Cavaliers’ bench struggled to match Warriors’ small ball

9:15 AM ET

OAKLAND, Calif. -– Channing Frye’s Cinderella ride through the 2016 postseason turned pumpkin-like after just seven measly minutes of playing time Thursday in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 104-89 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

A linchpin on coach Tyronn Lue’s secret-weapon lineup –- one also featuring LeBron James, Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shwumpert and Richard Jefferson -– was Frye, who spaced the floor and connected from long range for a unit that averaged an obscene 133 points per 100 possessions in 70 minutes played together against Detroit, Atlanta and Toronto.

Yet the lineup, which didn’t play a single second together during the regular season, played just one minute in Game 1, as Lue felt uncomfortable with how it would perform against Golden State’s micro five of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green.

“I thought the matchup was kind of hard,” Lue explained Friday. “When we went from Channing and LeBron in that 4 and 5 lineup, they went small. But Channing’s a big part of what we do, so I have to find a way to keep him on the floor.”

Channing Frye was a floor-spacing deep threat during the Cavs’ run through the East but missed his only field goal try and finished Game 1 with just two points, on free throws. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Frye, averaging 8.1 points on 61.2 percent shooting during the playoffs, scored just two points in the opener on two free throws, finishing 0-for-1 from the field after missing his lone 3-point attempt.

His nosedive in production …

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