professor
Cleveland has struggled on defense all season long. They breezed through the playoffs because the East is such a weak conference, but Golden State exposed them last night. They had 21 buckets in the paint, in the first half alone.
And although Cleveland is an offense-wired team, they turned the ball over 20 times in 48 minutes.
Durant is ultimately the difference maker. Thompson can't guard him, Love can't guard him, Jefferson can't guard him, LeBron can't guard him. He's tall, quick, can shoot from outside, post up down low, and unstoppable in transition. And even if Cleveland somehow figures out how to get Durant off his game, they still have to deal with Curry and the 3-point shot.
But Cleveland really looked out of sorts in game one, overmatched, overpowered, slow on rotation defense, which was basically nonexistent. Cleveland can't win the defensive battle, but they have to play better defense than they showed last night. And they have to make baskets... the only way they're gonna win this series is outscore them, and that's asking a lot considering that Golden State ain't too shabby on defense themselves.