J.R. Smith points to Draymond Green when asked if Cavs should 'dirty up' Finals

After the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lopsided loss in the NBA Finals opener, it’s safe to assume the defending champs will have a different game plan in mind for Sunday’s Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors.

Taking care of the basketball could be high up on the Cavs’ to-do list after committing 20 turnovers and forcing just four, but one reporter asked guard J.R. Smith if Cleveland should try “dirtying up the game” and return to the physical brand of basketball that was so successful in previous playoff rounds.

When the notion of “dirtying up the game” was brought up, Smith thought of one player on the Warriors who has had a knack for kicking opposing players where it hurts – Draymond Green.

"Dirtying up the game? I don't know about that," Smith told reporters Saturday. "They got one guy who keeps kicking people in the nuts. I don't know about that.

"But we won't dirty up the game. We just play physical. Some people don't like physicality, and that's what it is. But we just got to play our game and the way we know how to play, and that's what's been successful for us."

Green has had a well-documented history of hitting below the belt on the court so much so that his swipe at LeBron James in last year’s Finals earned him a one-game suspension that many believe was the turning point in the Cavs’ historic 3-1 comeback.

Despite allowing 113 points, Cleveland held Golden State to just 43 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent from deep in Game 1. But the Warriors got 20 more field-goal attempts, thanks in large part to all the turnovers they forced, a point that Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue will undoubtedly emphasize for Game 2.