Lue made his comments during the postgame press conference following Game Four as the defending champion Warriors rebounded from a 30-point loss by beating the Cavs and taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
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The Cavs’ defense, granted a reprieve for one night from facing the multidimensional Draymond Green — out for the game with a suspension for his hit on James in Game 4 — was inspiring, holding the Warriors scoreless from the 6:29 mark of the fourth until 1:01 remaining on an Anderson Varejao free throw, when both teams’ starters had always been pulled with the game already decided.
Klay Thompson led Golden State with 37 points while NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry added 25.
James and Green snarled up in between the match and James stepped over Green as the two got up. He absolutely took over the game with a ridiculous stat line of 41 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocked shots. But for the Warriors’ sake, hopefully Green won’t rack up any more flagrant foul points, because if he does, he’ll be suspended again.
The Warriors looked lost at times defensively without Green, an All-NBA defender who is perhaps the most irreplaceable Warrior. “I knew how great of a team we were playing”. Obviously there was a void with him being out, but we can still be better. Game 5 wasn’t about that at all – Love was a total nonfactor with just two points on five shots. Just finding where he likes the ball, where he wants the ball, how effective he is around the perimeter as well as in the post and just giving him space to work, but as well as finding areas where I can be effective.
Never in NBA Finals history have teammates done what Kyrie Irving and LeBron James did Monday night. But it’s been an up-and-down playoffs for Curry with injuries and inconsistent play. His performance in Game 5 was extraordinary, ranking right up there with anything Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan has ever done in the Finals. It was the first time in history that two guys on the same team have scored 40 or more points in the same game, and Irving was basically on fire in the fourth quarter.
Without Draymond Green, the Warriors couldn’t stop the Cavaliers’ offense.
James did a little bit of everything Monday night.
“I’m very excited about the way we scrapped and continued to play hard and that’s how we’ve got to play – that’s us”. “It’s unfortunate. Hopefully, he’s OK”.
With suspended Draymond Green unavailable to the Warriors for Game 5, Love figured to gain the most. The Warriors shot just 36.4 percent. Asked how Green’s absence affected him, James sidestepped the question and said that mentally it wasn’t about anybody on the floor.
“Oh, my goodness”, James said. “I’ve said it all along that he is the best guy in the National Basketball Association as far as reading when to help, triple switches and kicking guys out of mismatches, knowing when to go, when not to go”.
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“He’s an underrated shot blocker, and he can guard one through five, so that definitely help hurt their defence”.
