Why Steve Kerr's Small Ball Was the Check Mate Move of the Finals

Tequilla

Tequilla

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For you fucko's that don't understand basketball, listen up:

The NBA Finals this year is all about driving pace. Cleveland has the best player. The Warriors have the better depth and talent across the roster. When you are the least talented team (and in this case, decidedly so), the Cavs rightfully tried to control tempo, shorten the game, and limit possessions. Through 3 games, this worked.

During Game 3, Golden State discovered through playing David Lee that the key to unlocking Cleveland's defense and creating better tempo for their offense was having 5 guys on the court that could be threats to not only score the basketball, but also move the ball to an open shooter.

Cleveland's injuries have turned it's roster into very much a what you see is what you get squad. It has 2 bigs, the best player in the world, and a bunch of mediocre role players on the perimeter. There's not that much that they can change in terms of what they are doing.

The Warriors "gambled" that going small would fix the tempo issues that they had and given last night's results, other than a few small bursts by the Cavs (7-0 run to open the game and the 3rd quarter), the Cavs looked outclassed and without answers. Why was that? The answers lie as much in what they are able to do offensively as what they were able to do defensively.

1) When Cleveland has both Thompson and Mozgov on the court against the Warriors small ball lineup, they have to guard wing players that are adept at not only shooting jumpers as they are getting to the basket. The lack of desire, particularly by Mozgov, to come away from the hoop leads to warm up jumpers. Last night, you saw on a couple of instances GS players step into mid-range shots knowing that there was no threat from the defense. For players struggling from the floor, knowing that you're going to get uncontested looks helps your confidence. The other side of this equation is ...

2) Should Thompson and Mozgov be more aggressive on the perimeter playing defense or Cleveland go small to match, it opens up lanes and angles for Curry/Thompson to get to the basket. When combined with the above, knowing that Cleveland isn't going to either help off of Curry/Thompson or compromise it's defense to the point where Curry/Thompson are able to take advantage of inferior players 1 on 1, the Warriors have created a situation where they can not only guarantee that they are going to get great looks almost every possession, but also simplify the game in a way that limits their turnovers.

3) Defensively, outside of Curry, the starting lineup for the Warriors last night consisted of various wing players that range from 6'6" to 6'8". This allows them to be far more fluid in their rotations and liberal switching, particularly in the screen/roll game with LBJ. While it opens them up to being potentially hurt on the boards, the benefits are worth it because ...

4) Given the obvious size problems, it forces Cleveland into trying to decide whether or not their best option to score is LBJ going 1 on 1 all the time or trying to take advantage of guys like Mozgov having 6 inches on their defender around the basket. While Mozgov had a huge game last night, his lack of ability to move the ball made it far easier for the Warriors to play a far more active defense and not have to worry about the perimeter players getting on a roll and making a ton of 3's (which is the recipe for any LBJ team when they are at their best).

5) The most subtle change made during the game that was a direct result of the Warriors playing smaller was what they did to LBJ as he wasted away the shot clock. Knowing that LBJ does not want to play with a quick tempo, the Warriors are content to let him dribble for 16 to 18 seconds of the shot clock before either coming with a double, faking the double, or just in general collapsing and limiting his lanes to score. By coming late, it limits not only the amount of time that the Warriors are in a scramble situation defensively trying to get out to shooters, but it is also becomes much more predictable where the rotations need to go. Normally when LBJ penetrates or posts up, he's able to create open shots for his perimeter players. Last night, almost every shot out of those situations was contested. Essentially, what the Warriors are doing is using the Cavs desire to slow the pace against them since their offense has become extremely predictable. The way for the Cavs to attack what the Warriors are doing defensively at this point is to speed up their attack and hit the Warriors EARLIER in the shot clock. The problem with this though is that not only does it expose the Cavs lack of depth by playing a more up and down game, but the pace of going up and down is EXACTLY what a team that is built on offensive efficiency thrives upon. This is essentially the check mate move for the Cavs.

