Sports/Reuters picOAKLAND, June 14 – Kyrie Irving and LeBron James each scored 41 points yesterday to power Cleveland over defending champion Golden State 112-97, keeping the Cavaliers’ championship hopes alive in the NBA Finals. “If you told us we’d be in this position we’d be in, we’d have taken it”, he said. We made some mistakes, but the guys never gave in.
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Without Green leading the defense, LeBron and the Cavs shot the lights out (44-83 FG, 53%).
Steph Curry looks on during his team’s loss in Game 5 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. All series long the Warriors have been going under picks, backing off, daring LeBron to shoot jump shots, and for the first time this series he made them pay. Irving had 41 points on 17 for 24 shooting and added six assists for the Cavs. He made tough shots, he created space, he played well in transition, and was the best player on the court in the fourth quarter when the Warriors tried to make a comeback.
Part of Irving’s brilliance – James said it was “probably one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen live” – was his ability to convert hard shots at the rim or over the outstretched hand of Klay Thompson. They were huge for us tonight.
The Warriors will need to play a sharper on Thursday when they return to Cleveland for Green to get that satisfaction. “Obviously, it’s frustrating. You know, you want to win here more than anything for your fans”.
There could be two games remaining in the NBA Finals if the two best players on the floor in Game 5 have anything to do with it.
While absorbing merciless boos from the amped-up crowd every time he touched the ball in Game 5, James steamrolled to the basket with no regard for the smaller Warriors. I thought our defensive communication was lacking.
“We’ll be ready. We’ll watch the film and understand where the mishaps were, especially on the defence against those two guys, come out with confidence and get the job done”.
But the Cavs clamped down in the second half, forcing the Warriors to shoot just 3-for-21 from three and holding them to 36 points.
The Golden State Warriors needed just one win to get a second title.
The Warriors are the ones facing some question marks now.
For starters, the Warriors could be playing the rest of the series without center Andrew Bogut, who sprained his left knee early in the third quarter and had to be helped from the court.
LeBron James said this week that his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 held meaning beyond a single-minded quest for an National Basketball Association championship.
Love played a tentative and miserable first half and seemed hesitant to shoot as the game wore on. As Bogut landed while making contact with Smith, his left knee appeared to take the brunt of it and bent backward. “Obviously, he played 40 minutes, but even in the 8 minutes that he was sitting down, he was just calm”. Instead, Golden State’s bench outscored its Cleveland counterparts, 45-10. They averaged 22.5 points on 42 percent shooting off drives in Games 1-4 combined.
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Golden State could not hit their threes and close the gap, with Cleveland pulling away and extending the series.
