Recap: Cavaliers 112, Warriors 97 (or, I’ll Never Forget That One)

As a sports fan, more specifically a Cleveland sports fan, there are games and events that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Some memories are bad (The Shot, Game Seven of the 1997 Word Series), while others have been great (I was there for Game Three of the 2007 American League Division Series when the New York Yankees were covered by midges and Travis Hafner sent us home happy in the bottom of the 11th inning). Game Five of the 2016 NBA Finals was a game that I’ll remember the rest of my life. A game that I’ll tell my children—at four and two years old, they’re too young to stay up that late, let alone remember the game—and grandchildren about. Up to this point, it could be the greatest game in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise.

The Cavaliers’ season was on the line last night as they traveled to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors in Game Five of the NBA Finals. Down three games to one in the series, with Warriors forward Draymond Green suspended, and the trash talk between the two teams—at least from the Warriors’ side—escalating to ridiculous proportions, it was time to see what this team was really made of. Would they come out fighting and possibly extend their season? Would they go through the motions in a blowout loss like we have seen far too many times? Those, and many other outcomes were possible as the Cavaliers and Warriors took the floor in the Oracle Arena.

First Quarter

Each team began the game with a bit of a surprise. Warriors coach Steve Kerr elected to start Andre Iguodala in place of Green after it had been reported that James Michael McAdoo would get the nod, while the Cavaliers wore their black sleeved jerseys for the first time this postseason. This was notable because LeBron James has shown disdain for these jerseys, going so far as to rip the sleeves the first time he wore them this season. Kevin Love also returned to the starting lineup after missing Game Three with a concussion and then coming off the bench in Game Four.

Things got off to a shaky start for the Cavaliers when Andre Iguodala stole the ball from LeBron James and took it coast-to-coast for a layup. Kyrie Irving then lost the ball off his leg, J.R. Smith committed an offensive foul, Kevin Love was blocked—and fouled multiple times—on a layup and the Cavaliers had four turnovers in the first three minutes of action. The Warriors were missing their jumpers, but did a great job attacking the basket in transition, and Tyronn Lue was forced to call time as Golden State sprinted to a 9-3 lead as the crowd at the Oracle Arena roared it’s approval.

Nothing really changed out of timeout as the Cavaliers quickly had their fifth turnover of the game. Inexplicably, Klay Thompson continued to get open from three, but the Cavaliers began to share the ball a bit, and briefly cut the Warriors’ lead to one. As has been the case over the last two seasons,  the Warriors continued to get whatever they wanted on offense, and went on a 8-2 run that started with a Stephen Curry three and ended with a Festus Ezeli dunk after he rebounded two of his own misses. Ezeli then hammered Tristan Thompson under the rim, but it was merely called a common foul. The Warriors’ offense continued to stay a step ahead of the Cavaliers’ defense, but  missed a few open shots while the Cavaliers did a nice job of moving the ball and tied the game on a LeBron James three. The lead went back and forth as the Warriors kept fouling while the Cavaliers kept turning the ball over, the seventh of the quarter coming on a travel by Richard Jefferson. Turnover number eight came when Matthew Dellavedova had his pocket picked by Iguodala. The Warriors took a five-point lead after a Shaun Livingston and-one, but LeBron James hit another jumper to cut the Warriors’ lead to 32-29 after one. Considering their eight turnovers, the Cavaliers were lucky to be down three.

Second Quarter

The Cavaliers began the second quarter with a lineup of Irving, Iman Shumpert, Smith, Jefferson, and Love. This group was surprisingly effective without James, starting the quarter on a 7-0 run to give the Cavaliers a four-point lead. The Warriors quickly called time, and brought Curry back into the game. Klay Thompson continued to torch Smith with a short jumper in the lane, and drew a foul on Love to get the line and hit a pair of free throws. Kyrie continued to be red hot from the floor to keep the Cavaliers ahead for a bit, but the Cavaliers had yet another turnover and Klay Thompson continued to be absolute fire with a pair of threes from waaaaay downtown and a pair of freebies to put the Warriors on top. To their credit, the Cavaliers kept fighting. LeBron James finished at the rim to bring the Cavaliers to within one, and Curry subsequently turned the ball over on the other end.

After a timeout in which Jeff Van Gundy had some confusing commentary about Klay Thompson, LeBron hit another jumper to put the Cavaliers back on top. Anderson Varejao continued to flop around the court, and Van Gundy continued to attack him for it. Irving then set up Love for a jumper—Kevin’s first points of the night—and Kyrie followed that with a steal and layup to push the lead back to four. An irate Steve Kerr quickly called timeout.

The Warriors took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Cavaliers to go on an 11-4 run and retake the lead. The Cavs were a step slow in their rotations and five of those points were on wide open shots from Iguodala and Harrison Barnes. At this point, LeBron James put the Cavaliers on his back, keeping them in the game by attacking the rim over and over.While the Cavaliers had three more turnovers in the quarter, the Warriors were bit by the bug as well, and matched the Cavaliers with eleven of their own. The half ended with the score tied at 61 after the best half of basketball we had seen so far in the Finals.

LeBron bullies his way to the rack on #NBAonABC. #NBAVine #NBAFinals https://t.co/lRR3KSCmgt

— NBA (@NBA) June 14, 2016

Third Quarter

Coming out of the break, the Cavaliers continued to attack the rim, drawing a pair of fouls to finish the first 18 seconds of the half. Kyrie Irving converted an and-one, and James answered a Curry three with one of his own to give the Cavaliers a three-point lead. Andrew Bogut then went down after J.R. Smith rolled into his left knee and had to be helped back to the locker room. Oddly, the Warriors didn’t call time until two possessions later, although neither team scored.

