The Cavaliers got hit in the mouth in Game 1 by the Warriors in a lopsided 113-91 loss in which Kevin Durant and Steph Curry exploded on offense and Golden State asserted its dominance on the defensive end of the floor. The Cavs have spent the last two days trying to figure out what has to happen in order for them to avoid a similar fate in Game 2 on Sunday night.
Some, like Richard Jefferson, don’t think they need to change much and need to simply execute better — 20 turnovers against the Warriors will doom you every time — but there are some that feel as though the Cavs need to try and slow the game down and be more physical with Golden State. The logic behind this concept is sound. The Warriors are the best team in the league at playing in space, so slowing the game down (and not turning it over) gives them less transition opportunities, and being physical with them takes away some of that space in the halfcourt.
This was an idea floated to J.R. Smith during the Cavaliers media availability on Saturday afternoon, but the reporter used “dirtying up the game” in reference to the success Cleveland has had in being physical with Golden State. Smith took exception to the idea that the Cavs would be considered the dirty team when the Warriors have Draymond Green.
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“Dirtying up the game? I don’t know about that,” Smith responded. “They got one guy who keep kicking people in the nuts. I don’t know about that. We don’t dirty up the game, we just play physical. So, if some people don’t like physicality, that’s what it is.”
Smith is obviously noting Green’s penchant for kicking opponents below the belt — something he did in Game 4 of the Finals last year that earned him a one-game suspension and many, including Green, point to as a turning point in the series. As we’ve learned throughout these 2017 NBA playoffs, dirty is in the eye of the beholder. From Kelly Olynyk’s screen on Kelly Oubre to Zaza Pachulia sliding under Kawhi Leonard (and the multiple other borderline plays in that series), no one can really agree on what makes for a dirty play in the NBA.
So, it should come as no surprise that Smith wouldn’t appreciate being asked about whether the Cavs’ physicality drifts into the category of dirty. Every player wants to believe that they and their teammates toe the line of physical and dirty perfectly, while their opponents are the ones that are habitual line steppers. We’ll see if the Cavaliers can successfully slow up the Warriors and be more physical in Game 2, but they’ll be insistent that it doesn’t go any further than that.
