CLEVELAND: Seemingly minutes after a blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors left the Cavaliers trailing 2-0 in the NBA Finals, everyone in America knew what coach Tyronn Lue should do.
On SportsCenter, former Cavs center Brad Daugherty verbally filled out his lineup card for Wednesday’s Game 3 at Quicken Loans Arena. Daugherty went big with Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, LeBron James, Matthew Dellavedova at point guard and Kyrie Irving at shooting guard replacing the struggling J.R. Smith.
When ESPN’s Brian Windhorst stepped off his flight from Oakland to Cleveland and turned on his cellphone, he said it had blown up with unsolicited texts from league sources, all with suggestions for Lue.
If Lue had been as sensitive as former Indians manager Mike Hargrove, he would have walked to the backstop ... er, bench, and screamed at the hecklers. Or, like Hargrove, called into a sports talk radio station.
During the two days off between games, criticism of how Lue was handling the series was out of control. Some suggested the Cavs would be better off with the fired David Blatt, forgetting that Lue was Blatt’s defensive coordinator as the injury-ravaged Cavs took the Warriors to six games in the 2015 Finals.
During the pre-Game 3 news conference, a Bay Area media member remarked that Lue was not nearly as engaging as Blatt, forgetting that Lue has been a coach since Jan. 22, while Blatt had been in charge for more than two decades, including a high-pressure job with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
But in Game 3, Lue proved his worth as a master psychologist as the left-for-dead Cavs ran off with a 120-90 victory in Quicken Loans Arena. The Warriors take a 2-1 lead into Friday’s Game 4 in Cleveland.
Lue turned Irving from an indecisive dribbler into an attacking offensive force. Irving scored 16 points in the first quarter after managing just 10 in Game 2 and finished with 30.
Lue got a lethargic and passionless team to come out of the locker room with intensity unmatched in this year’s playoffs. The Cavs hit 10 of their first 15 field goals and jumped out to a 20-point first-quarter lead, an onslaught more befitting the defending champion Warriors.
With Kevin Love sidelined with a concussion, Lue chose Richard Jefferson to start in his place instead of going big. Among other things, Lue liked Jefferson’s 12-point, five-rebound effort Game 2, along with his physicality and ability to move without the ball.
Lue also found a way to awaken semi-sleeping giant LeBron James. After team introductions, James screamed as he ripped off his warmup jacket, then hit his first four shots for eight first-quarter points. After he went into a 1-of-10 lull in the second quarter, James pumped in 13 points in the third and finished with 32, along with 11 rebounds and six assists.
Lue also found a way to ignite Smith, held to eight points in the previous two games. Smith finished with 20 points, even without a half-court bomb that went in one tick too late to end the first half.
As they improved to 8-0 at home in the playoffs, the Cavs will likely credit the frenzied fans for giving them the energy they needed on offense and defense. To fix all the issues in the first two games, Lue certainly had help from his experienced staff.
But before the game it seemed fair to wonder that if the contract the Cavs offered Lue in January was still sitting on his desk unsigned, he’d better scribble his name to it before tip.
Lue likely wants to bet on himself that he’s worth more, but the possibility loomed that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert might look for a scapegoat if his massive payroll produced no victories in the Finals.
Instead, Lue showed as much swagger as his team in Game 3.
Asked before the game if he’d paid attention to the second-guessing going on since Sunday night, Lue said, “No, I don’t care.” Then after a pause he added, “They should be coaches.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.