Kevin Durant Makes Easy Work Of The Cleveland Cavaliers
If it’s truly this easy for Kevin Durant, the NBA Finals are already over
The last time Kevin Durant played in the NBA Finals, he also faced LeBron James. It was a while ago (2012) and both were playing for different franchises at the time, but the superstar matchup at small forward was almost as good as this year’s iteration.
That year, Durant played very well, putting up 31 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists line on 55–39–84 shooting splits. However, he was left in tears at the end of Game 5 when the Miami Heat finished off his Oklahoma City Thunder and James walked away with Finals MVP averaging 29 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.
Durant has obviously improved since that season developing his overall game, focusing on his passing and defense. But, he has been good enough to lead a championship team for a long time (including that 2012 season). He was sick of coming in second, though. And for years after that 2012 Finals trip, a plethora of ill-timed injuries to the Thunder robbed him of several opportunities to win his elusive ring. In each season thereafter, the Thunder were forced to heavily depend on Durant and/or Russell Westbrook to create plays almost by themselves. This inevitably took a toll on him as he faced this uphill battle.
It’s a testament to how good Durant and Westbrook were that even with Oklahoma City’s roster limitations often making things difficult for them, they would’ve been legitimate title threats every year if health permitted. They were *that* prolific in consistently beating their primary defenders, but doing all of that work would also eventually take a physical toll which inevitably caught up to them.
The first time Durant went head-to-head with James, it was the Heat whose star-studded roster made life (relatively) easy for James. This time around though, if the Golden State Warriors’ 113–91 win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals was any indication, things are going to be easier for Durant. It was almost unfair how easy Durant made everything look in Game 1. Life is good when you’re running with the Warriors.
Durant dunked six (!) times in the first half of Game 1, twice thanks to Cleveland Cavaliers defenders running out to cover Steph Curry out at the three-point line in transition. This left driving lanes which were inevitably more open than anything could have been opened up by Oklahoma City shooters.
Golden State’s signature ball movement also led to great looks all night, and Durant took advantage by making 14 of his 26 shot attempts.
James got in a few early dunks too, but as Game 1 wore on, it was obvious that things were going to be difficult for him. The offense frequently devolved into isolations from him or Kyrie Irving, which will eventually prove too exhausting to maintain for the whole series. James also defended Durant for much of the game (given his status as the only Cavalier with a prayer of keeping up with Durant), while the Warriors can plausibly throw three or four different defenders at James, including Durant.
This difference in workload between Durant and James will be palpable and illustrates why the Warriors are the heavy favorites in the series. Now that James can’t conserve energy on defense anymore like he did in last year’s Finals guarding Harrison Barnes and playing free safety, he’s going to be playing maybe 44 minutes per game of heavy duty on both ends of the floor.
Perhaps due in part to fatigue or this workload, James committed eight of the Cavaliers’ 20 turnovers in Game 1. If the Cavaliers turn the ball over that many times and only force four turnovers from the Warriors, the series will be over shortly. No one will ever beat the Warriors when allowing them to get in transition that often (27–9 advantage in fast-break points) and to take 106 shots (?!). The “3 > 2” math is already working for the Warriors, so letting them shoot an additional 20 field-goal attempts is just overkill.
The scary thing is that as good as Golden State looked on Thursday night, they actually could have run away with Game 1 much earlier if they hadn’t missed fifteen layups in the first half. The fact that Cleveland was within eight at the half was a minor miracle.
Maybe the Cavaliers decide to limit turnovers and the field-goal attempt differential by doubling down on slow-it-down isolation in Game 2, betting that the turnover differential in Game 1 was fluky (which it was, to some extent). However, that’s just going to make things even harder on James (and Irving), and he’ll be expending energy that he won’t be able to use when defending Durant. That’s the dilemma. Durant is aware of that and you can be sure that he’s going to take advantage. He’s been waiting five years to get another shot at James and knows very well not to take opportunities for granted.
We’re going to hear about the Cavaliers’ potential adjustments ad nauseam between now and Game 2, but it doesn’t feel like there’s any way that the Cavaliers can solve the essential workload advantage that Durant now has over James. James might still be a better overall player than Durant (perhaps debatable), but their respective situations are just so different from when they first met in the Finals. Durant has always made things look easy, but now for once, some of those things are actually easy.
James said after the game of Durant and the Warriors: “You take one of the best teams that we had ever assembled last year, that we saw in the regular season and in the post-season, and then in the off-season you add a high-powered offensive talent like that and a great basketball IQ like that, that’s what stands out.”
Don’t think too hard or try to be cute. More or less, that’s all you really need to know about this series.
Going forward, remember that Game 1 of last year’s Finals was a Warriors blowout as well (as was Game 2), so maybe there’s still a shred of hope for the Cavaliers. Then again, those Warriors didn’t have Kevin Durant. A Kevin Durant who is having the game come to him more easily than it ever has in his professional career.
So, never mind. The one competitive series we were all hoping for? It might be over already.
