When the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injuries last year in the playoffs, many thought that was horrible news for the team and likely spelled the end of their championship hopes. Apparently some with the the Golden Warriors felt differently.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote a piece earlier this week on the Cavs’ defense this year in the playoffs. He pointed out that the Raptors were having success targeting Irving and Love in pick-and-roll. He says the Warriors knew about this weakness with the Cavs and were “quietly fretting” about their injuries last year.
Opponents know this stuff. They are putting Irving and Love into twice as many pick-and-rolls each game as they averaged in the regular-season, a massive jump out of proportion to the slight uptick in minutes the two are playing together. These are the sort of numbers that had members of the Golden State Warriors’ coaching staff quietly fretting when both Love and Irving missed last year’s NBA Finals, forcing the Cavs to play superior defenders in their place.
The Cavs do have other options who are tough on defense such as Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson, but that’s besides the point. The point is that most of the outside world views the losses of players like Irving and Love as problematic, while those in the know do not.
One thing to note, though, is that even if Love and Irving have defensive weaknesses, they are strong offensive players, which in some instances can balance out their shortcomings or even make up for them.