The rest of this series is simple. The Cavs will have better energy on Sunday. LBJ I expect will put up another sizable game. The Warriors will need to hit open shots that they are given (notably Iguodala, Barnes, and Green). If those Warriors in particular are shooting at a high percentage, the Cavs have ZERO answer. They can't go smaller and match. They can't go any bigger. They can't go faster because it exposes their depth. They can't go slower because doing so telegraphs to the Warriors the offense.

At the highest level of professional sports, you want to be in the position where you are playing a winner's game instead of a loser's game. This series is at a point now where the Warriors control who wins or loses. The Cavs only control their effort level and putting themselves in a position to win should the Warriors give them the opportunity to do so.

TL, DR version: TSIO ... Warriors in 6.
 
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Don't think it was check mate, maybe just a "check". If that.

GS also seemed to run more doubles at Lebron and he proceeded to pass more. He only put up 22 shots yesterday, after putting up 35-40 in the first 3gqmes. Cleveland got some good looks for their secondary guys and a shit ton of offensive rebounds...but they missed a lot of them. I think Cleveland has another move in them and will adjust. Checkmate is hyperbole.
 
Don't think it was check mate, maybe just a "check". If that.

GS also seemed to run more doubles at Lebron and he proceeded to pass more. He only put up 22 shots yesterday, after putting up 35-40 in the first 3gqmes. Cleveland got some good looks for their secondary guys and a shit ton of offensive rebounds...but they missed a lot of them. I think Cleveland has another move in them and will adjust. Checkmate is hyperbole.
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TFPOTOBB

 
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Don't think it was check mate, maybe just a "check". If that.

GS also seemed to run more doubles at Lebron and he proceeded to pass more. He only put up 22 shots yesterday, after putting up 35-40 in the first 3gqmes. Cleveland got some good looks for their secondary guys and a shit ton of offensive rebounds...but they missed a lot of them. I think Cleveland has another move in them and will adjust. Checkmate is hyperbole.
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And what move is that?

I'd love to hear what you think that they can do.

It's fairly clear to anybody that knows basketball that there's only so much Cleveland can do in this series. Their biggest adjustment from Game 4 to Game 5 will simply be to play better.
 
Don't think it was check mate, maybe just a "check". If that.

GS also seemed to run more doubles at Lebron and he proceeded to pass more. He only put up 22 shots yesterday, after putting up 35-40 in the first 3gqmes. Cleveland got some good looks for their secondary guys and a shit ton of offensive rebounds...but they missed a lot of them. I think Cleveland has another move in them and will adjust. Checkmate is hyperbole.
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And what move is that?

I'd love to hear what you think that they can do.

It's fairly clear to anybody that knows basketball that there's only so much Cleveland can do in this series. Their biggest adjustment from Game 4 to Game 5 will simply be to play better.
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Shoot better and score more points than GS. That could come from:
*Lebron getting back to attacking and putting up 35+ shots, instead of 22, especially if D Lee is at center.
*Jr Smith shooting better than 2-12. He can get very hot especially if GSW concedes open looks when it runs doubles at Lebron
*Mozgov and Thompson convert more Orebs if GS goes small.

I think GSW wins, but hyperbole to say Checkmate. That's Skip Bayless level nonsense.
 
Don't think it was check mate, maybe just a "check". If that.

GS also seemed to run more doubles at Lebron and he proceeded to pass more. He only put up 22 shots yesterday, after putting up 35-40 in the first 3gqmes. Cleveland got some good looks for their secondary guys and a shit ton of offensive rebounds...but they missed a lot of them. I think Cleveland has another move in them and will adjust. Checkmate is hyperbole.
Click to expand...

And what move is that?

I'd love to hear what you think that they can do.

