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Five Adjustments David Blatt Must Make for Game 5

2. Post up LeBron James

LeBron James posting up Draymond Green

One of the best adjustments Kerr made for Game 4 was double-teaming LeBron once he touched the ball. This was most effective when James had the ball around the perimeter, in which he was forced to pass to an open teammate such as Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert or J.R. Smith.

In other words, the Warriors took away the threat of LeBron by placing the game in the hands of those three aforementioned players. And it worked, because all three players were absolutely horrendous from beyond the arc (3-of-22 from three-point range on 13.6 percent shooting).

shotchart-cavs-gm4-300The Cavs are very hot-and-cold from long-range as they don’t have the shooters that the Warriors possess. So what can the Cavaliers do to combat this? Keep going into the paint.

While Game 4 was an abysmal showing for Cleveland, they succeeded in one thing—effectively converting in the paint. As a team, they went 17-of-25 inside the paint (68 percent).

Put James on the block more and once he’s doubled, guys like Dellavedova, Shumpert and Smith can cut to the basket for easy hoops.

If LeBron is out on the perimeter, we’re just going to see a repeat of Game 4 where those three players will be depended upon to consistently knock down perimeter shots.

Next: Rough up Steph Curry


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