Puskas: It’s time for J.R. Smith to show up

Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are watching the NBA Finals instead of playing, so the naysayers are comparing these Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 version.

You remember those guys — LeBron James and a bunch of spare parts who had exactly zero chance to beat the San Antonio Spurs even once.

And as it turned out, those Cavaliers didn’t exceed those limited expectations at all. San Antonio — perhaps at its peak then — swept Cleveland.

These aren’t those Cavaliers, despite Love (shoulder) and Irving (kneecap) being done for the postseason.

The remaining Cavaliers — again carried by James — have already done what many observers said they couldn’t. They’ve played Golden State to a 2-2 tie four game into the NBA Finals and despite a 103-82 loss in Game 4, they pushed the deeper and collectively more talented Warriors.

But it’s now a best-of-three series, with a pivotal Game 5 tonight in Oakland, Calif., and momentum is with Golden State.

The Warriors finally adjusted to what Cleveland did in the first three games, when the Cavaliers slowed the pace and played an ugly, but effective brand of basketball.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr did two things in Game 4 that helped swing the momentum. He doubled up on James, largely conceding the paint to Timofey Mozgov, and tweaked his lineup so the Warriors could play at their pace.

And it worked, helped immeasurably by the fact that no Cleveland player aside from Mozgov played well offensively.

Cavaliers coach David Blatt is at a decided disadvantage. Love and Irving are gone and the trust he has in his reserves wanes the farther down the bench he looks. Mike Miller and Shawn Marion couldn’t get into Game 4 Thursday night, which left a tired team going just seven deep. The Cavaliers twice cut a double-digit deficit to three points in the third quarter, but had nothing left for the final 12 minutes.

That shouldn’t be a problem tonight after two days of rest. The bigger issue is that the players Blatt does seem to have faith in — particularly J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert — have struggled, especially offensively.

The biggest adjustment the Cavaliers must make? Shoot and score. They need production beyond James and Mozgov.

Shumpert is playing hurt and his biggest contributions — even healthy — come on defense. That leaves Smith who is the biggest disappointment of the NBA Finals to this point.

Smith has been a sort of Vinny “The Microwave” Johnson — providing instant offense and stretching the floor at times this season. But that Smith has yet to appear in the NBA Finals, which has left James to do almost everything.

James is plenty capable of another 40-12-10 game, but these Cavaliers need more if they’re going to finish the job and make history.

They need J.R. Smith to show up tonight.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.