Kobe says Cavs 'want it' more than Warriors; Perkins says LeBron 'smells blood'

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have shockingly stolen two of the first three games in their NBA Finals series by dictating the pace of play and slowing down a high-powered Golden State Warriors attack.

They've also had the benefit of watching Stephen Curry and the Warriors miss a bevy of open looks that they'd usually knock down.

If you ask Kobe Bryant, however, King James and Co. simply want it more.

"Golden State should win, but they can't play tentatively," Bryant told online Chinese media company Sina, who he's providing Finals coverage for.

"They can't play scared. You gotta play, you gotta step up and meet the challenge. And right now, Cleveland and LeBron, it seems like they want it a lot more. It seems like the game and this championship means a lot more to them," Bryant said.

"So if you're Golden State, you really have to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you step up to this challenge," the five-time champion added.

That's easier said than done, of course, when pitted against an all-time great in James who's dominating play at unprecedented levels, something Cavs teammate Kendrick Perkins has noted.

Between his ridiculous usage rate of 42.4 percent and his assist percentage of 44.6, 87 percent of Cavs' possessions in The Finals with James on the floor have ended with either a LeBron shot, free-throw attempt, assist, or turnover.

Throw in the fact that James is collecting 22.6 percent of available defensive rebounds and it's not hard to see how The King has had his fingerprints all over the pace of the series thus far.

- with h/t to CBS Sports