It's fairly clear to anybody that knows basketball that there's only so much Cleveland can do in this series. Their biggest adjustment from Game 4 to Game 5 will simply be to play better.
Click to expand...
Shoot better and score more points than GS. That could come from:
*Lebron getting back to attacking and putting up 35+ shots, instead of 22, especially if D Lee is at center.
*Jr Smith shooting better than 2-12. He can get very hot especially if GSW concedes open looks when it runs doubles at Lebron
*Mozgov and Thompson convert more Orebs if GS goes small.

I think GSW wins, but hyperbole to say Checkmate. That's Skip Bayless level nonsense.
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Please answer the following:

1) Why did LBJ shoot less? Was that something he did or something that GS forced? If GS forced it, how can LBJ remedy that? In particular, how can LBJ remedy that while also draining the shot clock as illustrated in my original post?

2) No question that JR Smith needs to shoot better. There's a ying and yang with him though. For every great shot that he makes he's bound to take 2-3 where you're scratching your head. They could desperately use one of his 6 to 8 3 point games right now where he's making crazy shots. Outside of LBJ, he's the only guy right now on the floor for Cleveland that has any hope of creating and making tough shots.

3) Mozgov and Thompson aren't high level scorers. Mozgov had a great Game 4. Hard to expect that he'll play much better. Those 2 combined aren't going to miraculously score 50 points combined.

4) You've never once addressed the fact that the changes that Cleveland needs to make are also tied into them needing to play faster ... which goes right into the Warriors hand. That's the check mate standpoint. Any adjustment that Cleveland makes at this point plays into the Warriors hands.

I do expect that Cleveland will be better. But at the same time there's room for the Warriors to be better. It would not shock me to see this series end up very similar to the Memphis series where after being up 2-1 the Grizz were flat out run off the court the next 3 games.
 
This series and the Memphis are eerily similar. The sky was falling before game 4 until the Warriors blew them out and everyone said, "Oh yeah. The Warriors are the better team."

The Warriors have a better team. The Cavs have the best player.
 
On tempo - Cleveland got rope-a-doped a bit with the 7-0 start IMO. They thought they had the KO in sight and played into GSWs hand a bit. GSW scored 31 that opening quarter. 2nd and 3rd quarter were below 100pt pace again. But Cleveland trailed early and was gassed entering the 4th. Lebron had two FGAs in the 4th, though he sat a bit.

If Cleveland shoots better and attacks doubles better they won't get in a huge deficit in the second half and can control tempo better. Likewise if GSW comes out on fire and builds an early lead they'll control the tempo and Cleveland is fucked, most likely.

Either way...
 
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My point though is that if Cleveland continues to drain the shot clock, the smaller lineup combined with the known places that Cleveland will initiate the offense from make it far easier for GS to defend them.

It's easy to point to LBJ not shooting as much and put it on him.

What I saw last night was GS baiting the Cavs into doing a lot of things to get away from either LBJ dominating the ball and/or not even respecting certain things that LBJ would do knowing that his entire plan was to get late into the shot clock.

For instance, how many times last night did the Warriors blatantly go under screens early in the shot clock with absolutely no regard for LBJ taking a relatively early in the clock shot? They will gladly trade an earlier shot from James if it means speeding up the tempo.
 
Stopped reading at "pace". The Warriors had 90 possessions in game 4.

Golden State had open shooters in the first 3 games. They missed shots. Cavs had open shooters in game 4. They missed shots.

If Igoudala scores his average instead of his season high it's a different game. If JR Smith goes 3 for 7 from 3 instead of 0 for 7 it's a different game.

This is all a mute point anyways. Lebron's going for 50 in game 5. Cavs in 4.
 
Stopped reading at "pace". The Warriors had 90 possessions in game 4.

Golden State had open shooters in the first 3 games. They missed shots. Cavs had open shooters in game 4. They missed shots.

If Igoudala scores his average instead of his season high it's a different game. If JR Smith goes 3 for 7 from 3 instead of 0 for 7 it's a different game.

