One of them is a four-time MVP and one of the best players to ever lace up a pair of basketball shoes. The other is an undrafted reserve from a far-off land who has never averaged more than five points per game.
Every Batman needs a Robin if he is to win the NBA championship. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippin, Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and Magic Johnson had Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
LeBron James has … Matthew Dellavedova?
You would be forgiven if you’d never heard of Dellavedova before the NBA Playoffs. But the Australian point guard has become arguably the Cleveland Cavaliers’ most important player not named LeBron as they sit on a surprise 2-1 series lead against the Golden State Warriors, the overwhelming title-favourites.
James’s 123 points is the most any player has scored over the first three games of a Finals series. He is averaging an astounding 41 points per game – rather good for a player not primarily known for his scoring ability.
He’s had to. He is the only healthy member of Cleveland’s ‘Big Three’ after All-Stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were ruled out of the Finals with injury. When Irving joined Love on the sidelines for good, the Cavs’ title hopes went with him. Or so we all thought.
Enter Dellavedova.
The man they call ‘Delly’ contributed precisely 4.8 points per game to the Cavs offence in the regular season. He earned a reputation as a scrappy, borderline-dirty defender; another Aussie who has no problem physically imposing himself on the game.
In game one, towards the end of which Irving suffered his playoff-ending injury, Dellavedova played just nine minutes and didn’t take a single shot.
In game two, with Irving out, Dellavedova chipped in nine points on 3-10 from the field. His defence on 2015 MVP Stephen Curry was one of the chief reasons Curry went 5-23 from the field and 2-15 from the arc for just 19 points.With 10 seconds to go in overtime, he grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and sank two pressure free throws to give the Cavs the lead.
Then in game three, he exploded for a career-high 20 points, while still spending an inordinate amount of energy denying Curry the ball. He banked in an and-one to put the Cavs up by four in the final two minutes. After the game, a 96-91 Cavs win, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Dellavedova was suffering from cramp and had been put on an IV.
An unlikely hero indeed, Dellavedova doesn’t fit the mould of key playoff contributor. Stocky, slow and scruffy, he doesn’t even look much like a basketball player. Team employees apparently agree – after game one, the team bus left without him.
Yet it was his name, not James’s, chanted by the Cleveland crowd as their team sealed game three.
That’s because Dellavedova plays the way we like to think we would if we were given a roster spot. NBA superstars glide across the court, often posturing after made baskets and occasionally failing to rush back on defence after misses. Dellavedova is in constant, herky-jerky motion, his bearded face in a state of perpetual grimace.
If James is a Ferrari in cruise control, Dellavedova is a 2001 Toyota Yaris struggling to get uphill with the accelerator pushed to the floor.
“Effort emanates from Dellavedova like stench lines off a cartoon character,” wrote Washington Post reporter Adam Kilgore.
“He’s not good enough to try hard without you feeling every strain. The game comes to Irving. Dellavedova bangs on the game’s door, demanding to be let in, and when he’s not he throws a rock through a side window instead.”
James is averaging 12 rebounds and 8.3 assists to go with his 40 points per game. He will continue to get most of the headlines, and rightly so, as he puts together a historically great Finals series.
But with each passing game, the importance of Dellavedova – who leads all Cavaliers with a defensive rating of 92.8 – to the series becomes less a cute narrative and more a cold, hard fact.
Three pointers
1. We don't know if half of the little running shots that Dellavedova is making in the paint are really attempted lob passes. We're not sure if he knows, either.
2. We also have no idea why Cavaliers' forward Mike Miller is wearing a LeBron James warm-up shirt on the bench in the Finals, but we do know it's a little bit creepy.
3. Co-commentator and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said after a bad shot by Stephen Curry: "If you make shots like that ... listen ... you're gonna win." JVG is the best.
