Cavaliers at Warriors
The injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers may have to dig into their bench
for reinforcements when they face the host Golden State Warriors in
Sunday's Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The losses of forward Kevin Love
(shoulder) and point guard Kyrie Irving (knee) have left Cleveland
short-handed but the series is tied at two games apiece after Golden
State emerged victorious with a 103-82 rout in Game 4.
Cavaliers coach David Blatt has been reluctant to play more than seven or eight players but star forward LeBron James not-so-subtly hinted that veterans such as Mike Miller (14 minutes in the series) and Shawn Marion (no action) need to see playing time so the starters can get more rest. "That's the coach's decision if he decides he wants to go deeper in the bench," James said at a press conference. "We haven't played many guys throughout this playoff run. I think it would help some of the guys that are playing some high minutes for sure -- just give guys a couple minutes here, a couple minutes there." One of the more valuable players in the series is Golden State guard Andre Iguodala, who started for the first time all season in Game 4 and had 22 points while holding James to a series-low 20. "You understand how hard it really is just to win a game, and you take it one game at a time," Iguodala told reporters. "The flow has changed. You make so many adjustments, your mind's just always locked in on a task and you learn how mentally strong you have to be in order to just win a game and not just a series."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: James is averaging 35.8 points in the series despite a miserable 7-for-22 shooting effort in Game 4 that drops his series percentage to 38.8. Guards Matthew Dellavedova (3-of-14), J.R. Smith (2-of-12) and Iman Shumpert (2-of-9) all had dismal shooting performances in Game 4 with Smith missing all eight 3-point attempts as Cleveland was 4-of-27 from behind the arc. "We don't have many options as far as lineups we can to go, but we can make adjustments," James said. "That's what you do throughout a series."
ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Iguodala's surprise start moved center Andrew Bogut to the bench and Bogut played just three minutes while forward David Lee remained part of the rotation after providing a spark in Game 3. But outside of Iguodala's contributions, the best sight for Golden State was seeing point guard Stephen Curry shoot 4-of-7 from 3-point range and the league MVP has scored 39 points over the last five quarters. "Obviously, you never lose your confidence," Curry said at his press conference. "You understand there is a lot of series left, and a lot of opportunity to turn it around."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors F/C Draymond Green moved into the middle due to the smaller Game 4 lineup and had his best outing of the series with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
2. Cleveland C Timofey Mogzov has 28 points and 10 rebounds in Game 4 for his second double-double of the series.
3. Golden State SG Klay Thompson is averaging 11.5 points over the past two after averaging 27.5 in the first two.