The Cleveland Cavaliers play an old foe in the Golden State Warriors on their second night of a weekend back-to-back.
Injuries for both teams
Any hype this matchup might have had has been diminished by the injury report for both squads. The Cavs, as we know, have dealt with bumps and bruises all season. As of now, they’ll almost certainly be without Sam Merrill, Jarrett Allen, Lonzo Ball and Max Strus.
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The Warriors have it even worse.
Golden State will not have Stephen Curry on Saturday. Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green are also questionable. That’s all three members of the ‘big 3.’ So if you were hoping to see any of the Warriors’ aging stars, I’m sorry but you might be missing out.
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Grit and Grind
The Cavs want to become a defense-first team. And for the first weeks of the season, they were tending that way as a top-10 defense. But that has slipped since then. Cleveland entered this weekend 13th in defensive rating and falling.
Now would be a good time to reverse that trend.
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Golden State is 23rd in offensive rating. That’s counting the games they’ve had Stephen Curry. If you remove Curry, Butler and Green, then the Dubs fall to the 4th percentile in offensive rating.
Obviously, the Warriors don’t plan on playing many games without their big three. But since they won’t be on the court tonight, the Cavs have no excuse not to deliver a strong defensive game.
Deliberate Offense
One could argue the Cavs have been attempting too many three-pointers this season. Kenny Atkinson might even agree with you, depending on the game.
The results speak for themselves. Cleveland is 9-2 when they score 50+ points in the paint versus their 3-7 record when they attempt 46+ three-pointers.
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Playing offense with a purpose is key. There’s nothing wrong with a three-point attempt that comes naturally. Or even a heat check that feels warranted. But if you can’t buy a jumper, then you have to start attacking the paint. Cleveland made the appropriate adjustment in their win over San Antonio on Friday. Let’s see if they continue to make the right choices as they face Golden State.