Not from getting blown out the opening night of the season through battling a brilliant LeBron James performance in the Finals. Here's a preview and prediction for Game 5.
The addition of Kevin Durant to the Warriors was supposed to eliminate the necessity for Curry to be at his best at all times. Forward Draymond Green admitted the Warriors lacked typical focus and intensity to start Game 3, and he expected the complacency to vanish for Game 5.
James, who finished the series averaging the first triple-double in the history of the final, had 42 points and Kyrie Irving had 26 but was slowed by some kind of back issue and was scoreless in the fourth quarter. With 3:33 left in the first quarter, the Cavaliers had a 31-25 edge, a lead which the Warriors have proven they can erase in the blink of an eye. That drew the attention of all three of the Warriors' weak-side defenders. His five-straight 30+ point games earned him the MVP award.
The Warriors enter Game 5 as heavy favorites - 8.5 points, according to the touts in Las Vegas - and rightfully so.
"Not taking into account the spread, I think the Warriors will win tonight", Sherman said. "But then that was far from the truth". I'm the emotional leader of this team. When I say something, I've thought about what I'm going to say before I say it.
Andre Iguodala has scored 13 of Golden State's 28 bench points to help the Warriors to a 98-93 lead heading into the final quarter. James ran the exact same play wth Thompson and it led to a corner three from J.R. Smith. Teams throughout National Basketball Association playoff history, starting with the first round, are 126-0 when having a 3-0 lead. As the Warriors learned, James and the rest of the Cavs can make a series lead vanish if you let them.
"We won three games in a row in the Finals, 15 in a row overall", Green said. Curry had 12 for the Warriors, but they were 2-of-7 from three.
After two blowout contests to start the Finals, the Cavaliers and Warriors finally lived up to its billing.
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Up until that run, the Cavaliers had played a great half. "They're so fast, they get out in transition".
The Cavs were shaky early, but got back into it with their defense.
"When we were there past year I think I looked at him and said: 'Let's just never do this again".
Bryant believes that in order to stop a player of LeBron's quality, you have to believe you can hold him to zero points. Making the adjustment will give Cleveland the opportunity to get looks for other players if they swing the ball around the arc. "We did that Game 4 and we got to have that same type of effort and even more in Game 5".
But it seems like an even more improbable task than it did past year. Unfortunately, that isn't the case and the Cavs are still in a huge whole that will take two at least two wins on the road to overcome. "Our mindset is to go out there and get one (victory and build from there)".
The Cavs have tried to attack and defend Curry the same way this series as they did a year ago, except it largely hasn't worked.
J.R. Smith hit another 3-pointer and LeBron James scored on a hard putback to help Cleveland cut a deficit that was 17 in the second quarter to eight, 86-77, with five minutes to play in the third quarter.
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