On June 14, 2015, Game 5 between the Warriors and Cavaliers began at Oracle Arena.
There is no change in the Cavaliers' starting lineup in this game. Mozgov and TT are still starting, a twin-tower lineup.
The Warriors' side is the same as the last game, with 5 dead starters.
At the beginning, the Cavaliers first handed the ball to Mozgov in the low post and asked him to single out Green. Barnes came to help defend. Iguodala let go of James outside the three-point line and defended TT. Mozgov took the ball
The pass came out, James broke through, Iguodala stepped forward to defend, James missed the throw, and TT fouled on the offensive rebound.
Curry singled out Dellavedova and made a mistake. Looking back, James also made a mistake.
Klay missed a three-pointer when he circled around, and James missed a three-pointer when he stopped at the top of the arc. TT grabbed an offensive rebound, but he bumped into Barnes during his breakthrough layup and was fouled. The ball was returned to the Warriors.
Curry and Green pick and roll, the two flank Curry, Green catches the ball and throws it up, and Iguodala makes an alley-oop error.
The Cavaliers attacked, James wanted to beat Iguodala in the low post, and Barnes helped defend, James passed the ball, Dellavedova missed a three-pointer, and the Warriors grabbed the rebound.
Looking back, Green missed a three-pointer in the open space at the top of the arc. The Cavaliers asked Mozgov to play Iguodala in a low post. Green assisted in defense. Mozgov made a pass error and was intercepted by Curry. The Warriors launched a fast break and Klay
An easy layup and the first two points.
The game lasted for nearly three minutes, and only the Warriors scored two points. It was obvious that the Cavaliers' offense was severely restricted by the Warriors.
James once again hit Iguodala in the low post, and the Warriors helped defend. James passed the ball to Mozgov near the free throw line. Mozgov missed the mid-range shot, and TT grabbed the offensive rebound.
Dellavedova and Mozgov used a pick-and-roll, and Dellavedova broke through and hit two points with difficulty.
Iguodala missed a three-pointer in a wide open space, and Shumpert also missed a three-pointer. The Warriors made a fast break, and Curry scored two points with an easy layup.
The game lasted 4 minutes, and the two teams only hit three goals combined. The score was 4:2.
Although the point difference is not big, these 4 minutes have fully revealed the situation of the two teams. The Warriors' scoring opportunities are all open shots or layups, which are quite easy, while the Cavaliers are not good at methods, either inside.
For mid-range shots, he either had to make a difficult layup or shoot a three-pointer against someone, and even if he scored, he would barely score.
The Cavaliers attacked. Delavido pulled Mozgov and Iguodala, who wanted to pass the ball to the basket, to help defend and intercept the ball. The Warriors launched a fast break and Green dunked successfully.
James failed to make a one-on-one mid-range shot. Clay and Green came back to pick and roll. The two flanked Clay. Green followed up and dunked again!
The score became 8:2, and the Cavaliers had to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Cavaliers took down Mozgov and replaced him with Smith, and now their offense got better.
With 3 minutes and 45 seconds left in the game, Green singled out Smith in the low post, and Livingston made a cut and dunked.
When Livingston made an air cut, TT under the basket didn't notice it at all, so after the ball, the Cavaliers also replaced TT with James Jones. Blatt asked James to play center, and the Cavaliers also put on the ultimate move.
Five small lineups.
James broke through and scored 2+1. Clay made a pass error. James broke through and passed Shumpert who was open. Shumpert hit a three-pointer. The score became 17:16. The Cavaliers took the lead by one point.
Curry scored two points on a reverse run layup. James hit Green in the low post and hit two points. Curry turned around and challenged James. He raised his hand and shot. The basketball went hollow into the net. The score became 21:19, and the Warriors led by two points.
James once again missed Green in the low post, the Warriors made a mistake, and Smith singled out Curry for two points.
