Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 adjustments for Game 3 of 2017 NBA Finals

Jun 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) with Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second half in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

With their backs against the wall in the 2017 NBA Finals, here are five desperate adjustments the Cleveland Cavaliers need to make for Game 3.

For the second year in a row, the Cleveland Cavaliers have their backs against the wall through the first two games of the championship round. Facing a 2-0 deficit against the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals, the Cavs head back to Quicken Loans Arena in desperate need of a Game 3 victory.

This team has conquered adversity before. Cleveland lost the first two games of the 2016 NBA Finals in blowout fashion — and by an even worse point differential — before becoming the first team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the title.

Unfortunately, there is no Game 5 Draymond Green suspension in sight. There is no Harrison Barnes shooting collapse to capitalize on. There is no banged up Stephen Curry or injured Andrew Bogut to make the difference. If the Cavs are going to climb back into this series, against a Warriors team that replaced Barnes with freaking Kevin Durant, they need to get creative.

In Game 1, the Draymond and Klay Thompson went a combined 6-for-28 from the field…but the Warriors only committed four turnovers, put up 27 fast break points and outscored the Cavs 56-30 in points in the paint.

In Game 2, the Cavs were actually more engaged on the defensive end…and still gave up 132 points in regulation. They won the battle for points in the paint by a 60-40 margin and turned the Dubs over 20 times…but were roasted for an NBA Finals record 18 three-pointers and lost by 19.

They even got a triple-double out of LeBron James and 27 points out of Kevin Love…but that was more than matched by Stephen Curry's triple-double and KD's historic 33-13-6-5-3 stat line. No matter which way the Cavs turn, they can't catch a break.

Heading into a must-win Game 3, what can the Cleveland Cavaliers realistically do against this unstoppable Warriors colossus? Here's a look at five possible adjustments as desperate times call for desperate measures.

Jun 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) knocks the ball away from Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first half in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

5. Give Jefferson and Shumpert more run

Any time "Give 36-year-old Richard Jefferson more playing time" or "Give Iman Shumpert and his broke jump shot more opportunities" are legitimate NBA Finals adjustments, there's a pretty good chance we're approaching the end times. And yet, because of how terrible Cleveland's wings have been and the need to spell LeBron from his defensive assignment on Kevin Durant, here we are.

In Game 1, Jefferson led the bench with nine points and four rebounds in 15 minutes, going 3-for-6 from the floor despite committing five quick fouls. In Game 2, he added seven points on 2-of-3 shooting and committed three fouls in his 13 minutes. He's been relatively decent off the bench, on the offensive end at least.

Iman Shumpert, meanwhile, is the best option to spare LeBron the defensive burden of guarding KD, but he's been horrendous on the other end, shooting a combined 3-for-12 from the field through the series' first two games.

RJ's inability to stay in front of Kevin Durant would be obvious even without all those fouls tacked on, but he's really the only wing on the roster (other than LeBron and Shumpert) capable of logging minutes on KD. LeBron has been absolutely gassed through the first two games, and the Cavs may need to resort to desperation tactics to give him some rest on the defensive end.

If Shumpert can just make a shot or two, or if Jefferson can find a way to stay out of quick foul trouble, they need to be playing — and spending more time on KD — than they currently have.

June 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) moves the ball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) in the second half in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

4. Get J.R. going

Speaking of wings who have been terrible, J.R. Smith has been even worse than Iman Shumpert so far in the Finals, completely no-showing the first two games.

In Game 1, Smith knocked down the first bucket of the game on a corner three…and he hasn't scored in the series since. He finished with three points on 1-of-4 shooting in 28 minutes in the series opener, and his leash was understandably shorter in Game 2.

Sunday night, J.R. finished with a goose egg in the scoring column on 0-of-2 shooting in his 14 minutes. To have any hope in Game 3, the Cavs have to find a way to get their streaky 2-guard going.

Smith's 5.9 points per game during the postseason indicate he hasn't been much of a factor in Cleveland's run to the Finals, but he was huge on the defensive end and shot 43.4 percent from three-point range.

If the Cavaliers can't find a way to get him hitting from downtown again, his defense has been nowhere near engaged enough to warrant playing time in this kind of series.

Jun 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) is defended by Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the second half in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

3. Resort to iso-ball

The Cleveland Cavaliers have to find a way to slow down the tempo. In Game 1, they were outscored 27-9 in fast break points. Even in Game 2, when they only lost the battle for transition points by a 31-30 margin, they still gave up a whopping 132 points in regulation of an NBA Finals game.

Remember when the playoffs used to mean grinding out possessions and a slower tempo? The Warriors may be singularly talented enough to buck the trend, but the Cavs could at least try to force the issue by doing everything in their power to turn this back into a half-court series.

This is obviously easier said than done. The Dubs almost always have four or even five players on the court who can instantly turn a defensive rebound — a category Golden State has dominated in this series — into fast break opportunities. But one way Cleveland can try and shake things up is resorting to iso-ball.

Kevin Love has been closer to being LeBron's right hand man than Kyrie Irving in this series, which needs to change for Cleveland to have a chance. For all his all-around dominance, even the King has yet to be his team's leader in field goal attempts through the first two games.

LeBron's brilliance is grounded in his willingness to zip passes all over the court, but against such a stifling and balanced defense like the Warriors', perhaps Cleveland's best approach is an old school, one-on-one, "I Dare You To Stop Me" strategy — only in a smarter, more reserved way.

