NBA Finals preview: Cavs-Dubs IV

Ty Lue Has An Adjustment To Make 
Jeff Van Gundy may have randomly hollered about Ty Lue deserving more respect during the Cavaliers’ Game 7 win over Boston, but I’m not quite ready to go there yet. On numerous occasions since he took over as Cleveland’s coach Lue has seemed utterly flummoxed as to how to maximize his personnel. The most glaring examples came in the 2017 Finals against the Warriors, when for most of the series he seemed determined to run and gun with the best run and gun team in history.
I can almost understand how he got there, because the Cavs, too, were at their best when raining threes and winning shootouts. But it was never going to work against the Warriors, and Lue ought to have known as much given that the Cavs had beaten the Warriors in 2016 largely by playing a grittier game and winning lower-scoring games. The Rockets just came within a quarter of proving that this is still the way to beat Golden State, and the Cavs’ only hope is if Lue recognizes it, implements a slower pace, and emphasizes a focus on rebounding, loose balls, and physicality.
The Warriors Need To Be Forced To Care 
It’s easy to understand how a team that’s been to three straight Finals and which is clearly head-and-shoulders above all competition from a talent standpoint might have an occasional lapse in focus or intensity. But the Warriors have looked positively bored at times, even when winning. Their tendency to follow up their best performances with duds (including much of Game 7 in Houston) suggests a level of entitlement or fatigue, or both. It may even be that they’re missing Iguodala’s presence as a semi-hidden driving force.

Whatever the case, this team appears to require a push to care – not, in fact, unlike how Kevin Durant appears at times to need to manufacture chips on his own shoulder. This sounds like a pretty big problem heading into the NBA Finals. The flip-side, however, is that it puts Cleveland in an inevitable trap. If LeBron James doesn’t play out of his mind, this is a sweep; if he does play out of his mind, the Warriors will have to care, and even the King’s best might not be enough.
That’s why, as unimaginative as it may be, I have to pick the Warriors to win this one. But the way they’ve looked, they may have to work for it even against a mediocre Cavs team.
Golden State in 6