Cavs seek to equalize

OAKLAND, California – LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers know what’s being whispered – and sometimes shouted – at the NBA Finals.

The Cavaliers play in the Eastern Conference, they say. They haven’t been tested, they say. What happens when the adversity finally hits?

It came in Game 1, with the Golden State Warriors not even needing their two biggest stars while flattening the Cavaliers in the din of Oracle Arena. Now everyone wants to know how the Cavaliers will respond, how will they react after a body blow in Round 1 showed no indication that a fully healthy Cavaliers team was any more capable of defeating the mighty Warriors than the depleted unit that James dragged along with him for six games last year.

The Cavs cruised through the inferior Eastern Conference all season, the narrative goes, and now their reckoning is upon them. Game 2 is on Sunday in Oakland, and the Splash Brothers will be frothing at the mouth after a tepid Game 1. It’s up to the Cavaliers to show they belong on the same court with the defending champions.

“We’re not a team that loses our composure over anything,” James said.

In reality, the Cavaliers have been tested like few others. Such is life on Planet LeBron, the most scrutinized, most followed, most nit-picked athlete in America. His gravitational pull draws in fans, teammates and anybody with a notebook, a microphone or a blog, for better and worse.

“It was funny because people were talking about not having been through adversity, and, I mean, we’ve been through adversity all season,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “And I thought our guys did a great job of just coming together and understanding we have one common goal to start the season, and throughout that we had a lot of bumps in the road and a lot of things that happened.”

No adversity? How about firing a coach who led them to the NBA Finals a year ago and got them off to a 30-11 start to this season?

How about James raising eyebrows with his cryptic tweets, public challenging of teammates and midseason refreshes in South Beach?

How about Kevin Love trying to find his way in an offense dominated by James and Kyrie Irving?

Sure, they won their first 10 games of the playoffs. Sure, the Raptors were never truly a threat to them in the East finals, even after tying the series 2-2. Sure, the Eastern Conference remains far less challenging on a night-to-night basis than the West.