How the Cavaliers and Warriors can beat each other on Christmas Day

Cavaliers’ keys to beating the Warriors:

Crowd the paint and crash the boards – After the Warriors gave up Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli to free up cap space to acquire Kevin Durant, many assumed teams would try to expose their lack of size in the paint. The Cavaliers are perfectly primed to do so, with Tristan Thompson averaging almost 4 offensive rebounds per game. When Zaza Pachulia is in for the Warriors, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving should look to attack the basket. If the Cavs can use the Warriors lack of size to their advantage, they can inch closer to a win on Christmas Day.

Get the role players going– The Cavaliers bench is going to be huge against the Warriors. Iman Shumpert is going to have to continue his brilliance, shooting 42% from three, and he is going to have to make his jumpshots. Channing Frye has been great this year, averaging 10 points and shooting 45% from three. Frye is a bit of a liability on the defensive end, but he can make up for it on offense. With JR Smith out, Shumpert, Frye, Jefferson, Dunleavy, and Liggins are going to have to make up for the loss of his offensive threat.

Make Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant work on the defensive end – This one is extremely obvious, but extremely important. We can assume that Stephen Curry will either guard Kyrie Irving, or be switched onto him. Irving must make Curry work on defense in hope that he will be a but tired on the offensive end. Same thing for Kevin Durant, who will be guarding LeBron James. James needs to make Durant work on defense. These two matchups of Irving-Curry and Durant-James will keep many viewers on the edge of their seats.

Others have to make shots– We can expect that the Cavaliers’ defense will be focused on stopping Durant, Curry, and Klay from scoring. This means that others are going to have to step up. Draymond is going to have to pick up his scoring, as he is shooting 32% from three and averaging only 10 points. Javale McGee is going to have to active in the paint, and Ian Clark has to continue his impressive shooting this season. The Warriors bench will have to step up to give their stars a much needed boost.

Make LeBron James work hard on the defensive end – Another obvious one, yet very important. In the 2016 Finals, LeBron James was either guarding Draymond Green or Harrison Barnes. Neither are near the caliber of Kevin Durant. James was able to stay active on offense in the Finals because of the lack of needed effort of defense from him. With Durant on the Warriors, they have to make James work hard on defense, in hope that he may not be as productive on offense.

Guard the Cavaliers three point shot – The Cavaliers are shooting the three-ball the second best in the league, behind only the Rockets. They are averaging almost 14 threes per game, and much of their offense runs through shooting threes. For the Warriors, it’s simple: stop the Cavaliers’ three ball = win the game. That is easier said than done though. It will be an extremely exciting Christmas Day for NBA fans.