Cleveland Cavaliers Stave off Elimination Behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving

Thanks to 82 combined points from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, the Cleveland Cavaliers stave off elimination to force a Game 6 in Cleveland

In the 72 hours since the Golden State Warriors triumphed in Cleveland last Friday, the series took a dramatic turn off the court.

The common foul committed by Draymond Green had been changed to a flagrant one, which put the enigmatic forward over the limit and suspended him for Game 5.

Down 3-1, the Cleveland Cavaliers were now given a slight crack in the window for what would be a historical comeback. Green, as he has for nearly every team, has caused issues for the Cavaliers throughout the series.

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Even while entering Oracle Arena, it seemed as if the Cavs were tempting basketball fate one more time. The team opted to wear their alternate black uniforms for an elimination game, a move that would have been seen as a poor judgement call had their season met its funeral on Monday night.

Instead, the Warriors found themselves struggling against a superb defensive performance by LeBron James. The forward made his presence known throughout the game on both ends of the floor to capitalize on the Warrior’s lack of firepower without Green.

James numbers when facing elimination are spectacular and his Game 5 performance was no different. LeBron finished with 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. Throughout the night, he found his mark from the field as well as finished authoritatively on his drives to the basket.

Kyrie Irving‘s efficient shooting helped to balance the workload. He shot 17 of 24 for his own impressive 41 to help lift Cleveland past the Warriors.

Golden State found themselves in deeper trouble in the third quarter when Andrew Bogut left the game with what was later declared a sprained knee.

Stephen Curry had a cool 25 points despite struggling from the three-point line, hitting only 5-14 from beyond the arc.

Klay Thompson had 37 points; more points than he has had in the previous four games combined.

Andre Iguodala found himself in the starting lineup for Green, providing a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Even so, the Cleveland Cavaliers finished the third quarter ahead by seven after being tied at halftime.

To put the value of James and Irving’s performance into perspective, the Warriors were still behind even thought they out-rebounded the Cavaliers 43-41.

Added into that, Kevin Love had paltry numbers with only two points and three rebounds in 33 minutes.

The animosity before the game reached its peak prior to Game 5. Aside from the situation with Green, the Warrior’s Thompson fired barbs at James in stating that he didn’t understand why the Cavalier’s star had “his feelings hurt” over in-game trash talk.

James refused to respond to Thompson’s statement, claiming that he was taking the high road.

The statement incited a viral response from Ayesha Curry, who felt that James was being hypocritical in saying he was taking the high road after blatantly disrespecting Green in Game 4 in stepping over him in the play that led to the latter’s suspension.

While the Cavaliers may be riding high on their victory, they still have their work cut out for them.

The Cavs will still be facing elimination when the series returns to Cleveland on Thursday for Game 5, and Green will be back in the line-up for the Warriors.

In their favor is the fact that they have proven during the series that they can compete and win against the defending champions, even when the latter is at full strength.

For the Warriors, the opportunity to close-out the Cavs on the road is one they can’t afford to let slip away. They still have the commanding lead and Game 5 would be forgotten if they were to celebrate a championship on their opponents floor again.

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