Irving, James pour in 41 each as Cavs stay alive
By Dave Del Grande, The Sports Xchange
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Like two proud heavyweights, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors both walked off the Oracle Arena court with hands held high and feeling like champions Monday night.
This after a game in which no championship was crowned because the Cavaliers beat the Warriors to stay alive in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.
"We had a mindset that we wanted to come in here and just try to extend our period and have another opportunity to fight another day. We were able to do that," said Cavaliers star LeBron James after he and Kyrie Irving scored 41 points apiece in Cleveland's 112-97 victory in Game 5.
With Golden State retaining a 3-2 advantage, Game 6 will be played Thursday night in Cleveland, site of the Warriors' championship-clinching victory last season.
"We're in the same place we were last year, up 3-2 heading to Cleveland," Warriors coach Steve Kerr confidently stated after the one-sided defeat. "If you told me this before the series, I would have taken it. So we're in a good spot.
"I like our position a lot better than theirs."
After being held to 43.6 percent shooting in the first four games of the series, the Cavaliers took advantage of the absence of Warriors defensive standout Draymond Green to connect at a 53 percent rate in Game 5.
Green was serving a one-game suspension. He is eligible to return for Game 6, but the Warriors might find themselves without another of their top defenders, Andrew Bogut. The veteran center sustained a left knee injury in the third quarter and couldn't return to the game.
Bogut was scheduled for an MRI late Monday night, and his status for the rest of the series will be determined in the three days leading up to Game 6.
Game 7, if necessary, would be played Sunday in Oakland.
"We obviously knew we were without Draymond, so there's no point in harping on that," said Kerr, refusing to use Green's absence as an excuse. "We had to play better, and we didn't."
That on the same night when James and Irving played in tandem like no two others in NBA history. They were the first teammates to top 40 points apiece in a Finals game.
After trailing by as many as seven in the first quarter, the Cavaliers broke from a 61-all halftime tie to build as much as an 11-point third-quarter advantage.
The lead was still 102-92 after Irving converted a three-point play with 7:30 to go, before Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry dropped in consecutive hoops to get the defending champs back within six.
Irving then took over the game, hitting on a drive, a short jumper and a 3-pointer in a personal 7-0 flurry that broke the game open at 109-96 with 5:30 remaining.
The Warriors never challenged after that.
"He hit timely shot after shot after shot," James said of Irving. "This guy was special. We owe the victory to him. That was one of the greatest performance I've ever seen live."
The Cavaliers were equally brilliant on defense in the second half, holding the Warriors to 36 points on 26.7 percent shooting, including just 3-for-21 on 3-point attempts.
The Warriors finished at just 36.4 percent overall, their lowest this postseason.
"You tip your hat to them," Curry said of the Cavaliers. "They did what they needed to do to."
Irving's 41 points came on 17-for-24 shooting as the Cavaliers remained unbeaten in the postseason (14-0) when scoring 100 or more points.
Cleveland topped 100 just one other time in the series -- in their 120-90 win at home in Game 3.
Irving also hit five of his seven 3-point attempts as Cleveland helped itself with a 10-for-24 night from beyond the arc.
"Just Kyrie being special," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said of his point guard. "When they switch one through five and try to make us stagnant, he is one of the guys that can create his own shot."
James was equally as productive as Irving, and more versatile, if not as efficient. His 41 points were the product of 16-for-30 shooting, including 4-for-8 on 3-point tries.
The seven-time Finalist also had a game-high 16 rebounds, and Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson added 15 boards to complement six points.
"I understood the magnitude of this game. I knew how great of a team we were playing," James said. "I just had to come out and ... I know my teammates trust me. I trust them. And that was the result of it."
Klay Thompson had 37 points and Curry 25 for the Warriors, who set an NBA Finals record with 11 3-pointers in the first half.
Each scored a majority of his points on threes, Thompson making six and Curry five.
Andre Iguodala, who started in Green's place, added 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
"You want to win here more than anything for the fans," Klay Thompson said. "They deserve to see us win, but you just move on. It stings real bad, but we'll come back stronger."
Green, the runner-up in the Defensive Player of the Year balloting, missed only one regular-season game, and the Warriors also lost that one, 112-110 at Denver on Jan. 13.
"He's their best defender, and I've said it all along that he is the best guy in the NBA as far as reading when to help," Lue said. "He's an underrated shot-blocker, and he can guard one through five, so that definitely hurt their defense."
Bogut's injury occurred at the 10:07 mark of the third quarter when Irving crashed awkwardly into his lower left leg on a drive to the hoop.
After several minutes on the floor, the 7-footer had to be helped to the locker room. He never returned to the court.
The Cavaliers took advantage of shot-blocker's absence. They hit 15 of their 27 shots in the third period to go up by as many as 11 en route to a 93-84 advantage at quarter's end.
"Our spacing was really good tonight," Irving said. "I've been waiting the whole series for it to happen, and it happened. The spacing out there tonight allowed me to get to certain spots on the floor where I could effective."
James and Irving did a majority of the scoring, combining for 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the period. James hit six of 11 from the field in the quarter, Irving five of six.
NOTES: Teams leading 3-1 in the NBA Finals are now 17-16 in potential series-clinching Game 5s. ... Cavaliers PG Kyrie Irving has scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games after totaling 36 in his first two Finals efforts. ... The Cavaliers have recorded at least one road win in their last 10 playoff series, dating back to 2010. ... The Warriors are 14-1 following a loss this season. ... The home loss was just the Warriors' second in 13 games this postseason. They were seeking a 51st home win this season, including both the regular season and playoffs, which would have established an NBA record.
