idea was that the switch would force Golden State to either leave Love alone or run pick-and-rolls with Bogut instead of Green. Although Bogut is a very good passer, he’s not nearly as good as Green is on the move.
On the very first possession of the game, the Warriors ran a side pick-and-roll with Bogut and Stephen Curry, testing Love.
Love actually did a nice job hedging, keep Curry out of the lane and chasing him up the three-point arc. The rotations behind Love worked well, with Thompson sliding down to pick up Bogut’s roll. In the shuffle, Love ends up on Klay Thompson and does a nice job moving his feet and staying between him and the basket.
Not every possession looked that good unfortunately. In the middle of the second quarter, Love was matched up with Green around the elbow. Love sees Thompson coming along the baseline, and knows that he’s going to be switching onto Thompson when he curls around Green.
Love is caught watching Green (maybe to make sure Smith holds up his end of the switch) and Thompson is able to get separation. A pump fake on Love’s closeout leads to a layup and a foul.
This is Kevin Love’s defense — the spectrum from reasonable to not nearly good enough. The Warriors are special enough that even a half-second of hesitation or inattention, instances which Love is extremely prone to, is likely going to turn into points. Love was not an utter disaster in Game 1 but, realistic or not, the Cavaliers probably need more.
Next: 3. Golden State had the better bench