Can Cavs make adjustments they need with a short rotation?

CLEVELAND — David Blatt, your turn.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr made the right adjustments in Game 4 – a 103-82 Warriors victory on Thursday to even the NBA Finals at 2-2 – going to a small starting lineup with Andre Iguodala replacing Andrew Bogut.

"They had to make an adjustment, obviously, because the games, all three of them, were going our way," Blatt said. "We had won two of them and they made a decision to go the way that they went."

As is the case in so many series, especially in the Finals, story lines change from game to game. The narrative rarely remains static, and Golden State altered the path of the Finals.

Before Game 4, the Warriors were outplayed, outhustled and outcoached by the Cavs. Headed into Game 5 on Sunday, the Cavaliers are exhausted mentally and physically and can't match Golden State's depth or versatility.

Now Blatt and his coaching staff must make the right adjustments and the short Cavaliers rotation must execute that game plan if they are going to win the championship.

"We can make adjustments," James said. "That's what you do throughout a series. We'll get to the film and make the necessary adjustments coming into Game 5."

But here's Cleveland's quandary: With a seven-man rotation, what kind of adjustments can they make other than matching Golden State's small lineup with a small lineup?

The Cavaliers are fatigued, mentally and physically, and it truly showed for the first time in the series in Game 4. Blatt admitted that.

"(Thursday) was the third game in five days, including the trip back from the West Coast, and it seemed to have an impact on us, yes," he said.

That mental and physical fatigued revealed itself in many ways. That all-over-the-floor hustle wasn't there. They had trouble getting back on defense. They shot 33% from the field, including 4-for-27 (14.8%) on three-pointers.

For the first time in the Finals, James didn't attempt at least 30 shots and he didn't score least 30 points. He took 22 shots and made seven. It was his least productive game of the series with 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. He's human after all.

"The fact that we didn't make shots from outside, that really had an impact on his ability to find seams and to score the ball," Blatt said.

After the game, James needed stitches to close a gash on his head, an injury he sustained after crashing into a camera on the baseline when Andrew Bogut fouled him.

"I got a little slight headache right now, but I'll be fine with that," said James, who also added that he did not go through the NBA's concussion protocol.

Iguodala played strong defense on James, and Golden State sent more double-teams at James, forcing him to pass the ball. His teammates were unable to knock down three-pointers, and Cleveland's best offense came from Timofey Mozgov who scored career-high 28 points. But Golden State will live with that instead of three-pointers.

"Coach Kerr did a great job of mixing the lineup up," James said. "They have so many different interchangeable players where he can kind of decide how he wants to go with his lineups in that nature, and to start (Iguodala) gave them that boost."

J.R. Smith was 2-for-12 from the field, missed all eight three-pointers he attempted and the Cavs were outscored by 25 points with Smith on the floor. Iman Shumpert was 1-for-5 on threes. Matthew Dellavedova, the unsung hero filling in for injured Kyrie Irving, spent the night in the hospital for cramps and dehydration after Game 3 and wasn't the same. And he took too many shots (14) and made too few (three).

"We couldn't make any shots from the outside, but we'll take those looks again," James said. "Those guys, my guys did a great job just stepping into them, trying to make them being confident about them. But when you go 4‑for‑27 from the three‑point line, there's not much success offensively."

If Golden State is going to double James more often, Smith, Shumpert, Dellavedova and James Jones need to hit threes.

Cleveland will travel to San Francisco later Friday and have two full days and a good portion of Sunday to rest. But the questions that simmered during the first three games about Cleveland's ability to sustain that level of play without Irving and the also-injured Kevin Love will be a major storyline until Game 5.

James has said multiple times Cleveland is undermanned, and maybe those injuries are finally catching up with the Cavs.

Every time the sustainability issue has been raised with James, he says there's only so many games left, everyone has to give as much as they can and there will be plenty of time to rest. It just might be getting more and more difficult for the Cavs to give as much as they can, but James stuck to the script.

"It's three games left possibly," James said. "You just go out and play. You know you go out, you play hard. Coaching staff gives you a great game plan, you go out and execute it and live with the results at the end of the day. That's all you can ask.

"It's the biggest stage in the world, but I don't put too much added pressure on myself about basketball. It's just – that's all it is. It's just basketball."

The Cavaliers left the building disappointed in the loss but not in panic mode. After three games – two they won and one they had a chance to win in regulation – they were bound to have a clunker, especially when their margin for error is so slim.

With the series at 2-2, James doesn't even view this as the biggest challenge of his career.

"Biggest challenge of my career was being down 3‑2 going into Boston (in 2012)," James said. "That's probably the biggest challenge of my career. Game 5 at Golden State is not that big when it comes to going to Boston and you lose multiple times in that arena, and the franchise that I was with at the time had never won a playoff game in Boston. Now that's pretty challenging.

"So I've been through a little bit in my pretty cool career."