After the timeout, the Warriors went super small with Harrison Barnes effectively playing center. This group came out with terrific energy, while the Cavaliers both went cold from the field and took their foot off the pedal a bit on the defensive end. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they were just as cold, and after Harrison Barnes missed a pair of free throws, James cut for a dunk and Irving hit a rhythm three to give the Cavaliers an eight-point lead. Klay Thompson then continued to torture J.R. Smith, hitting a layup and—after Irving was incorrectly called out of bounds—drawing a foul on a three to bring the Warriors to within three. Without Bogut and Green, the Warriors began to struggle defensively, and Steve Kerr inserted Ezeli, hoping for some defense inside. The big man quickly made his presence known on the offensive end, as he threw down a put back dunk after the Cavaliers had taken a ten-point lead.

After a Cavalier timeout, the Warriors went to the Hack-A Strategy with Barbosa sending Tristan Thompson to the line. TT split the pair, and Andre Iguodala hit a straight on three to bring the Warriors to within six before LeBron countered with a three of his own. TT was send to the line on the next two Cavalier possessions, missing his first two attempts before hitting the next two. In an extremely surprising move, Tyronn Lue went with Mo Williams ahead of the struggling Matthew Dellavedova to close out the quarter. A pair of turnovers by Richard Jefferson and a missed layup by Tristan Thompson kept the Cavs from extending their lead, but they still had a 93-84 lead heading into the final frame. One couldn’t help but wonder if those missed chances at the end of the quarter would come back to haunt the Cavaliers.

Fourth Quarter

They didn’t. The Cavaliers went with the same lineup that started the second quarter, but this time they quickly gave up a three to Steph Curry. Irving answered with a layup of his own, and after a Curry miss, the Cavaliers nearly turned the ball over several times before calling a time out. Smith then fouled Varejao on a layup sending him to the line where he split the pair to bring the Warriors to within seven. James then returned to the game and nailed another jumper. The Cavaliers then went cold as James and Irving began to show signs of fatigue, but the Warriors weren’t any better. Kyrie Irving then converted and and-one off a turnaround jumper and foul by Klay Thompson to put the Cavaliers back up by ten. At this point there was 7:26 left in the game, but it seemed like an eternity.

Back-to-back buckets by Curry and Klay Thompson cut the Cavs’ lead to six before Cavalier point guard, Molten Lava Irving again answered with seven points of his own to push the lead to thirteen. The Cavs did a nice job of limiting the Warriors shot attempts by controlling the glass, and the crowd at the Oracle began to quiet for the first time all night. James then converted an and-one to give the Cavaliers two 40-point scorers on the night, and the Cavs ground the pace to a halt to help preserve their lead. Steve Kerr emptied the Warriors’ bench with two minutes left as the Cavaliers sent the series back to Cleveland with a 112-97 victory.

Things I Noticed

There are no words to describe LeBron Raymone James. He attacked the rim at will while showing confidence in his jumper, as evidenced by his four-of-eight shooting from three. He was also impressive on the defensive end with three steals and three blocks. All told, 41-16-7-3-3 in one of the truly amazing performances of a truly amazing career.

40-point Finals games in the last decade:

LeBron James: 4
Everyone else: 3*

*Kyrie tonight, Russell Westbrook in 2012, Kobe Bryant in 2009

— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) June 14, 2016

I had been pretty down on Kyrie Irving lately, but he was amazing tonight. Early on, it seemed like Irving was scoring by hitting what would otherwise be considered bad shots, but the man came to play. He showed great energy on both ends of the floor, and was absolute fire in shooting 17-of-24 from the floor and five-of-seven from three. Every time the Warriors went on a run, Irving and James answered them.

Kevin Love did not come to play. Starting 1-4 from the field is one thing, being afraid to shoot in the second half is another. Love’s fragile confidence is well-documented, but this was the biggest game of his career and he froze. I had spent the days before explaining to friends and family why I would trade Kyrie Irving before Love if it came to that. Both men did great jobs of making me look like a moron. One could point to Love having the second best plus-minus on the team and the fact that the Warriors had to guard him on the perimeter as proof of his value, but it’s a hollow argument when you look at how his teammates didn’t even look his way on offense in the second half.

There’s no doubt the Warriors missed Draymond Green on both ends of the floor tonight, but the Cavs also brought great energy on both ends of the floor. Holding the best offensive team in the league under 40% shooting is amazing no matter the circumstances.

Speaking of Green, Warriors players, wives, and fans were upset with LeBron for baiting Green into another flagrant. Doesn’t Green bait other players all the time with his constant taunting? Maybe Green should just stop hitting other players in the groin.

As a basketball fan, I’ve come to appreciate Klay Thompson more and more. He’s just a tremendous two-way player who embraces the big moments. It’s too bad his dad can’t stop talking and let Klay’s game speak for itself.

It’s not over yet. While the Warriors and their fans will undoubtedly point to Green’s absence and Bogut’s injury and the reasons they lost tonight, but after the injuries the Cavaliers dealt with last year, no one will really care. Now the series is going back to Cleveland – back to the Q with a chance to tie up this series. It’s completely unfair to expect that type of performance from either James or Irving again, but in Game Five of the NBA Finals they each gave a performance for the ages, and because of it, the Cavaliers are still alive.