In what many considered to be a must-win game for the Golden St. Warriors in the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, head coach Steve Kerr purposely lied about his starting lineup. After winning game 1, Golden St. lost games 2 and 3 and was trying to find ways to slow down LeBron James and Matthew Dellavedova on defense while helping league MVP Stephen Curry regain his form.
The move worked well for the Warriors as moving center Andrew Bogut to the bench and inserting veteran Andre Iguadala into the starting lineup for his first start of the season. Iguadala guarded James on defense and popped in 22 points on offense. As a result, Iguadala was praised by Kerr for his efforts.
“Iguodala has been our best player through four games. He guards LeBron pretty much every possession that he’s out there, and his offense has been terrific. He’s our most experienced player and he’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around. The guy is brilliant at both ends. He sees the game. ”
Kerr’s move opened up the paint forcing Cavs’ center Timofey Mozgov to defend farther from the basket than normal. Offensively, he scored 28 points which is five more than his career high. However, James was held to 22 after averaging over 40 points the first three games of the series.
What changes will Cavaliers’ coach David Blatt do to his lineup in this game of cat and mouse? Actually, James will probably tell Blatt what they should do.
Going small was a smart move by Kerr even if Bogut was limited to only three minutes. It cleared the offensive lane for the Warriors and Dellavedova was exposed defensively guarding Curry. Look for Kerr to continue going small and having Iguadala guard James. The King will get his, but it looks like Kerr refuses to be beaten by James and is forcing other players to step up for Cleveland.
And that’s as I see it!
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