#CavsRank Moments: 6 (My Turn, Your Turn)

The next two #CavsRank Moments are joyous ones. Moment number six was also an extremely rare one – one that will go down in NBA history as the most amazing two man scoring performance ever.

6. Dueling 41’s

Game five of the 2016 NBA Finals was probably the most important one for the Cavs. It presented a doable challenge and helped the Cavs get their their minds straightened out for the final two games. If the Wine and Gold had lost it, they would have had to go home and face the crippling depression that comes with almost accomplishing your dream two years in row only to be cut down by a “baby faced assassin.” If the King and his men had lost and – God forbid – complained about it, then all the trash the Warriors talked would have been true. As we all know though, the Cavs won. They then went back home and were able to harness the power of the Q to push the series to seven games before becoming the first team ever to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjBlwsJk_a0

Thankfully for Cleveland, game five was tilted their way before it even started. Draymond Green was serving a one game suspension for a jewel punch directed towards the King. And, LeBron James was super motivated after getting trash spewed on him by nearly the entire Warriors franchise. This led to a completely unexpected and semi ironic occurrence.

In the course of trying to mount a historical comeback, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James accomplished something that was almost as amazing as the eventual title they secured for Cleveland. They both played once in a lifetime games scoring 41 points each on the same night.

If LeBron’s and Irving’s game five performances are looked at individually, they aren’t that amazing. I mean, in the history of the NBA, forty plus point games have happened 53 times in the Finals, including James’ and Kyrie’s games. Impressive, but not amazing.

If you evaluate these two forty plus point games as one event, then you can see how truly amazing James’s and Irving’s performances were. Two players on a single team have each scored more than 40 just 11 times in the history of regular season NBA play. If you’re under the age of thirty, the only guys you have seen accomplish this feat are Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (twice), and MJ and Scottie Pippen (once).

There are even less sets of guys who have scored more than forty for the same team in the postseason. Just four pairs have done it: Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller, Sleepy Floyd and Hakeem Olajuwon, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Yet, none of those guys did it when playing for the biggest prize. Kyrie and James are the only two to have ever done it in the Finals.

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LeBron James’ game five shot chart

The way LeBron and Kyrie each reached their 41 points would scare any Cavs fan. They took turns isolating and hitting contested jumpers throughout the game, despite how that had worked out for them previously in the series. They were down 3-1 for a reason.  Many people wondered, myself included, if the Cavalier’s offense could be potent enough to beat the Warriors using tons of isolation plays and high pick and rolls. Most of the time it wasn’t. The Warriors usually sent extra help when guys dribbled the air out of the ball, and they were able to recover fast enough to prevent gimme baskets and 3-pointers.

However, with Draymond Green out of the picture in this game, Cleveland’s previously ineffective game plan was perfect. LeBron made it a point to attack the rim, going 9-14 around the rack. He also made it a point to rebound (16 total) without Green grabbing his jersey constantly. This allowed him to push the ball in transition and force whoever from the Warriors was closest to guard him. The mismatches allowed Kyrie to feast against a scrambled defense most of the night.  Without Draymond Green,the Warriors sort of fell apart, and the Cavs’ two stars started to feel themselves when they needed to most.

Early on in the game, it became apparent that the Cavs would need a miracle to win. They committed eight turnovers in the first quarter and struggled to score. The King led the way hitting two 3-pointers and getting 12 points. It looked as if he had spent a month with Mark Price since game four just working on his jumper. LeBron dribbled straight into his second made 3-pointer of the quarter and rose up perfectly straight. His bizarre left and backwards leaning jumper was gone. He was a new man. Irving wouldn’t be forgotten either. He chipped in seven points of his own.

By half-time, LeBron and Irving had combined for 24 more points. James had scored 25, which was the most he had scored in a single half during the postseason. And, his shot was on point. He also had a classic chase down block on Stephen Curry during what was an almost sure thing fast break.  The King was so ruthless he didn’t even smack the ball off the glass. His block was a full on volley ball style spike to the ground dismissal of Curry’s layup attempt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya2vqUYhd3w

LeBron's 5 buckets from outside the paint (at the half) are the most he's made in a playoff game this year.

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) June 14, 2016

The Cavs entered the second half tied with the Warriors, despite Klay Thompson scoring 26 and going 6-8 from deep.

In the third quarter, LeBron and Irving both scored 11 points on 4-5 shooting, each going 2-2 from deep. The rest of the team was 3-8. The Warriors started to hemorrhage points, as Andrew Bogut, their defensive stalwart, had a knee injury and left the game in the beginning of the quarter. The King took advantage of Bogut’s absence; he started to use the use the Warriors’ fear of him driving to the rack to create easy shots for his teammates. Every time he got the ball, especially off of rebounds, the Warriors dropped back to protect the rim or were staring at him waiting for him to do something epic. He passed to Irving for two threes when the defense cheated his way too much. He floated the ball deep into the paint to TT for a layup when three Warriors were ball watching. And, he got Richard Jefferson two automatic buckets when Golden State was just plain confused about what was going on. The Cavs went into the fourth up by nine.

During the fourth quarter, the Warriors got as close as six points. However, Irving was hot fire and scored seven straight (he had 12 total) to seal the game. He started his closing barrage with 6:22 left to go. He drove left and kept Stephen Curry on his right shoulder, which he used to bump him off before elevating for a short baseline jumper. He followed that up by hitting a turnaround jumper from the foul line over a staggered Klay Thompson, despite slipping earlier in the play. K.I. hit the official finisher when he ran the down the court and just pulled up for a three to put the Cavs up 13.

The King only scored five in the quarter, but it was merely because he was gassed from attacking the rim so much throughout the game.

Kyrie Irving’s game five shot chart.

In the end, Irving had 41 points on 17-24 shooting to go with six assists and three rebounds. He was 5-7 from deep. The King had 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, three blocks, and 41 points (16-30 from the field). He went an uncharacteristic 4-8 from three. He had gone just 5-16 from deep in the previous four games of the series.

While no one felt certain the Cavs would win the title after this game, it was clear that Irving and James had the power to will the team to a win. Their performance also silenced doubts I had about the offensive game plan of isolating and ultra slow pace. The Cavs had just 15 assists (with the King and Uncle Drew dropping 13 of those dimes) in this game, down three from their playoff average, and still cruised to a fifteen point victory. The Warriors had let a pair of tigers out of their cage. They’d never be contained again.