This is all a mute point anyways. Lebron's going for 50 in game 5. Cavs in 4.
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Is that how this game is played? OK......If Delladildo doesn't play out of his mind in Game 3, and Barnes/Green don't shoot a combined 2 for 18, "it's a different game".
 
Stopped reading at "pace". The Warriors had 90 possessions in game 4.

Golden State had open shooters in the first 3 games. They missed shots. Cavs had open shooters in game 4. They missed shots.

If Igoudala scores his average instead of his season high it's a different game. If JR Smith goes 3 for 7 from 3 instead of 0 for 7 it's a different game.

This is all a mute point anyways. Lebron's going for 50 in game 5. Cavs in 4.
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If Curry doesn't suck in game 2 it is a "completely different game"
 
I admittedly have not been a big fan of Lebron but I'm objective enough to see his ridiculous talent. If everyone's willing to admit GS is the better team, but Cleveland has the best player, how did Curry win MVP? It's obvious Lebron is the most valuable player to his team. Without him last year, they were a joke. And tbh, Curry, and if it was Harden, as MVP is a joke. It's like when Karl Malone won it just as a courtesy to someone not named Jordan.
 
How many games did LBJ miss during the season?

Too often I think we fall into the trap of thinking that the MVP means best player ... it's really a combination of who had the best year on a contending team (at least 81% of the time).
 
I admittedly have not been a big fan of Lebron but I'm objective enough to see his ridiculous talent. If everyone's willing to admit GS is the better team, but Cleveland has the best player, how did Curry win MVP? It's obvious Lebron is the most valuable player to his team. Without him last year, they were a joke. And tbh, Curry, and if it was Harden, as MVP is a joke. It's like when Karl Malone won it just as a courtesy to someone not named Jordan.
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The real answer is - WGAF.

MVP has been fucktarded like that for awhile. Jordan only won the MVP 5x in his career when he was far and away the best player in the NBA for 8 to 10 years. Shaq was a lazy fat fuck, but he deserved more than one career MVP.
 
Stopped reading at "pace". The Warriors had 90 possessions in game 4.

Golden State had open shooters in the first 3 games. They missed shots. Cavs had open shooters in game 4. They missed shots.

If Igoudala scores his average instead of his season high it's a different game. If JR Smith goes 3 for 7 from 3 instead of 0 for 7 it's a different game.

This is all a mute point anyways. Lebron's going for 50 in game 5. Cavs in 4.
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If Curry doesn't suck in game 2 1 through 4 it is a "completely different game" sweep
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So Steve Kerr was a heady player who lived in the film room but it took him 4 games to figure out how to beat the woeful Cavs? Sounds like he should have been fired at mid court after Game 2.

All that is needed is for the hand (arm bar) check to be called and Iggy is on the bench with 2 fouls in the first 2 minutes and there goes the small ball lineup.

Our Cavs (shout out to APAG) are not done yet. And I don't need 5 million words to tell you why.

Lebron
 
On the surface, Golden State’s dramatic, last-minute, “Ha-ha, we lied to you!” lineup change didn’t really work. The new super-small starting lineup was minus-1 in 14 minutes, got murdered on the glass, and barely nudged the pace up from the snail-like tempo the Cavaliers had imposed upon this series.1

On the surface, this was the ultimate “make or miss” game. Golden State nailed 24 of 45 uncontested shots, according to NBA.com. Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala nailed the open corner 3s they had missed in prior games, and Draymond Green coaxed in a few of those floaters Timofey Mozgov had previously obliterated — including a ferocious chest-to-chest and-1 in the second quarter.

The Cavs, meanwhile, went a frigid 6-of-29 on uncontested looks, emboldening the Warriors to take an extra step away from Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert in order to squeeze LeBron James.

Golden State coaches and officials were adamant after the game that going smaller had reinvigorated the team. The Warriors felt like themselves again, scrambling around the floor on defense, scrapping for gang rebounds — Green says the team’s guards are more attentive when they know he’s the only big man under the rim — and at least trying to rush the ball up the floor.