Barnes made a tip-in on an offensive rebound and made one of two free throws for a foul. Looking back, Shumpert also made one of two free throws for a foul. After the first quarter, the score became 22:22.
At the beginning of the second quarter, James missed Klay in a single under the basket, but grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul. The score was 2+1, helping the Cavaliers gain a three-point advantage.
The Warriors made a mistake, the Cavaliers counterattacked, Iguodala stole the ball, and Clay dunked.
Looking back, Smith made a three-pointer and the Cavaliers led by four points.
Barbosa broke through the difficult throw and succeeded, Smith came around and hit another three-pointer, but Clay used the same method to come out of the open space and hit two points.
The game continues.
The Warriors played David Lee for a long time in the second quarter and performed well on the offensive end, but their success rate in singles was a bit low.
The Warriors tightened their defense on Smith, and James succeeded in two consecutive difficult mid-range shots, allowing the Cavaliers to maintain a 7-point lead.
Curry and Green were on a pick-and-roll, Dellavedova was chasing behind him, and TT was flanking Curry. Curry forced a shot under the attack of the two, and the basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air and hit the net.
The moment Curry took the shot, TT jumped on him, and Dellavedova behind him also made physical contact with Curry. Curry fell to the ground after the basketball shot, but the referee did not say anything.
James succeeded in the low-post singles against Livingston. Curry and Green picked and rolled at the top of the arc. This time the Cavaliers chose to switch defenses. Curry made another difficult three-pointer against TT's defense. The basketball went hollow into the net again, and the score became 36:39.
, the Warriors trailed by three points.
The game continues.
Barbosa broke through and made two free throws, Iguodala made one of two free throws, Curry grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a tip-in, and the Warriors went ahead by two points.
James made one of two free throws. Curry made a pass error. James singled out Barbosa from outside the three-point line and made an emergency three-pointer. As a result, the basketball didn't touch anything and he shot an air ball.
It's obvious that James is a little tired and has insufficient physical reserves.
When Curry dribbled the ball across the midline, Dellavedova kicked the ball, but the referee did not call it. Dellavedova stole the ball and passed it to TT, causing the Warriors to foul. He made two free throws and the Cavaliers went ahead by one point.
After the timeout, Iguodala broke through James Jones at the top of the arc. James Jones was passed and directly pulled Iguodala down from behind. Iguodala fell to the ground and received two free throws.
Iguodala missed two free throws and Dellavedova missed a breakthrough. Iguodala grabbed the rebound and made a fast break. He made a layup in front of James and the Warriors went ahead by one point.
James singled out Clay, faced David Lee who was on defense, and hit two points with difficulty under the defense of two people. The Cavaliers once again took the lead by one point.
Looking back, the Warriors passed the ball, Barbosa broke through the emergency stop and hit two points, and the Warriors went ahead by one point.
James broke through and scored, Mike Miller hit a 45-degree three-pointer, and the Cavaliers went ahead by two points.
Curry missed a three-pointer in an emergency stop, but Klay's pressing caused James to commit an 8-second violation, and the ball returned to the Warriors.
Curry missed a layup, but Barnes grabbed the offensive rebound and made a tip-in, which also caused James to foul.
Barnes made a free throw and the Warriors took the lead by one point. Smith missed a long three-pointer from midfield and ended the half.
After halftime, the Warriors won by one point 51:50.
James made 8 of 15 shots, 4 of 5 free throws, 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in the first half. His performance was quite perfect.
James' most effective assistant is Smith. He made 5 of 11 shots in the half and 4 of 10 3-pointers, scoring 14 points.
The best performer for the Warriors was Curry. He made 6 of 9 shots and 3 of 4 3-pointers, scoring 15 points.
Clay made 4 of 7 shots and scored 10 points. Barbosa performed well on the bench. He made 3 of 3 shots and scored 9 points on two free throws.
James did perform well, but he was at full capacity in the first half and his physical fitness was worrying.