REST OF HONOR
Extra day break aids Cleveland's Shumpert
OAKLAND, Calif — The Cavs welcomed the extra day off in between games the way a man dying of desert thirst views an oasis. And perhaps no one enjoyed it more than guard Iman Shumpert.
The former Knick has been fighting through a groin injury. In Game 3, he banged the left shoulder he had dislocated early in the season. He also required an IV transfusion before Game 4. So yeah, a little down time was nice.
“Every little bit of rest and preparation helps,” Shumpert said before Sunday’s Game 5 10491 loss to the Warriors at Oracle Arena, where feeling refreshed couldn’t prevent Cleveland from falling behind 32 in the Finals.
“He is in pretty good health, relatively speaking,” Cavs coach David Blatt said. “He’s banged up, but there’s not many guys out there that are not. To his credit, he’s played through everything, and he’s out there battling every game. He’s at every practice. And I expect the same from him going forward because that’s the kind of guy he is.”
And before the Cavs and Warriors renewed their Finals war, Shumpert insisted his shoulder was fine.
“It’s sore, but I’ll be all right,” he said.
In the end, his shooting wasn’t so fine. Shumpert went 3of9 from the floor, adding five rebounds and two steals to his 10 points.
The Warriors entered Game 5 having already hit 215 3pointers, the most by any team ever in a single postseason. They shot 12of26 in the game, boosting the total to 227. The Spurs made 203 last year. The only other team with 200 in one postseason was Orlando with 201 in 2009. ... Andre
Iguodala was set to become the fourth player to start a Finals game after having not started a single game in that season, whether regular season or playoffs. The other three: Manu Ginobili of San Antonio in 2013, the Knicks’ Marcus Camby in 1999 and Terry Teagle of the Lakers in 1991. ... Heading into Game 5, the Cavs were minus48 in the 132 minutes
J. R. Smith was on the floor. Smith was shooting 29.8 percent.
LeBron James admitted he was both pleased and not pleased over the Cavs’ shot selection in Game 4.
“Some of the shots that we got we were happy about, but some of them that we took we weren’t happy about. I think we allowed their lineup to get us out of what we did in Games 1, 2, and 3, and that was control the pace and put the ball into the post. We shot 27 3s,” James said. “So I would say half of those or even more than half were some good shots, but a few of them we wish we could have back.”