The Cavaliers are facing a bit of an identity crisis as the NBA Finals heads to Game 6.
The Cavs staked themselves to a 2-1 lead, thanks to dominant defensive performances and ferocious rebounding in Games 2 and 3. But when the Warriors struck back with their small-ball lineup in Games 4 and 5, everything swung back in Golden State's favor.
The Warriors dictated everything in those two contests, even forcing the Cavaliers to abandon some of what they were doing to gain key advantages throughout the early part of the series. Cleveland lost confidence that its defense could deal with five perimeter threats at once.
The Cavs' big adjustment bore itself out most in Game 5, when Timofey Mozgov—who had been their best player in Game 4 with 28 points and 10 rebounds—played just nine minutes in a 13-point loss.
"It's no disrespect to anyone, certainly not to Timo, who has done a great job for us," Cleveland head coach David Blatt told reporters after Game 5 when asked about his reasoning on Mozgov's minutes. "That's just the way that we played it tonight, a ...
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Article written by Jared Dubin
Cleveland’s Crisis: What Should David Blatt Do About Timofey Mozgov’s Minutes?
June 16th, 2015 by Jared Dubin Leave a reply »
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