2015 NBA Playoffs
NBA Finals Game #5
#2 Cleveland Cavaliers at #1 Golden State Warriors
Best of Seven Series Tied 2-2
Oracle Arena – Oakland, California
Sunday, June 14, 2015, 8:05 pm Eastern, TV: ABC
Opening Line: Golden State -8 1/2
Current Line: Golden State -8 1/2
Opening Total: 195
Current Total: 195 1/2
Opening Money Line: Warriors -400 / Cavaliers +325
Current Money Line: Warriors -410 / Cavaliers +330
After three superhuman performances to open the NBA Finals, LeBron James had a very pedestrian game four for the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night in Cleveland. It is no surprise that the Golden State Warriors tied the series at 2-2 with a dominating 103-82 win. Now the series is best of three and Golden State will host two of those games starting with game five Sunday night in Oakland. Golden State is trying to become the sixth team in these playoffs to win a series after losing game three of a series tied 1-1.
Golden State went 67-15 and had the best record in basketball. They won the Pacific Division by 11 games over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors swept the #8 seed New Orleans Pelicans in the first round, and then beat the #5 seed Memphis Grizzlies in six games despite trailing 2-1 in the second round series. In the Western Conference Finals, Golden State beat the #2 seed Houston Rockets in five games. Golden State is in the NBA Finals for the first time since winning the championship in 1975.
Cleveland went 53-29 and won the Central Division by three games over the Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers were the #2 seed in the East, and swept the #7 seed Boston Celtics in the first round. Cleveland trailed 2-1 in the second round series against the #3 seed Bulls, but the Cavaliers won the series in six games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland swept the #1 seed Atlanta Hawks. The Cavaliers are back in the Finals for the second time and first since 2007. No Cleveland sports franchise has won a title in any sport since the Browns in 1964.
Golden State won game one at home 108-100 in overtime despite trailing by 14 early in the game. Cleveland upset Golden State 95-93 in overtime in game two to hand the Warriors only their fourth loss at home this season including playoffs. Cleveland tied the series despite playing without All-Stars forward Kevin Love who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first round against the Celtics and guard Kyrie Irving who suffered a fractured kneecap in overtime of game one. The Cavaliers would win game three at home 96-91 to take a 2-1 series lead. In the first three games, LeBron James averaged 41 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.
Golden State is coached by Steve Kerr. The Warriors are 56-44-1 ATS and the total is 44-57-1 this season. Golden State was a 4 point favorite in game four and the total was 194.5.Cleveland is coached by David Blatt. The Cavaliers are 49-51 ATS and the total is 41-58-1 this season.
For game four Kerr started a smaller line-up inserting guard Andre Iguodala in place of center Andrew Bogut. The line-up seemed to work as Golden State played with energy and desperation for the first time this series. The Warriors would take a 31-24 lead by the end of the first. In the second quarter James was fouled hard by Bogut, and James took a nasty spill head first into a camera. He had a nasty gash on the side of his head but would stay in the game. Golden State expanded the lead to 54-42 at halftime. Cleveland cut into the lead and trimmed it to three a coupe of times, but could never tie or take the lead. LeBron cut the lead to 73-70 with 34 seconds when he made one of two free throws, but Warriors guard Stephen Curry made a three to make it 76-70. That would be the score going into the fourth. Golden State pulled away in the fourth as Cleveland looked to be out of gas. The Warriors tied the series with the 21 point win.
Curry finished with 22 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal. Iguodala had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Draymond Green had 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block. Harrison Barnes had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Klay Thompson and David Lee each scored 9 points.
Cleveland shot a dreadful 33% from the field including 4/27 from 3 point range. Timofey Mozgov scored 28 points and added 10 rebounds. James had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, but was only 7/22 from the field. He was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Tristan Thompson added 12 points and 13 rebounds. Matthew Dellavedova added 10 points and 4 assists, despite battling cramping for the second straight game. No other Cavalier scored more than 5 points. Guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were a combined 4/21 from the field and 1/13 from 3 point range.
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Cleveland is outscoring teams 101-93 in the playoffs. The Cavaliers are shooting 43.6% from the field and 35.9% from 3 point range. Cleveland makes 75.5% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 41.2% from the field and 28.1% from 3 point range. Cleveland averages 46.9 rebounds per game and opponents averages 40.4 per game. The Cavaliers average 18.9 assists, 12.3 turnovers, 5.8 steals and 6.9 blocks per game. Opponents average 18.9 assists, 11.1 turnovers, 6.2 steals and 4.6 blocks per game.
The Cavaliers are banged up and certainly aren’t at full strength. LeBron James is averaging 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in the playoffs. He is probable after getting stitches after the game on Thursday. Kyrie Irving averaged 18.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Kevin Love is out for the playoffs after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the first round against the Celtics. J.R. Smith averages 13.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Iman Shumpert averages 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1 block per game. Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones will also get minutes in the rotation. Anderson Varejao is out for the season with a torn Achilles.
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Golden State is outscoring teams 104-96 in the playoffs. Golden State is shooting 46% from the field and 38% from 3 point range. The Warriors are shooting 70.3% from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting 43.1% from the field and 31% from 3 point range. Golden State averages 46.2 rebounds per game and opponents average 42.2 per game. The Warriors average 25.1 assists, 15.3 turnovers, 8 steals and 6.1 blocks per game. Opponents average 21.5 assists, 14.2 turnovers, 8.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game.
Guard Stephen Curry averages 29.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. He was named league MVP earlier in the playoffs. Klay Thompson averages 19.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He suffered a concussion in game five against the Rockets, but passed all the concussion protocols and is probable for game one. Draymond Green averages 14 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. Harrison Barnes averages 11.3 points, 5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Marreese Speights returned in game one after missing 8 games with a calf injury. Other key players in the rotation include David Lee, Andre Igoudala, Leandro Barbosa, Andrew Bogut and Shaun Livingston.
Cleveland is 5-1 ATS after allowing 100 points or more, 4-1 in road games, 8-2 on two days rest, 4-1 against teams with winning home records, 15-4 against Western Conference teams, 7-2 after failing to cover, 8-3 against Pacific teams, and 1-4 after a double digit home loss. The under is 6-1 in this series recently.
Golden State is 20-5-1 ATS one two days rest, 6-2 against Eastern Conference teams, 17-7-1 against teams with winning road records, 11-5 after a straight up win of more than 10 points, 4-9 at home, 3-7 against Central teams, and 1-7 in Sunday games. The Warriors are 11-5 ATS in the last 16 games against the Cavaliers including 6-2 in Oakland.
The two days off will help the Cavaliers who looked exhausted in game four. Still, Golden State also got two days off even though both teams had to travel back to the West Coast. Blatt needs to go deeper into his bench to give James some rest. Guys like Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, and Kendrick Perkins are all veterans who have NBA championship rings. The trio has played very sparingly if at all. James needs to play a lot better than eh did in game four, but I still don’t think it will be enough. Golden State wins a close low scoring game.
