Kyrie Irving and LeBron James both score 41 points
Missing Draymond Green thanks to a one-game suspension, the Golden State Warriors were denied – for now, at least – their second NBA championship in as many years, as the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped back from the brink of elimination to force a Game 6 with a 112-97 victory on Monday night.
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| Kyrie Irving was in superb form on Monday night at Oracle Arena. |
A fiery, raucous crowd at Oracle Arena witnessed a substandard shooting performance from the home team and a lights-out night from the Cavs tandem of Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. The loss of Green to suspension cleared the paint for dribble penetration from Irving and when he sat back to take a mid-range jumper, he looked as though he could not miss. Both James and Irving finished with 41 points. James also added seven assists, three steals, and three blocks to his stat line.
All Warrior fans could muster was a “Free Draymond” chant or two (and some more unsavory chants directed at King James that included a word that starts with a B and ends with an Itch) as the clock wound down.
In Green’s place, Warriors coach Steve Kerr called on super-sub Andre Iguodala to start at power forward. His final stat line was satisfactory (15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals), though at times, Iguodala appeared out of sorts with the first team. An early first quarter possession was botched by a wayward behind-the-back pass, which set the tone for the rest of Golden State’s night. A team already prone to would-be highlight passes and careless basketball coughed up 17 turnovers, resulting in 18 points for the Cavs.
Cleveland, visibly motivated by the war of words that took place since Game 4, feasted on these errors. Cleveland’s lack of depth ended up not mattering, as James and Irving took the bulk of their team’s shots. No other player on the Cavaliers took more than nine shots in the entire game, a staggering number for a victorious team. Kevin Love, so much a focus of Game 4’s story, was nearly invisible, earning a measly two points on one-of-five shooting. It did not matter in the slightest. James and Irving were determined to leave their mark on this series and send the series back to Cleveland.
“I’m thankful, but at the same time we wouldn’t be in any position without both of us putting on a performance like this,” Irving said. “Our guys coming in and just trusting our leadership and doing it for four quarters — that’s what it’s about.”
It’s not ideal basketball to play that much isolation, but when the shots keep dropping, it’s perfectly understandable. Cleveland shot 53.7% from the field and the Warriors had few responses. When it became clear that traditional defense stops would not come frequently enough without Green in the lineup, the Warriors shifted to the dreaded Hack-a-Tristan in the third quarter, clocking Thompson with a personal foul at the start of every Cleveland possession. Coach Kerr’s gambit kept the deficit under 10 points, but Golden State could not chip away at the Cleveland lead because they simply could not make shots when they needed them most. The Warriors’ defensive troubles were exacerbated when center Andrew Bogut was forced to come out in the third after a grisly looking knee injury. That left Golden State missing two major parts of their frontcourt and no way to stop the Cleveland interior attack.
Arguably the greatest shooting team in NBA history finished the evening 36.4% from the field and 33.3% from three. Even when they did drop, the Cavaliers would return the favor. With three-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter, Iguodala made his only three-pointer of the contest and cut the lead to 86-80, putting the Dubs in striking distance. James would bury his own three on the other side of the court, preventing Golden State from going on one of their patented late-game runs. On defense, James marked Iguodala for most of the game, giving him plenty of space off the ball and acting as a help man on drives to the hoop. Even with plenty of good looks from the perimeter, Iguodala drew iron at key moments – his confidence shaken.
The fourth quarter remained manageable, up to a point, as the Warriors’ shooting woes got even more painful. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 62 of the Warriors’ 97 points, but both Splash Brothers lost their touch when it mattered most. Even more troubling for the Warriors was Thompson’s plus/minus of -21 and the lack of production from anyone else. The Warriors will have Green available for Game 6, which they must hope will open things up offensively and offer some respite on defense. The Cavs face yet another must-win game on their home court and Golden State will hope they get Bogut back. With Cleveland’s anemic supporting cast becoming ever more irrelevant to this series, the question that must be answered is whether or not LeBron and Kyrie can carry 11 other men toward an achievement no one in history has accomplished – overcoming a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA finals.
guardian
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