Kyle Korver torched the Indiana Pacers in Game 2. It is imperative to shut him down in Game 3 to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kyle Korver got loose for four different three-pointers in Game 2. If the Pacers want to win Game 3, that cannot happen.
Let’s do a quick math lesson. Hypothetically, let’s pretend the Pacers give up a wide-open dunk on every possession that Korver makes a three-pointer. If that happens, instead of Korver and the Cavs scoring 12 points, they would score just eight. Thus, the Pacers would have given up four fewer points over the course of the game.
Indiana lost by three.
That demonstrates the impact Korver’s threes have. They are high percentage looks and are worth more points, making it one of the best shots the Cavaliers could possibly get on any given possession. The Pacers need to stop him.
Korver got loose in game two on some very simple actions. The first one, pretty early in the game, was a simple pick and pop. I tweeted about it:
I get it. You're guarding LeBron and in real time it is really hard to leave him. But giving up literally any LeBron James shot is better than letting Korver get this look: pic.twitter.com/bAbPhpvTZH
— Tony East (@TonyREast) April 19, 2018
Like the tweet says, I know it is challenging at the moment to think about leaving LeBron James. But LeBron made 36.7 percent of his threes this season. Korver made 43.6 percent. At that moment, you would rather have a LeBron James wide-open three attempted than a Korver wide-open three. The Pacers need to communicate and switch on that screen to make sure Korver doesn’t get a look.
Speaking of communicating, check out this blunder in transition:
Darren Collison covers Korver for a second, but he lays off to stop the ball. In theory, he should have communicated with another player and had someone else stop the ball. In actuality, he should do anything except what he did, which was leaving Kyle Korver open (side note, credit Bojan for battling hard in the post with LeBron).
Kyle Korver’s second three could have been stopped too. How? By, you guessed it, communicating:
Once that pin-down screen happens in the corner, Lance Stephenson and Cory Joseph need to talk and switch the screen so Korver doesn’t get free. Remeber, literally anything is statistically better than letting Kyle Korver shoot a three.
Korver’s last three was off of a scramble from a Cavs offensive rebound, and it was really nobody’s fault:
Want to stop that one? Don’t let Cleveland get the offensive rebound.
Next: Thaddeus Young confident in himself and the Pacers
There are many things the Pacers can improve upon to increase their chances of winning game three. But finding a way to contain Korver should be high up on the priority list. Let’s hope McMillan has some tricks up his sleeves.