Cavs, James ready to fight back
By THE SPORTS XCHANGE
LeBron James and the banged-up Cleveland Cavaliers will try to bounce back from a sluggish performance when they face the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
The Warriors tied the best-of-seven series at 2-2 on Thursday night with a 103-82 victory over the out-of-gas Cavs, who seemed to be desperate for rest and help for James.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr went to a perimeter-heavy offense in Game 4, with swingman Andre Iguodala in for center Andrew Bogut.
Iguodala gave the Warriors some big points -- 22 in 39 minutes. Known for his defense, Iguodala drained four 3-pointers.
"He's our most experienced player and he's one of the smartest players I've ever been around," Kerr said of Iguodala. "The guy is brilliant at both ends. He sees the game. If he wants to coach someday, he'd be a great coach. Although he says he would be too impatient, so I don't know if he's got the patience. But he's got a great basketball mind."
The Warriors' small lineup spread the floor, created mismatches and sent the Cavs scurrying to cover all of the shooters. Golden State point guard Stephen Curry scored 22 points and passed for six assists after two sub-par games, and Draymond Green had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists after shifting to center in the new-look smaller starting lineup.
"I was pretty much gassed, either from driving, creating opportunities for my teammates, getting to the free-throw line, getting (to the) offensive glass, just trying to make that push," James said Thursday night.
The Cavaliers nearly lost James when he crashed into a camera along the baseline, leaving him with a headache and a bloody gash on his head that required stitches.
In addition, Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova went to the hospital to be treated for dehydration following Tuesday's Game 3 and guard Iman Shumpert has been battling a painful shoulder bruise.
The Cavaliers already are without two All-Stars due to injuries -- losing guard Kyrie Irving in the opening game of the NBA Finals and power forward Kevin Love early in the playoffs.
Cavs coach David Blatt played only seven players in Game 4 before clearing the bench in the fourth quarter when the game turned into a blowout.
"(It) was the third game in five days, including the trip back from the West Coast, and it seemed to have an impact on us," Blatt said after the 21-point Game 4 loss. "We're thinner now than we were, but that's not an excuse. We haven't used it as an excuse yet, and we won't start now. We've just all got to pick it up."
James was asked about the need to expand the rotation to help him and others get some more rest.
"That's the coach's decision if he decides he wants to go deeper in the bench," James said. "We haven't played many guys throughout this playoff run. I think it would help some of the guys that are playing some high minutes, for sure. Just give guys a couple minutes here, a couple minutes there. But I think the coaching staff will try to do what's best to help us be physically and mentally prepared for Sunday."
The Warriors, facing the prospect of falling behind 3-1 in the series, came out energized from the start Thursday night and finished off the Cavs with a dominant fourth quarter.
"We really picked up our intensity level," Green said. "We contested shots. We got on loose balls, and we rebounded. We battled."
With 4:43 left in the second quarter in Game 4, James drove to the basket and was fouled by Bogut.
Play was halted temporarily after James crashed into the row of cameras across the baseline, cutting open his head. James lost his balance and went tumbling head first. He smashed into a television camera and immediately grabbed his head while he writhed around in front of the Cavs' owners.
"I was just trying to regain my composure, and I was holding my head; it was hurting," James said after the game. "I was just hoping I wasn't bleeding. But obviously the camera cut me pretty bad. Our medical staff did a great job of stopping the bleeding."
The training staff covered James' head, behind his right ear, with a towel to stop the bleeding and he didn't have to leave the game.
James quickly returned to shoot two free throws. He finished with 20 points on 7-for-22 shooting, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 41 minutes.
"I knew I had to shoot the free throws or I wasn't going to be able to come back into the game, so it didn't matter what was going on with my head at that point in time," said James, who received stitches after the game. "I had to go up there and shoot those free throws and continue to play."
James said he didn't go through the concussion protocol after hitting his head.
"No, I didn't have to go through any concussion protocol," he said. "I had a slight headache, which I think every last one of you guys would probably have if you ran into a camera. You might have a little bit more than that. But I didn't go through any protocol. I'm fine. Like I said, I got a few stitches and I got a little slight headache right now, but I'll be fine with that."
Bogut told reporters after the game that James was to blame for the injury.
"I think he jumped into the cameraman, yeah," Bogut said. "I think he came down, took two steps and fell on the cameraman. I definitely, definitely didn't hit him that hard."
With James getting stiches in the training room, Dellavedova had his now-standard postgame full-body ice bath and Shumpert had a large ice bag wrapped around his left shoulder.
Meanwhile, Kerr admitted to lying before Game 4 when he said at the morning shootaround that there would be no changes in the starting lineup.
Kerr then shuffled his starting lineup, inserting Iguodala for the first time this season and removing Bogut.
"I lied," Kerr said after the game.
Iguodala kept pressure on James throughout the game.
"Make him work as hard as possible," Iguodala said of his plan on James. "Make him take tough shots. You look at his strengths, you look at his weaknesses, and you try to take him out of his comfort zone. Sounds easier said than done, but we all have a lot of talent and when we go out there we want to make our stamp on the game."
James had praise for what Iguodala gave the Warriors.
"He's one of the X-factors, and he came to play," James said. "He shot the ball extremely well. He hit four 3s. He was in attack. He got a couple dunks in transition early on in the game, which got him going, and he was really good for them."
James dismissed the idea that Game 5 would be his most challenging because of other big moments in his career.
James cited his Game 6 in the 2012 conference finals against the Celtics in Boston. With the Miami Heat trailing 3-2, he had 45 points and 12 rebounds to lift Miami to wins that night and again in Game 7.
"Game 5 at Golden State is not that big when it comes to going to Boston and you lose multiple times in that arena, and the franchise that I was with at the time had never won a playoff game in Boston," James said. "Now that's pretty challenging. So I've been through a little bit in my pretty cool career."
