Wrap-Up – The playoffs are all about adjustments, and if the Cavaliers have any left to make, they’ll need to do so quickly, as the Warriors’ small-ball lineup flummoxed the Wine and Gold for the second straight game, pushing them to the brink of elimination with the 104-91 win on Sunday night at Oracle Arena.
Another epic performance by LeBron James wasn’t enough to get Cleveland past a Golden State team that’s rediscovered its mojo after falling behind, 2-1, in the seven-game series. They also countered the King’s monster effort with one by the league’s reigning MVP, Stephen Curry, who notched 17 of his team-high 37 points in the fourth quarter.
James continued his historic run through the 2015 postseason, continuing to carry the Cavaliers on his back with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on the shelf for the remainder of the playoffs. On Sunday night, the 11-time All-Star went for 40 points, going 15-for-34 from the floor and 3-of-8 from long-distance – including a 34-footer that put Cleveland up a point with 7:47 to play in the ballgame. He added a game-high 14 board and led both teams with 11 assists.
Tristan Thompson registered his best game of the series, doubling-up with 19 points and 10 boards, adding two steals and a pair of blocked shots. Thompson was 6-of-11 from the floor and 7-for-10 from the stripe, grabbing exactly half of his rebounds off the offensive glass.
Thompson and James’ frontcourt mate, Timofey Mozgov – who led the Cavaliers with 28 points to go with 10 boards in their Game 4 loss last Thursday ��� was a non-factor on Sunday evening in Oakland, finishing with no points and no boards in just over nine minutes of action.
J.R. Smith once again led the Wine and Gold off the bench with 14 points, but was just 5-for-15 from the floor, including 4-of-14 from long-distance and didn’t score at all in the second stanza.
Smith didn’t get a ton of help from his fellow reserves in Game 5, either. Mike Miller and James Jones attempted just two shots between them, with Miller hitting a three-pointer in the second quarter to finish with three points.
Iman Shumpert rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 10 points and five boards, but he attempted just three shots in the second half as the Wine and Gold shot just 38 percent from the floor after intermission.
The Warriors featured five players in double-figures, including Leandro Barbosa, who was the latest Warrior to emerge from their second unit to give Cleveland fits – going 4-for-5 from the floor for 13 points.
Golden State shot 48 percent from the floor to the Cleveland’s 40 percent and was 12-of-26 from beyond the arc. The Warriors outrebounded the Cavaliers, 43-37, topped them on second-chance points and points in the paint and out-paced them on the fastbreak, 18-3.
Steve Kerr’s squad also handed out 25 helpers to the Cavs’ 17 – with no one on the squad besides LeBron tallying more than two.
LBJ records triple-double.
View some of the best snapshots.
LBJ hits deep triple.
Go inside the locker room.
Watch final game highlights from Game 5.
Turning Point – Both squads went back and forth for most of the night. Golden State jumped out to an early lead, but the Cavaliers clawed back to tie the game after one quarter and trailed by just a point at the break.
The Warriors threatened to pull away in the fourth quarter, opening up a six-point lead, but the Cavaliers came back to tie the game at 75-apiece on Shumpert’s corner three. Draymond Green’s free throws gave Golden State a two-point lead, but LeBron pulled up between the halfcourt circles to hit a long three that put Cleveland up a point.
But on the Warriors’ very next possession, Curry drilled an incredible step-back three-pointer to give Golden State the lead back. Less than a minute later, Klay Thompson canned a 29-footer of his own to extend the lead to five.
Tristan Thompson’s short hook-shot got Cleveland back to within one, but Andre Iguodala hit back-to-back buckets to give Golden State all the room it would need to pull away from David Blatt’s shorthanded squad.
By the Numbers – 2 … players in NBA Finals history – LeBron James and the Logo, Jerry West – who’ve scored at least 40 points in a triple-double. Sunday night’s trifecta was the 14th triple-double of James’ illustrious playoff career and his 40-point game was his 15th – and the third of the series.
Quotable – LeBron James, on feeling confident despite his team facing elimination in the 2015 Finals …
”I feel confident because I'm the best player in the world. It's that simple.”
Up Next – After falling Game 5 at Oracle Arena, the Wine and Gold return to The Q to try to even the series at 3-3 on Tuesday night in Cleveland. If the Wine and Gold can do so, they’ll send the back to Oakland for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Friday night.