“Our competitive level was higher,” Kerr told me outside the Warriors locker room. “It was, ‘Holy shit, this is the NBA Finals, and we better start playing every possession like it’s our last.’”

He added, laughing: “It only took four games. I think when you compete like that, the ball tends to go in more. There is karma in this game.”

The path to those open looks was cleaner without Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli around to clog the lane. Mozgov was there, straying far from Iguodala, but that’s still just one body instead of both Mozgov and Bogut hanging around. When Stephen Curry dished to Green on the pick-and-roll, Green caught the ball with acres of open space in front of him — ideal for making clean reads. He dished to Barnes in the right corner here:

DRAYMONDG4

The starting lineup might have flailed around, but small-ball groups with Shaun Livingston played nearly half the game, and they scorched the tired Cavs. The floor gets tight when the Warriors play Livingston, Iguodala, and a traditional center; going super-small, with Green at center, is a way to get their two shaky-shooting Swiss army knives out there together — without killing their spacing.

“The strategy may have helped,” Kerr says. “The whole point is obviously to space the floor. But more than anything, it was just us competing.”

Golden State laid the groundwork in the first half of Game 3. It managed only 37 points in that half, but you could see the offense starting to steady itself — and adding the dashes of in-the-moment cleverness that can make the Warriors so hard to guard. Thompson and Curry do-si-doed under the rim, twirling Cleveland defenders into a daze before rocketing around screens on either side of the floor. The coaches scripted in actions in which Thompson screened for Curry up top and then immediately flew behind another screen for a Golden State big — actions that caught the Cavs off guard in Games 3 and 4:

Game 3- 4

The Cavs closed most of the gaps in Game 3, but not all of them, and the Warriors were confident they could crack them open a bit wider if they stuck with it — especially once they decided to bench Bogut, spread the floor, and drag Mozgov one step further out of his comfort zone.

I mean, look at everything going on here:

Game 4-1

Curry loses Dellavedova on a Barnes pin-down, but instead of searching out his own shot, he leverages the advantage by sprinting into a pick for Livingston. That catches the Cavs off guard, allowing Livingston to drive and find David Lee. Sometimes the most powerful screener is the guy everyone expects to shoot.

“That’s us,” Livingston told me when I asked him about the play as he left the locker room. “At least, tonight it was. That was a smart read by Steph. He knows they are locked on him. They don’t want him to beat them by himself.”

Kerr anticipated that Mozgov would ignore Iguodala when any other Warrior had the ball, so he made sure Iguodala remained an active part of the offense. When Iguodala caught Mozgov drifting toward the rim, he would rush to set a pick for Curry — forcing Mozgov to scurry behind him and try to contain Curry at the 3-point arc. That’s dicey territory for the big fella, and Curry was able to thread pocket passes to Iguodala — leaving Iguodala to slice up the defense in the 4-on-3s Golden State had thrived in until this series.

CURRYIGGY1

CURRYIGGY2

If the Cavs keep Mozgov on Iguodala, the Warriors would do well to expand Iguodala’s role even further — let him run pick-and-rolls, push the ball in transition, and perhaps even try to take Mozgov one-on-one.

Curry didn’t go nova last night, but he found the right balance between passing out of double-teams and hunting for his own shot. He split some traps on drives to the rim, and he attacked Dellavedova one-on-one without the aid of any pick. And, holy hell, did Curry punish the few switches he generated on the pick-and-roll. He nailed step-back 3s over Tristan Thompson and James Jones, and it’s clear now that switching a big onto Curry is untenable. It is merely the moment before fire.

The Warriors have nurtured an ideology of sharing, cutting, and passing. It’s hard to build that for 100 games, then ask Curry to dial up his selfishness. But Golden State needs the MVP to do that, and he came through in Game 4. “He’s trying to play the way we’re used to playing, but also to navigate when he can create his own,” Bruce Fraser, a Warriors assistant coach, told me before Game 4. “There’s a balance he’s trying to find. You may see more selfishness from him.”

