With James leading, Cavs will keep cool

LeBron James keeps his cool under pressure, and that gives the Cavaliers an edge over the Warriors, who have had blowups in tense situations in recent seasons, Mark Podolski writes.

We’ve seen this act before.

Now the question is if the Warriors can control their emotions, and not let the hold they have on the NBA Finals continue to slip away.

Again, here the Cavaliers and Warriors are — in a high-stakes Game 5 with everything on the line.

Just like last season’s Finals, it’s win or they’re done for the Cavaliers.

For the Warriors, it’s win or they face traveling back across the country for a Game 6 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Golden State wants none of that. The Cavs will take whatever they can get.

One thing was proven in last year’s NBA Finals — when it’s do or die and the pressure is on it’s been the Cavs, not the Warriors, who have stood the tallest.

Which brings us to Game 5 on June 12, and two big questions: Which marquee player will deliver and which one will keep his cool in a game of high stakes?

Who’s got Stephen Curry, who fouled out, then was ejected from Games 6 in last season’s Finals for throwing his mouthpiece, which accidentally hit a fan?

Who’s got LeBron James, who’s averaged a triple-double in the first four games of this year’s Finals?

It’s James with a slam dunk. Those Finals averages are a staggering 31.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists. Yet there isn’t an NBA player who takes more heat — whether he deserves it or not — than James.

He might not make every key shot at the biggest moment, but no player does. What he rarely, if ever, does is lose his cool on the court.

We’ve seen Curry unravel on the court.

All of that might not matter if the Cavs’ hot shooting continues. It netted all the headlines from their Game 4 victory, but a bigger factor was the physicality Cleveland brought to the court.

It clearly bothered the Warriors, and Coach Steve Kerr said so after Game 4.

“(The physicality) benefited the Cavs tonight, for sure,” said Kerr after Game 4. “I don’t think they’re necessarily a more physical team, but they were the aggressors, they came out, hit us first, and they deserved to win because of that physicality and aggressiveness.”

Kevin Love — yeah that Kevin Love (it wasn’t an imposter) — upset another Kevin — the Warriors’ Durant — with a hard foul to the Warriors star’s head. Moments later when the officials were reviewing the play, Durant and James began an exchange that got a bit heated.

From that moment, the series changed, or at least the feel of it did.

The Warriors’ look of invincibility was altered to one that looked a bit rattled. The tape doesn’t lie.

Even when the Cavs got physical, they kept their cool — and kept shooting.

No one should expect another 24 shots made by the Cavaliers from 3-point range to fall in Game 5. If they get half, that’s a nice start.

Everyone should expect the Cavs to keep being physical with the Curry, Durant and Co. It’s the way to go, but just be cool about it. Follow James’ lead.

Keep it clean, but go after Draymond Green. Dish out what he gives on most nights. It’s a pretty good bet if prodded, Green will lose his cool.

There’s no tomorrow in Cleveland, so push Green’s buttons at every opportunity. Maybe it’s time someone knocked Curry on his

behind as well.

History is on the Cavaliers’ side. We saw it unfold last season when Green was suspended for Game 5 of the Finals. It opened the door for the Cavs to bury the Warriors, and the rest was history as Golden State blew its 3-1 series lead.

We saw it in Game 6 with Curry.

These Warriors have more talent as a unit than the Cavaliers. But if Game 5 becomes a mind game, advantage Cleveland.

Especially because history has also shown James is always in control of his emotions.

Game 5 has the makings of getting chippy. If so, advantage Cavaliers.

The emotion James showed going face to face with Durant wasn’t a throwback to a Larry Bird-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stare down in the 1984 Finals, but it showed he and the Cavs won’t go quietly from this series.

That’s because Cleveland brought the physicality in Game 4, and the Warriors weren’t ready for it.

Doing the same in Game 5 might be the only way to bring the Finals back to The Q.

RON SCHWANE — ASSOCIATED PRESS LeBron James walks to the bench during Game 3 against the Golden State Warriors.