LeBron James issued a challenge to the hometown fans as the Cleveland Cavaliers return home for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night.
“If I can leave my fans with something, these fans here are pretty loud, pretty good, really good,” James said before a five-hour flight from Oakland following Sunday’s 95-93 overtime victory to tie the Golden State Warriors at 1-1 in the best-of-seven series. “I’ve heard our fans pretty loud before. A couple instances my first postseason appearance was really loud, and me coming home against the Knicks at the start of the season was pretty good. But I know we can be much, much louder than any fan base in this league. I know they’re getting ready, and I can’t wait to see them.”
James limped into the postgame press conference at Oracle Arena on Sunday night but promised after playing over 40 minutes and recording a triple-double – 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11assists – that the Cavaliers would be primped and poised when the Warriors crash Quicken Loans Arena.
While James was superhuman in the second game of the series with the Cavaliers down his two All-Star running buddies, point guard Kyrie Irving (fractured kneecap) and power forward Kevin Love (shoulder), the Warriors had every chance to grab the game and a 2-0 series edge. That despite a slouch performance from MVP Steph Curry.
“It’s not cute at all,” James said. “If you’re looking for us to play sexy, cute basketball, then that’s not us. That’s not us right now. Everything is tough. You know, we’re going to come in with an aggressive mindset defensively and offensively. And for us to win a Finals game shooting 32 percent from the field, it’s just a testament of how gritty we can be. It has to be that for the rest of the series, no matter how many games it takes.”
James credit fill-in point guard Matthew Dellavedova for locking down Curry, who was 0 for 8 from the field when checked by the Australian on Sunday.
“It had everything to do with Delly,” James said. “He just did a great job. Just trying to make it tough on Steph. That’s all you can do. You make it tough on him.”
Coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors played into the hands of the Cavaliers’ defense. Curry did not run off of baseline screens as frequently as he did against the tight-clasp defense of the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference semifinals and he wasn’t able to clear the defense in transition for open looks. The Cavaliers showed their hand early – physical and aggressive inside and out – but the Warriors never completely countered.
“Their defense was great,” Kerr said. “We’ve got to put our guys in a better position to get good looks. I thought sometimes you get open shots that aren’t rhythm shots, so you’re not flowing, you’re not playing well, and you haven’t created anything offensively. Then all of a sudden you do get an open look, but you’re not in the flow, in the groove.”
Kerr, a marksman 3-point specialist during his NBA career, said Curry’s chilly shooting is not abnormal and happens to every “MVP and role player.”
Curry said the off night was not because Dellavedova didn’t do anything that surprised Curry.
“No, he played hard and stuck to the game plan,” said Curry, who vowed to figure out how the Cavs are going to “figure out exactly what adjustments they made, specifically on ball screens, and I’ll be ready for Game 3.”