In both games at Oracle, LeBron came out like a bat out of hell, attacking the rim with relentless vigor. In Game 2 in particular, he went 8-for-12 in the first half with all of his shots coming in or near the painted area:

But in the second half, playing at such an up-tempo pace, the 32-year-old wore down with the weight of running the offense, pushing the ball up the floor AND still trying to defend Durant. He took only five shots in the third quarter, with four coming from the perimeter.

He had to settle from the outside at that point, and though he still went 4-for-6 in the second half, the game was over by the fourth quarter, a period in which he only attempted one shot.

To be fair, Kevin Durant has done an exemplary job defending LeBron in this series. But the King still cannot be contained one-on-one, and if he and Kyrie trade off iso-possessions with some Love action mixed in, it'd go a long way in conserving energy and balancing the floor with offensive rebounders to prevent Golden State's transition opportunities — something that could help light a much-needed fire under Tristan Thompson.

LeBron hasn't been used in the post enough, where he still has the advantage of brute strength over Durant. The Cavs need to target Stephen Curry in switches out of pick-and-rolls and let Kyrie go to work one-on-one whenever they're matched up.

It may not pay dividends against a team with so many exceptional help and isolation defenders, but it's worth a shot if only to conserve LeBron's energy and limit fast break opportunities for the Dubs.

Jun 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) is defended by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first half in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

2. A Kyrie monster game

Kyrie Irving got off to an even rougher start in the 2016 NBA Finals, combining for 36 points and just five assists in 71 minutes through the first two games — all while shooting 12-for-36 from the field, 1-for-7 from deep and committing six turnovers.

The Cavs need another Game 3 turnaround in this year's Finals, especially after watching him put up 43 points, nine assists and seven turnovers in 75 minutes through the first two games of the series.

However, turning it around may be easier said than done if his knee truly isn't right:

Klay Thompson has absolutely put the clamps on Irving, who followed up a decent 10-for-22 outing in Game 1 with a 8-for-23 stinker in Game 2. Though Kyrie has made five of his 10 three-pointers, he's been a liability on the defensive end and much closer to a non-factor than a legitimate difference-maker.

That was not the case down the stretch of last year's Finals, when the oft-criticized point guard slapped up 30, 34 and a then playoff career-high 41 points in Games 3-5. Hell, it was as recently as Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals that he set a new playoff career high with 42 points.

Unfortunately, if Curry continues to exact revenge on Kyrie after getting outplayed in last year's Finals, Cleveland will be in trouble. The Cavs need the trend to flip-flop like it was in 2016.

In the conference finals, Kyrie looked more like his old self after a lackluster opening two rounds, posting insane .622/.500/.917 shooting splits in those five games. So far in the NBA Finals, Golden State's defense on him has been absolutely smothering.

If the Cavaliers are to stay alive in this series, they need Kyrie Irving to have a vintage, 2016 NBA Finals kind of performance starting in Game 3.

Jun 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) dribbles the ball past Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

1. LeBron must outplay KD

It's not fair to say this, because if you swapped LeBron James with Kevin Durant, the Warriors would still be up 2-0 by a massive margin. KD simply has more help, and WAY more opportunities to capitalize on, but regardless of the circumstances, the following remains true: The Cavaliers have no hope in this series if KD continues to outplay the King.

LeBron James is still the best player in the NBA. He's probably the second greatest basketball player of all time, and his Game 2 was masterful until he simply ran out of steam in the second half. But through the first two games of this series, KD has been the best player on the court, and the Cavs have no chance if that trend continues.

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In Game 1, KD poured in a a game-high 38 points to go with nine rebounds and eight assists. In Game 2, he scored a game-high 33 points to go with 13 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks and three steals. He's posting .563/.500/.909 shooting splits, most of which have come with LeBron defending him by default. Are you sensing a trend?

Though King James' 28.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game on .553/.333/.706 shooting splits are certainly nothing to scoff at, and though it seems silly to demand more of a player who dropped a triple-double in Game 2, the Cavs still need more out of their MVP.

Per NBA.com, Kevin Durant has held his opponents to 17-of-36 shooting (47.2 percent) in this series overall, with many of those coming against the King and his freight-train-to-the-rim routine. The King, meanwhile, has given up 16-of-31 shooting as the primary defender (51.6 percent)…and that's not even including all the times KD has broken free for easy baskets.

Cleveland could help LeBron out by putting Shumpert and Jefferson on KD for longer spells to conserve his energy, but when he is matched up with the younger Durant, he has to own that matchup. He has to tap into his former defensive prowess against perhaps the most dangerous scorer in the league — a Herculean effort for a 32-year-old with so many playoff miles on his body, to be sure.

But even when LeBron was putting on a show in Game 2, doing everything he could to keep his team in the contest in the first half, it never felt like he was in control.

Perhaps that's the simple nature of facing an unassailable juggernaut like these Warriors, but if the Cavaliers are to win Game 3 and make this a series again, LeBron James has to decisively win his head-to-head matchup with Kevin Durant.

Whether that's by reaching the 30-point mark for the first time in this series, taking 30 shots a night or slowing things down with iso possession after iso possession, Cleveland's offense must operate through him and its defense must lean on him to limit Golden State's best player.

It's a gargantuan amount to ask a player who's already looked winded in Games 1 and 2, but since when is the Cavaliers asking him to do the impossible a new concept?