KILLER INSTINCT
Setting aggressive tone early is emphasis for Golden State
OAKLAND, Calif. — For the Cavaliers, Game 5 of the NBA Finals is essentially Game 7. Just like Game 4 was.
“This is the game we got to get. Or it’s over with,” LeBron James said.
Sort of sums up the situation nicely, huh? Pick any cliché you heard regurgitated time and time again over the years and it fits for the Cavaliers for Monday’s Game 5. They are down 3-1 in a best-ofseven. Hopes for turning the series into a best-of-13 are not looking good. So win. Or it’s over with.
For the Warriors, Game 5 could be a painful reminder of last year. They had the Cavs down, 3-1. They were home. But they lost. Then they lost again. And again as the Cavs claimed the championship. The Warriors know they would have another two shots at the prize should Game 5 go like Game 4. But after both last year and the 137-116 pounding they suffered in Game 4, extending the series is as desirable as a steel wool omelet.
“Obviously, this is our second opportunity to close this thing out and you don’t want to keep letting the series prolong,” said the Warriors’ emotional heart, Draymond Green. “So you have to come out with a killer instinct and a punch-face mentality.”
Sort of how the Cavs came out in Game 4. They unleashed record-setting numbers, stunning the Warriors with 49 points in the first quarter, 86 points in the first half, both Finals records. And they set another record with 24 made 3-point shots. The Cavs, for one game, left the Warriors a mess.
And a lot of it was physical which pleased Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue.
“I thought the first two games we were being too nice,” he said. “... Helping guys off the floor, smiling, talking to guys. Yeah, I didn’t like that. So I think [in] Game 4 trash-talk, being physical, whatever you got to do to try and get that edge to win, you got to do it.”
The Cavaliers, in virtually the same “win or it’s over” spot, played possessed and out of their minds. They were tough, they were determined. Everything they wanted to do, they did. Ev- erything the Warriors wanted to do, the Cavs denied.
“I always say the biggest adjustment in the playoffs that you make is always an emotional one,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
“You can tweak some things, but are we going to play hard? Are we going to get after it and compete? Or are we going to do what we did the other night, which is allow 3-point shooters to get open, get broken down at the point of attack, give up offensive boards?” Kerr said. “That’s up to us.”
The Warriors just need one win. The Cavs still need three. And Cleveland is trying to become the first NBA team, out of 126, to rally from a postseason 0-3 hole. No one ever has done it. But those same scenarios existed in Game 4. And yet here comes Game 5.
“We just didn’t play well at all. We didn’t give any kind of resistance in the first three minutes where they just got real comfort-
able on our miscommunication,” Stephen Curry said.
“Knowing that they’re going to try that same game plan, we just got to play with more force, energy, and just lock in defensively.”
If the Cavs can duplicate one element of their Game 4 effort — other than the 137 points thing — it would be “our physicality,” according to coach Tyronn Lue. The previously invisible Tristan Thompson was a force on the boards, J.R. Smith got something going early and Kyrie Irving made Game 4 even better than his Game 3 by scoring 40 points. And the Cavs were brutes.
“We set the tone early. We’re in, obviously, a desperate situa- tion, being down three games,” said forward Kevin Love. “Our game plan was pretty straightforward. ... I think we can definitely get similar shots and play with that sort of mentality.”
Really aren’t too many other options.
The Warriors know all this. They are in such an enviable position because they held homecourt, then gained a split in Cleveland. And then there’s the fact that they’re just darn good. So they want to end it. Now.
“You want to reward your home fans and you obviously don’t want to extend the series any longer than it has to be,” Klay Thompson said. “So you just got to take it [Monday], and it’s on us. Can’t make any excuses.”