NBA Finals: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving Roar Back, Cavs Win Game 5
Kyrie Irving was not going to let the Cleveland Cavaliers go gentle into that good night. Down 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors, the Cavs had to expect that LeBron James would show up, but to beat the Warriors in Oakland – even without Draymond Green – they were going to need more than that, and Irving came with the rage. In the 112-97 win, James and Irving each notched 41 points, the first two teammates to score more than 40 in a Finals game.
And Green, the snarling wolverine heart of the Warriors, could only watch from a suite next door at O.co Coliseum, automatically suspended for Game 5 after collecting his fourth flagrant foul of the postseason when officials reviewed his impromptu hernia test of James after the two went to the floor and James stepped over him in Game 4. Of course, being a folk hero in the Bay Area, Green drew a huge crowd just for going to the bathroom during the A’s game.
Draymond Green got a standing ovation for successfully using the restroom
(Via @DeMarcusRFNET)
pic.twitter.com/fLl9Qts8T0— Dime Magazine (@DimeMag) June 14, 2016
Meanwhile at Oracle, the first half was just about the best half of basketball we’ve seen in these Finals. Although it perhaps involves more than its fair share of flailing arms and legs, Green’s game isn’t particularly ugly on the surface. Compared to instigators past, like Bruce Bowen and Dennis Rodman, Green’s play actually has a workman-like beauty: The hundreds of little things he does over the course of a game from helping and recovering on defense to being the fulcrum the ball moves through on the arc on offense to clawing his way into a key rebound have a way of disappearing unless you’re watching only for them.
Without him, the Warriors were mostly just as fluid and crisp on offense in that first half, but they missed Green’s defense horribly. It made you appreciate just how much Golden State’s unreal offense relies upon an almost equally unreal defense, and in turn how much that unreal defense relies specifically on Green. As such, this was high scoring basketball, and kind of beautifully symmetrical – a 32-29 first quarter in favor of the Warriors gave way to a 32-29 second quarter by the Cavaliers and a 61-61 tie at the half.
It felt like Golden State should have been up by more at the end of the first, honestly. The emotion of the crowd was on their side and the Cavaliers weren’t getting the ball moving around the floor, which was a troubling sign for them based on their last loss in Cleveland. James had 12 points, Irving had seven and J.R. Smith had 10 – no other Cavs player had any. Curry led the way with 10 for the Warriors and Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson had eight apiece, but they shot just 42.3% from the field and 38.5% from deep while allowing Cleveland to shoot 52.6% and 57.1%, respectively. The Cavs’ big problem was turnovers – they had eight in that quarter alone and shot just 55.6% from the line.