THE SCORE was 112-96, time left: 2 minutes. It came as no surprise after it was reported from ringside that many yellow-shirted fans had started leaving the over-filled Oracle Arena, home of the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. The report was, in fact, more than a couple of minutes overdue.
Home fans, who showed up raring for a championship fiesta, gave up on their team with still a little over four minutes left in Game Five of the NBA Finals.
Golden State, very much in the contest in the first half that ended with the rival squads knotted at 61-all, took it on the chin in the entire second half when it was outshot, outrun, out-jumped, overpowered, summarily conquered. The Warriors, either stunned or weary, showed very little, or none of the big heart that had pushed them out of a 3-1 grave in the previous West Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Hollow and soft in the middle, Golden State was made to realize the Finals play-offs have been upgraded overnight to a no-smile big-boys’ league that gives premium on heart, hustle, all-around toughness.
Suddenly, there was the great LeBron James of old, sharp, brilliant and unforgiving on both ends of the court.
He got heckled, booed, maligned each time he would get the ball. But with the one-game compulsory sidelining of Draymond Green, Golden State’s spiritual leader and defense staff chief, James indulged in a game-long scoring fiesta that wholeheartedly lit up the Cleveland bench.
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Maybe the Golden State devotees who stayed until the final buzzer wanted to make sure this was indeed the real LeBron James?
Suddenly, it was again easy to say nice things about James, who had allowed himself to be caged, limited and criticized in the earlier games of the current Finals.
Everybody who saw the original James back was one in saying he was good as brand new. He was also great, even magical from behind the arc.
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Of course, credit for extending the Finals to a sixth game should equally be shared by the phenomenal Kyrie Irving, who matched LeBron’s magnificent 41-point output in Game Five. James would call the Irving performance one of the greatest he has ever seen live.
Klay Thompson had 37 points (six 3-pointers) and Steph Curry scored 25 points (5 threes) but what clearly deflated the Warriors starting the third quarter was the swarming sustained physical defense of the Cavaliers.
On the other hand, the Warriors were a leaderless unit that easily got bullied, choked or scattered in a futile bid to catch up, no thanks to the absence of Green.
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Warriors coach Steve Kerr, unfazed, said he likes their position a lot better than that of the Cavaliers.
Golden State, up 3-2, could still wrap it on Friday in Cleveland.
James however sounded as though nothing could push or clog him off the original great-game plateau he has reclaimed.
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It’s like this. James in Game Five was left wholly free, with nobody willing to come near or confront him upon possession.
With Green’s return, it promises to be lot different for LeBron. Like it or not, the spotlight will be on the James-Green confrontation, which promises to be a real thriller.
This monumental match-up promises to be the deciding mano-a-mano in the now very exciting NBA Finals.