Golden State is also starting to read how the Cavs are helping from unconventional places. On most pick-and-rolls, help defense comes from the weak side — but Cleveland isn’t following those rules. If Klay Thompson is on the weak side, it isn’t helping off of him; it will send help from a less dangerous shooter in a more dangerous position — the strong-side corner, closer to the initial pick-and-roll.

Livingston was ready to make that read the second he caught the ball here:

Game 4-2

“I knew I could make that pass,” Livingston told me. “If [Iguodala] misses that shot, it’s still a great shot for us.”

Livingston played a masterful all-around game, and the Warriors found their spirit against a team that had ground it into dust for three games. We’ll see if it lasts. Kerr knows he is taking a major risk going small against the behemoth Thompson-Mozgov front line. The Cavs rebounded 30 percent of their own misses, and a monstrous 36 percent in the 27 minutes their two bigs shared the floor — a span in which Cleveland was plus-1 overall.

Thompson manhandled Barnes under the rim, and one of these games, the Cavs figure to turn all of those offensive rebounds into more second-chance points. Let’s pause for a second and recognize that the Warriors are leaning on lineups with no one taller than 6-foot-8 to take them home. This is Don Nelson–level crazy, even if these guys all play defense. Green makes Chris Bosh, the center on one small-ball champion, look like Manute Bol. “I don’t know if this is gonna work the whole series,” Kerr told me. “But it was a good effort tonight, and now we reshuffle the deck.”

The Cavaliers couldn’t sustain their defense for the full game, but they brought it in spurts — especially at the start of the third quarter, when they denied passes so precisely that Iguodala, holding the ball, simply shrugged his shoulders and jacked two long jumpers he didn’t want to take. With two days off before Game 5, and another potential two-day break before Game 7, perhaps the Cavs can summon the energy to play that way for entire games again.

They’ll need more from their perimeter role players now that Golden State is flashing more urgent help toward James post-ups:

LEBRONHELP

LeBron will fling impossible cross-court passes over and around that extra help, and Cleveland’s shooters will hit more of the 3s those passes produce. The Cavs can help LeBron by setting flare screens off the ball, like the one Shumpert improvised here for Smith (off camera, in the right corner):

FLARE

Shumpert especially needs to seize a more active role. The Cavs cannot gift Curry the chance to hide on Shumpert. When Curry is on Dellavedova, the Cavs pivot right into James/Delly pick-and-rolls; they should use Shumpert more in that same way when Curry is on him.

Cleveland should also keep right on posting up Mozgov against Green, Barnes, and whatever Lilliputian Mozgov encounters. Mozgov has nimble feet, a soft touch, and an angry streak in backing those little dudes all the way under the damn rim. The Warriors mixed in some fronts, even drawing a three-second violation as the Cavs pinged the ball around in search of an open passing angle, but Cleveland shouldn’t shy away from its size advantage.

The Cavs have done periodic damage spotting up Jones as a small-ball power forward around LeBron pick-and-rolls, but it hasn’t been enough to really hurt Golden State, and when Jones is your best small-ball bench option, you’re probably not equipped to beat Golden State in a small-ball series. That is where the Cavs really miss Kyrie Irving to maximize the punch in their small-ball lineups.

But the Cavs, even in this limited state, are equipped to beat the Warriors. They have proven that. They’ll have to do it once more on the road to win what has turned into an intriguing, and potentially epic, NBA Finals.

Some random Game 4 notes as we head back to the Bay:

• Watch the cross-matches in Game 5. Iguodala is guarding James, but the Cavs have James guarding Barnes. The Cavs got two early transition baskets, including a Mozgov dunk, while the Warriors were scrambling around trying to find their proper assignments.

Golden State got one back when Green brought the ball up and found no one guarding him, since his guy, Tristan Thompson, had picked up Iguodala amid the offense-to-defense confusion. These little games-within-the-game can decide things.

