At first glance, allowing LeBron James to pop off for 44 points was a misstep. A giant misstep, even.
But for the Golden State Warriors, James's output was an indication that their defense was a success, rather than a failure.
Just ask Harrison Barnes, who spent most of the game checking LeBron before Andre Iguodala took over in the second half.
"You've got to look at it and say, 'Look, this is what we wanted to do,'" Barnes told Sam Amick of USA Today. "We iced out most of his teammates. Obviously (Kyrie Irving) got some things going, but (James) is going to have to have big offensive nights for them. If he beats us doing that, and the other guys don't get going, we'll live with that. But chances are, I think we'll be all right."
Warriors center Andrew Bogut echoed Barnes's sentiments.
"He made a lot of tough jumpers, contested," Bogut said of LeBron. "We'll live with him shooting a lot of shots and scoring 40, because we feel like the other guys are the key to them winning the series. I honestly don't think that LeBron wants to shoot 40 times, and I think our defense kind of predicated that a little bit."
The Warriors were certainly bold in their strategy to play James in single coverage. Golden State allowed James to operate in the post, sending only the occasional double-team when James got close to the basket. James bruised and battered his way to a game-high 44 points, but he wore down late in the game.
By playing James straight up, the Warriors were able to hold James to only six assists, while his teammates were mostly frozen out of the offense. The only exception was Irving, who mostly attacked off pick-and-roll action en route to a 23-point night before he re-aggravated his knee injury.
In all, the Cavaliers only had three players score in double-digits, with center Timofey Mozgov's 16 points rounding out the trio.
James shot 18-of-38 from the field with four turnovers. The 44 points were less than ideal, but Warriors will live with that result.
Even James himself admitted the need to improve.
"We all have to be better, including myself," James said. "I don't think I was great. I've got to do better things out on the floor to help us be more precise offensively … It's not about me. It's not about the next guy. It's about all of us."
However, the brutally honest truth might be that the Cavaliers just aren't good enough to overcome Golden State's tremendous talent advantage. With Irving and Kevin Love injured, the Cavaliers have little to counter the Warriors' depth. If that is the case, expect more of the same; more monstrous nights for James, more wins for the Warriors.
