What Cleveland Needs to do In Order to Win the Finals

The Warriors took game 1 at home by the heroics of Shaun Livingston while the Splash Brothers struggled to get anything going. Clevland kept the game close until late in the third quarter when the Warriors erupted to a big lead. In this article, I'm going to outline what the Cavs need to do in order to come back in this series and also what they have been doing right.

1.)  Finishing Easy Opportunites

The Cavs had so many good plays where they had a good shot close to the basket, however, they weren't able to finish. LeBron got off to a hot start but finished 9-21 shooting and it seemed like the defense of the Warriors was in prime form. Tristian Thompson also started off well, but whenever he received an offensive rebound, he'd tend to miss the putback. The Cavs need to do a better job of finishing down low and securing the ball.

2.)  The Shooters need to Come Back

A huge part of what led the Cavs to the Finals was the barrage of 3 pointers. They were the number 1 team in the playoffs in 3 pointers made, but in Game 1 that trait disappeared. J.R Smith went 1-3 shooting only netting 3 points (However he did slow down Klay Thompson), Irving was 1-4 from deep, Kevin Love hit 2-5, and the entire bench (except for Iman Shumpert) didn't even hit a 3. The Cavs excel when they are hitting the 3 point shot and they need to go back to it to gain an edge over the Warriors.

3.) Can't Rely on LeBron

This has arguably been the best supporting cast LeBron has had in his career, definitely in Clevland at least. He has shooters, rebounders, defenders, you name it. But they still can't seem to play without King James. When he's on the bench the Cavs struggle mightily, often resorting to iso ball with Kyrie. In order for the Cavs to have a shot at this series, they have to be independent from LeBron so that he can get rested and not play the whole game.

All in all, the Cavs still have a good chance to take this series away from the defending champs. They have all the tools necessary and even did a decent job; stopping the Splash Brothers, leading the game at one point, but they still have holes in their game. Game 1 was won by the Golden State bench, who will come out to play in game 2 on Sunday?