The numbers behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving’s historic Game 5

Cleveland’s LeBron James and Kyrie Irving became the first teammates ever to each score 40-plus points in an NBA Finals game with an historic performance in their Cavaliers’ 112-97 do-or-die Game 5 victory against the Warriors in Golden State, but that doesn’t begin to explain just how impressive they were.

While we understand numbers cannot replace the experience of watching greatness unfold on the court, maybe they’ll help us appreciate their Game 5 effort even more. Statistics often lie, but in this case, they can uncover a bit more of the whole truth, which in essence is that they were beyond brilliant. And if that wasn’t clear enough watching the game, these stats should drive that point home like this LeBron dunk:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other players have ever scored 40 points in victory when facing NBA Finals elimination: Elgin Baylor (1963 and 1966) and Wilt Chamberlain (1970). Then, 36 years passed before both James and Irving did it in the same game. Oh, don’t worry, we’re just getting started.

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Of course, James and Irving didn’t just score 82 points (41 apiece) — on 70.2 percent true shooting, I might add — they also combined for 19 rebounds, 13 assists, five steals and four blocks. More clearly:

• James (42:38): 41 PTS (16-30 FG, 4-8 3P, 5-8 FT), 16 REB (4 OREB), 7 AST (2 TO), 3 STL, 3 BLK
• Irving (39:47): 41 PTS (17-24 FG, 5-7 3P, 2-2 FT), 6 AST (4 TO), 3 REB, 2 STL, 1 BLK
• TOTAL (82:25): 82 PTS (33-54 FG, 9-15 3P, 7-10 FT), 19 REB (4 OREB), 13 AST (6 TO), 5 STL, 4 BLK

According to Basketball Reference’s statistical database, which goes back to the 1983-84 NBA season, a player had collected 41 points and six assists in an NBA Finals game on six occasions entering Game 5. Michael Jordan did so thrice, LeBron in 2015, Isiah Thomas and Allen Iverson. That’s it. Irving joined that list on Monday night, and so did LeBron. Again. They now make up 40 percent of that 41 and six club.

Entering Monday’s game, 7-foot-1, 325-pound Shaquille O’Neal was the only player since 1983-84 to total 40 points and 15 rebounds in an NBA Finals game. He did so three times. LeBron just joined him.

Except, James also collected seven assists, making him the only player to put up a 41-16-7 — not just in the Finals, but in any playoff game since 1984. Including the regular season, only two guys had submitted that 41-16-7 line along with three steals and three blocks since 1984: 7-footers Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson, both in March. LeBron did it with the season on the line, down 3-1 in the Finals, on the road, against a top-five defense for a team that’s won more games in a season than any other in history.

Still not impressed?

Six of James and Irving’s combined 13 assists were to each other, all on 3’s, for a total of 18 points. Their seven assists to players not named LeBron or Kyrie led to 15 more points. In other words, the Cleveland duo either scored or assisted on 97 of the Cavs’ 112 points. Reminder: The Warriors totaled 97 points.

An unassisted driving Iman Shumpert layup with 5:27 remaining in the second quarter marked the last field goal neither James nor Irving were directly involved in. Golden State led 49-48 at that point. That’s right: LeBron and Kyrie either scored or assisted on Cleveland’s last 25 field goals (the last six of the first half and all 19 in the second half), as the Cavaliers outscored the Warriors 64-48 over the final 30:33.

The only points Cleveland registered in the second half that weren’t either scored or assisted by James and Irving came on Tristan Thompson’s 4-of-6 free-throw shooting — 1-for-2 when he was fouled on an alley-oop feed from (who else but) James and 3-of-4 on a pair of Leandro Barbosa Hack-A-Thompsons.

The last of Thompson’s four free throws came with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter, so LeBron and Kyrie either scored or assisted Cleveland’s final 21 points, including all 19 in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers outscored the Warriors 21-15 during that stretch, cutting the series lead to 3-2 in the process.

Just for fun — and because it’s easier than showing the 40 of Cleveland’s 44 field goals that LeBron and Irving contributed to — here are all the points that the Cavaliers manufactured without their two stars:

FIRST QUARTER

• 6:54: A J.R. Smith driving layup (and one).
• 2:36: Two Smith free throws resulting from a loose-ball steal with the Cavs in the bonus.

SECOND QUARTER

• 11:45: A Richard Jefferson cutting dunk on an assist from Smith (one of Cleveland’s two other assists).
• 11:17: A driving Jefferson layup through traffic.
• 5:27: Shumpert’s driving layup through atrocious Golden State defense.

THIRD QUARTER

• 6:29: Thompson’s 1-of-2 free throws after a McAdoo foul nullified LeBron’s alley-oop assist attempt.
• 3:48: Thompson’s 1-of-2 free throws on a Barbosa intenional foul.
• 2:28: Thompson 2-of-2 free throws on another Barbosa intentional foul.

That’s it. That’s the extent of Cleveland’s impact outside of James and Irving. Four shots, 15 points.

And as much as anyone without a rooting interest in Golden State would like to see all that happen again to force a Game 7 — just because it was a heck of a show — it’s hard to imagine the dynamic Cavaliers duo recreating that magic, if only because nobody had in the history of basketball before Monday night.

And also because Draymond Green returns for the Warriors in Game 6, and he makes a big difference.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach