NBA Finals Game 5 Quick Hit: Warriors 104, Cavs 91
2015-06-14
LeBron James notched another triple double with 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, but it wasn’t enough to get the Cavaliers a win in Oakland. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 37 points on 7-13 shooting from three and the Warriors pulled away from the Cavaliers late on their way to a 104-91 win and a 3-2 lead in this best-of-seven series.
The Cavs followed the Warriors lead by going small for much of the game. One game after scoring a career high 28 points, Timofey Mozgov played just over nine minutes of Game 5, posting goose eggs on all positive stats. James attacked the basket relentlessly and was much more efficient than in Game 4 where he went 7-22 for 20 points. He finished his second triple double of this Finals series going 15-35 from the field and 7-9 from the line. James even dropped in three triples (in eight attempts).
J.R. Smith had a strong first half, but disappeared in the second finishing with 14 points on 5-15 from the field. Tristan Thompson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but posted a team-worst +/- of -22 as the Cavs couldn’t hit their big shots late.
Golden State did. Curry was helped by 14 points from Andre Iguodala and a surprising 13 points off the bench by reserve guard Leandro Barbosa.
The Cavs will look to stave off elimination in Game 6 Tuesday night back in Cleveland.
Check back soon for Nate’s full recap.
Is this one on Blatt? He leaned more heavily on the bench this game, which should’ve helped with the rest/energy issues except he only played Mozgov 9 mins, and couldn’t use him effectively. Cavs got outrebounded, and gave up a ton of backbreaking offensive boards in the 4th. Hard to win with this group without controlling the boards and at least all the starters playing their share of minutes.
I don’t see it. The Warriors won because they had more guys that could make plays, and Curry had a big game. Blatt doesn’t have the bodies to counter that.
AHHHHH WHy did we have to lose both Love & Kyrie????? ‘Not fair! It’s unbelievable Warriors have absolutely no injuries. None, Zippo.
Well poor little Curry felt dehydrated tonight so there’s that. Warriors are overrated. I don’t see them getting back to the finals anytime soon. They won’t avoid injuries and the better teams in the West next year. I anticipate a lot of Curry stomping his feet tantrums.
They have been very fortunate, no doubt. And as Nate likes to say, they have also been lucky in their opponents in the West. Just seems like their year.
I understand why most coaches are very conservative in who they play. BUT, Game 4 showed that the Cavs would likely be totally out of gas at the end if they only played seven players. They might have pulled it out with fair referees, but got majorly homered in games 1 and 5. Gilbert should risk a huge fine and sound off about it. Anyway, how can you expect Delly to be able to finish when he guards Curry, brings the ball up, and so on? The most crucial problem is lack of guards. The only option is to try… Read more »
If only Harris wasn’t a turn over machine which Warriors would swoop up an easy 8 pts, You know it’s bad on the refs when the announcers are complaining about it.
Yeah, I’d find it hard to trust Harris in this series. At least Miller has a lot of time in the league, and probably isn’t going to do something stupid.
On smith, he didn’t get into 2nd half until real late and did not get the ball passed to him that much. Cavs were out of sorts with Mosgov in there at times. DId you all see Curry late in the 3rd resting without a worry while Lebron worked his ass off? Nice he had that luxury so he could go lights out with energy. We just don’t have enough bodies left. Trying to get the best production with challenged fatigue in the 4th continue to be a problem. It’s been the Warriors mantra, “Only 7 bodies” they repeatedly chant.
Cavs fans should chant O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D anytime Steph Curry touches the ball on Tuesday.
Wow, didn’t notice that TT had that big of a game.