OAKLAND — The Warriors were run over by a train in Game 5 and no circumstance was going to save them.
Blame Draymond Green’s suspension for the Warriors’ 112-97 loss, if you must. Blame a 3/21 shooting clip from three-point territory in the second half — maybe that’s more realistic. The bench surely did not show up, scoring just 15 points on 5/20 shooting. Steve Kerr tried a multitude of lineups, shuffling players in and out like the San Jose Sharks.
The fact of the matter is that LeBron James and Kyrie Irving turned in a pair of breathtaking performances that’ll live in the history books for decades, and the Warriors were the sacrificial lambs. King James and Uncle Drew each scored 41 points — arguably LeBron’s best playoff game since a Game 6, 45-pointer in 2012 against Boston, and without question the best game of Irving’s career.
Golden State’s demise on defense and an unnerving night behind the arc were repercussions from James and Irving. A week after being ridiculed for their isolation style of play, LeBron and Kyrie hammered the Warriors with it. It was an epic last stand with their season and livelihood’s on the line.
“You tip your hat to them,” Steph Curry said after scoring 25 points on an 8/21 shooting night.
“I mean, they shot 53 percent and scored 112 points,” Steve Kerr said. “So, yeah, defense was an issue for us.”
There was a surprise factor in this loss, no matter how talented James and Irving are. Before Monday’s championship-clinching affair, Kerr mentioned how dialed-in his Warriors were. Green’s suspension stirred emotions in a team that could normally be described as chill. Game 5 was in front of their home crowd for a chance at a second straight Larry O’Brien trophy, a cherry on the top of a larger-than-life season. What more motivating factors could you need?
It turns out, Oracle Arena’s relentless booing of LeBron was the proper adrenaline boost James needed to break through the Warriors’ defense. James played possessed from the opening whistle, claiming ownership of the paint, brashly dunking and sinking shots. Coming into Game 4, LeBron had hit just five threes all series; Monday he was 4/8 and unafraid to pull the trigger. It’s been years since James was this in control of a game. It was a nearly flawless performance.
“At this point, it’s whatever it takes. Obviously making shots and things of that nature are something that you sometimes really can’t control. Sometimes the ball go in; sometimes it don’t. How hard you play, how locked in you are on the keys to get a victory, what the coaching staff put out for us. But he was — obviously this guy was special, and we rode him to the victory line.”
James was shouting-out Irving at his press conference, who turned in a luxurious performance fit for the king of basketball — and frankly, an outing Warriors fans were exactly hoping for from Curry. The 24-year-old Irving went a blistering 17/24 from the floor and hit 5/7 of his threes. LeBron kept describing his wingman’s night as “calm.” And while it was a more under control Kyrie, it was also a calculated performance. The Cavs’ game plan coming in all along was let Irving and James beat Curry and Klay Thompson, and keep the role players out of the way. This was Tyronn Lue’s idea and his star players agreed with it.
“That’s how we’ve got to play,” Cleveland’s rookie head coach said. “That’s us.”
Facts are facts: Irving is shooting 49 percent and averaging 28.2 points per game in the Finals; Curry is shooting 42 percent, averaging 22.2 points per game and has just one signature performance to hang his hat on (Game 4). The two don’t guard each other much, but Irving’s been the more dynamic player on offense.
It’s hard to ask Thompson to do anything more than the 37 points he delivered. James and Irving were bracing for a second half brawl to the finish line, but Cleveland started pulling away in the third quarter. Curry’s flat shooting night sunk any chance for an epic ending. He’ll escape heat because there is two more games to redeem himself. The bottom line: James, Irving and Thompson balled out. Curry was just okay, and the Warriors lost by 15.
“Over the course of this series we’ve done a pretty good job of containing them and trying to force them into tough spots on the floor. Tonight they kind of overcame that,” Curry said. “Like Klay said, we like our chances going forward and continuing to just try to be us, the best we can, and get one more win.”
Three days after LeBron blamed the officiating for part of Cleveland’s demise in Game 4, Golden State was having none of that, despite what Curry’s wife Ayesha was Tweeting afterwards. Outside of noting they missed Draymond’s communication skills on defense, the Warriors really had no problem admitting they weren’t the better team in Game 5.
“Give them credit,” Kerr said. “They played a great game, and they earned it.”
Night’s like these are where Kerr’s genius can put things into perspective for the Warriors. Each win is not as monumental as it seems, every loss is not going to end the world. To the Warriors’ credit, they did play a hell of a first half, accumulating 61 points. It was a straight clunker from hell in the second half, though.
Think about this series and how drastically different each game has been. Storylines have changed on a daily basis. Game 1 was the Shaun Livingston show; Game 2 was Draymond Green and Cleveland’s nightmare on defense; Game 3 was the Cavs getting coldblooded revenge; Game 4 was the epitome of why the Splash Brothers are conquering the NBA; and Game 5 was LeBron and Kyrie shooting off fireworks while the Warriors stared and watched, mesmerized. There isn’t a soul, not even a Warriors player or a Cavaliers coach, who has any type of accurate prediction for Thursday’s Game 6.
The players absorbed this very messaging from their head coach. While noting how different each game has been in the NBA Finals, they were also reminded of the symmetry this series has with last year’s championship run.
“We’re in the same place we were last year, up 3-2 heading back to Cleveland,” Kerr said. “If you told me before this series, I would have taken it. So we’re in a good spot. We’re disappointed we didn’t win tonight, but, like I said, they outplayed us. They deserved to win. And we’ll go back to Cleveland and play a better game for sure.”
They better. Because there’s no telling what LeBron is capable of in a Game 7 in the NBA Finals with his legacy on the line. The Warriors were not anticipating flying back to Cleveland, but the road to an NBA title, let alone two straight, is long and treacherous.