CURRY POWER
Curry erupts in fourth, helps Warriors push LeBron to LeBrink
OAKLAND, Calif — When it mattered most in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors evolved into LeBron James against Stephen Curry.
And as brilliant as James was, Curry was better.
Curry scored 17 of his teamhigh 37 points in the fourth quarter and the Warriors moved to within one win of a championship with a 104- 91 victory for a 3- 2 Finals lead at Oracle Arena.
“That was just Steph being Steph,” said coach Steve Kerr. “I felt this was Steph’s night. He took over the game down the stretch. He was fantastic.”
James was triple- double brilliant again. But even his brilliance wasn’t enough. And other than in the fantasy of Bugs Bunny cartoons, one- man teams really don’t exist.
James got help early, precious little late. The Warriors got gamelong offensive brilliance from the likes of Curry, stout defense throughout the night from Andre Iguodala and contributions from just about everywhere, including 16 points from Draymond Green, 14 from Iguodala and 13 from Leandro Barbosa off the bench. They can get that title- clinching win Tuesday in Cleveland.
“We knew we had to respond because we knew they were going to come after us with everything they had,” Curry said of taking the 3- 2 lead.
James finished with 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting 15- of- 34 in 45 minutes. At the point the Warriors began to sniff victory — or the Cavs started smelling defeat — with 2: 44 left as a Curry 3- pointer pushed the Warriors up 10 points, 96- 86, James had scored 13 of Cleveland’s 19 fourth quarter points. Curry delivered the dagger with a 3- pointer that made it 100- 89, part of a game- closing 19- 7 run.
Cleveland also got 19 points from Tristan Thompson. J. R. Smith scored 14 points — all in the first half.
James reached his 14th career playoff triple double, sixth in a Finals and second in these Finals, when he assisted on an Iman Shumpert ( 10 points) 3- pointer with 9: 35 left in the fourth quarter. James’ 10th assist of the night led to a 75- 75 game.
The Warriors, again with a superb effort from their second unit, outscored Cleveland, 13- 4, in the last 4: 36 of the third quarter to take a 73- 67 lead entering the fourth. Barbosa, with a driving finger roll and two free throws, scored the last four Warriors points in the period while the Cavs managed one Tristan Thompson free throw.
The Warriors went with their small lineup and the pace again was quicker and to their liking. And it also got Iguodala on James.
“He’s got the most experience guarding LeBron on our team. He’s pretty much had that job since he’s entered the league,” Kerr said. “So he’s got the experience, but it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve played against him, it’s still a huge job and you want to have your best defender on him, and Andre is our best. So that’s the idea. Get him on there as soon as we can.”
But covering and stopping are vastly different. And James found help early, largely in the form of Smith. Actually, James found the help that gave him the help. By halftime, James was nearing yet another triple- double: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists.
And the Warriors small- ball sent the Cavs adjusting the same way. Center Timofey Mozov was sitting before five minutes expired. And the Cavs started the second half with three guards: Smith, Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova joining James and Tristan Thompson.
But small, medium or large, James was the center of everything. His drives and kicks led to assists on all seven Cleveland 3- pointers in the first half. By halftime he had scored or assisted on 40 of the Cavs’ 51 points.
Still, the Warriors led, 51- 50, at the break. Curry had a terrific half, scoring 15 on 6- of- 9 shooting, including 3- of- 4 on 3s. Golden State held a wide shooting edge ( 54.1 percent to 41.5). So as well as Iguodala played, he had his mitts full. James is a brick wall to begin with, but Iguodala stressed the importance of mental preparation when facing the best player on Earth.
On Saturday, James delivered a public appeal to Smith ( something he no doubt told him in private). Shoot all you want and live with the misses. All the Cavs will live with the misses. But none can live with Smith dropping his head, James said.
So Smith, who entered the night as a minus- 48 when he was on the floor, lifted his head, elevated his shooting arm and raised the Cavs. Here was the help James required. Smith scored 14 points in the first half, hitting 4- of- 10 3s.
But J. R. Smith is J. R. Smith and he also picked up a flagrant foul in the first quarter, decking Green while fighting through a screen.