Three reasons why the Cavaliers downed the Warriors in Game 5
With the team’s backs up against the figurative wall, the Cleveland Cavaliers relied on their top-heavy pair of superstars to keep the 2016 NBA Finals flowing, taking Game 5 in Oakland by a 112-97 score.
Golden State Warriors All-Star Draymond Green did miss the contest due to suspension, but that should hardly detract from the ways in which Cleveland swooped in to extend its season.
Here are three reasons why the Cavs earned the right to play another (Thurs)day.
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LeBron James
The Golden State Warriors are committed to ducking under screens and forcing LBJ to take jumpers, and for good reason. James has worked through an off year on the perimeter, and at some point during last autumn he clearly lost faith in both his spot-up and step-back jumper.
It came back on Monday night. Not the jumper, because that’s always been in him, but the faith. LeBron wanted to shoot in Cleveland’s Game 5 win. He wanted to take long shots from his tippy-toes and keep Golden State’s defense – which started with LeBron-killer Andre Iguodala in the opening lineup – on edge. On a night that saw the Cavaliers acting rather cavalier in its insistence on wearing the sleeved uniforms they once appeared to hate, it seemed fitting. The Cavs had fallen flat in eight of its nine previously scheduled nationally televised appearances against the Warriors, so why not go out on a trifle?
Or, “go in.” James hit 16-30 from the floor and hit four of his eight three-pointers. LeBron topped four three-pointers in a game just once during the regular season, and he’d hit just five bombs in the series prior to Game 5, but that hardly mattered – the Cavs’ franchise player appeared bent on playing the game as he saw it, regardless of percentages.
Working mostly with a small lineup, James barely sat until garbage time and added 16 rebounds (12 of them on the defensive end, all of which were badly needed) and seven assists. He compiled three steals and three blocks and looked all the part of a game-changing superstar.
Kyrie Irving
When you shorten the rotation and toss out an All-Star that makes an MVP look like a mere All-Star, and that All-Star responds with an MVP performance? You’ve got yourself a game changer.
Irving didn’t disrupt the flow as much as his Hall of Fame teammate did. He wasn’t a killer defensively and he didn’t end possessions with a rebound. Comparing a performance of his caliber to that of LeBron’s is a bit unfair, but this is why Irving happily accepted the title of Cleveland’s second-in-command back in 2014. He’s always had the ability to do this, even if eyes weren’t looking elsewhere.
LeBron’s looming presence wasn’t the reason Irving went off for 41 points. It wasn’t the reason he nailed 17 of 24 shots taken and it wasn’t the reason he played freely and easily in what could have been the last game of his season. The same handle and footwork that has suited him for years – deft in-and-out dribbles, proper application of his rear end, and the ability to square ones shoulders even when it isn’t easy – came through in spades in the most important game in Cleveland Cavalier franchise history.
Golden State Got Rim
By halftime, the Warriors looked as if they’d make history again. Not only was the game tied after the defending champs seemed as if they’d taken Cleveland’s biggest and most desperate hit, but Golden State had hit 10 three-pointers. Klay Thompson notched 26 points in 22 minutes, and everything seemed to be falling.
This was before shots started to fall short of the rim, or to the back of the rim, or to the left side of the rim, or to the back of the rim, or …
Golden State missed 18 of 21 three-pointers in the second half of Game 5. The Warriors shot 14-42 from three-point range in Game 5, making exactly a third of its looks. That wouldn’t usually act as the end of the world for the team had it not been gifted with a series of wide open views as various W’s failed to capitalize. Free agent to-be Harrison Barnes will be the most hated man in his particular area code for the next few days, as he missed five of six from long range, while Andre Iguodala missed three of four and Stephen Curry hit for a pedestrian (for him) 5-14 from behind the arc.
These weren’t forced looks, nor were the Cavaliers closing out expertly on the Warriors as they lined up. Golden State just missed shots, and though this team can usually survive an off night from behind the three-point line with its usual offensive brilliance, this wasn’t an instance of such.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
