OAKLAND — The back-and-forth between Cleveland’s LeBron James and Golden State’s Klay Thompson that started with words on Sunday continued with a basketball and onto the court where it should be settled.
For every Thompson bucket, James had one to match. Thompson had his three-point shot falling, and actually so did James.
In a game the Cavaliers needed to win to extend their season at least one more game, James and Kyrie Irving delivered a phenomenal performances that just did that
James had 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, and Kyrie Irving added 41 points and six assists as the Cavaliers defeated the Draymond Green-less Warriors 112-97 in Game 5 on Monday.
It was the first time in Finals history that two teammates scored 40 or more points in the same game.
"Well, we just want them to be aggressive, continue to attack like we've been talking about all series," said Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue. "And they had two great games, two breakout games. We need those two guys to give us confidence early, and they both did that.
"Everyone playing in the game, everyone on the bench stayed engaged. We made some mistakes, but the guys never gave in. We never quit when they made their runs. We stuck with it after making some mistakes, and that's a tribute to the guys and just how much they wanted it. But I'm just very excited and proud of the way we scrapped and continued to play hard. That's how we've got to play. That's us."
Game 6 is Thursday in Cleveland (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
If James and Irving were too much of a two-man show in Game 4, they were the perfect two-man show the next game. Irving scored 34 points in the final three quarters and converted 17-of-24 shots from the field.
Every team that has poked James with a bit of trash talk during the playoffs has paid the price. On Sunday, Thompson said James maybe had his feelings hurt by what Green said to James near the end of Game 4.
When told what Thompson said, James laughed. He was all serious on Monday.
James, who scored 25 points in the first half, made 16-of-30 shots and scored at least 40 points in a playoff game for the 16th time in his career – the fourth time against the Warriors in the past two seasons. James performance was reminiscent of his effort against Golden State in last season’s finals.
Thompson had 37 points, Steph Curry 25 and Andre Iguodala 15, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the absence of Green, who was suspended for accumulating too many flagrant fouls in the playoffs.
"Obviously it feels good when your shot goes in. In the second half there were times I should have -- settled for too many bad shots," Thompson said. "Obviously, it's frustrating. You know, you want to win here more than anything for your fans. They deserve to see us win, but you just suck it up and move on. We're still -- like Coach said after the game, take stock. We're still in a great position. And obviously it stings real bad, but we'll come back stronger."
Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “The thought process is that we have to make up for his absence collectively. Obviously, there is not one person who can do all of that, but we're going to have to try a lot of different combination and try to find rotations that work.”
On the other side, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue wasn’t concerned with Green’s absence. “I don't care about Golden State,” Lue said. “We’ve got a fire lit too. We're down 3-1. So, I mean, that's the decision the league made, and it's unfortunate on a big stage like this.
“But that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to win the game. We've got to come out and play and take the game.”
The Oracle Arena crowd was into it from the start. Fans chanted “Free Draymond, free Draymond.” They booed James almost every time he touched the ball, and that foreboding and foreshadowing “Warriors, Warriors” chant filled the arena.
Thompson made six three-pointers and the Golden State Warriors had 11 threes in the first half. Even without Green, the Warriors sensed the moment.
Credit the Cavaliers for doing what they needed to do.
Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.