• Kerr seems to have concluded that Iguodala is his only workable option on LeBron. When he saw the Cavs insert LeBron early in the second quarter while Iguodala was still on the bench, Kerr immediately burned a 20-second timeout to get Iguodala back in. Kerr confirmed to me afterward that he used the timeout specifically for that purpose, rather than risk even one possession with Barnes on LeBron.

• Kerr didn’t repeat the mistake he made at the end of the first half in Game 3, when he left Ezeli in to guard Jones for the last Cleveland possession. When he saw that the Cavs had inserted Jones, Kerr swapped in Barnes for Lee.

• It’s unclear if James can even come out at this point. The Cavs were minus-6 in the seven minutes James sat, and they have zero offense without him. Their non-LeBron offense resembles how Golden State might look without talent — a bunch of guys running around, cutting, and screening, producing no usable advantage.

• Curry, meanwhile, played the whole second half until garbage time — a huge departure. I loved that.

• The degree to which Golden State is playing Dellavedova to pass on the pick-and-roll, and specifically to toss a lob pass, is getting comical. Both defenders shade toward Tristan Thompson, conceding a floater. Dellavedova nailed three such floaters in Game 3, but he lofted a couple of no-chance-in-hell lobs in Game 4.

• The Cavs’ home gold jerseys swirling around against the Warriors’ road blues is a wonderful visual experience.

• Fun postgame moment: I was in the hallway outside the Warriors locker room, gesturing with my hand to describe a pass one Golden State player had thrown. I stuck my right hand out, and a man passing by at that exact second thought I was reaching for a handshake. He extended his hand to shake mine, realized I had not meant to ask him for a handshake, smiled, and held his hand out until I finally shook it.

It was Usher.

• Usher used a gold microphone to sing the national anthem. Does he always use a gold microphone?

• Actual pregame exchange between Ron Adams and Luke Walton, both Golden State assistants, as Walton walked by Adams on his way to the court:

Adams: “Luke, did you remember to wear deodorant tonight?”

Walton: “Yes.”

Adams: “Good.”

• Curry has an underrated on-court pouting game. He balls up his fists, holds them at waist level, and shakes them as he hops up and down.

• A career highlight: seeing Ric Flair at center court during a commercial break, sporting a trademark Nature Boy robe — Cavs gold, with dark red feather trim. WOOOO!

• They showed my old friend Machine Gun Kelly, the Cleveland-based rapper, on the big scoreboard, and flashed Kelly’s name underneath his face. Michael Strahan was sitting next to him, but the scoreboard operators did not acknowledge him. OH, SNAP! They undid the error a few commercial breaks later, going back to Strahan and giving him the proper treatment.

• Can we move the freaking photographers back a few feet behind the baseline? What is it going to take for this to happen?

• Ice sculptures at big NBA playoff games are officially a thing:

ICE

• A little thing I love about Mozgov’s game: He’s really good at disguising the direction of his pick until the very last moment, and even flipping directions in an instant. He tricked Iguodala a few times on LeBron pick-and-rolls; Iguodala lunged one way, thinking Mozgov’s screen was going to send James in that direction, and fell hopelessly behind when Mozgov set that sucker the other way.

Reminder: Mozgov is under contract for just $4.95 million next season. Cavs GM David Griffin did a sensational job rebuilding this team on the fly during the season.

• I’m always impressed at how quickly teams edit highlights into the pregame montage to pump up the crowd before the introduction of the starting lineups. Tonight’s was filled with clips from Game 3, but the Cavs wisely kept LeBron’s screaming touchdown spike from Game 2 in the anchor spot.

• Speaking of anchor spots: Hurrah for LeBron relishing his place at the end of Cleveland’s lineup introductions. The man gets theater. He waits for the announcer to call his name, rises slowly from his chair, and jogs out — alone, owning the moment.

On to Game 5 …

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