NBA Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers benefit from Draymond Green absence but Game 6 won’t be the same

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving scored 41 points each to lead all scorers and steer the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 112-97 win over the Golden State Warriors. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 37 points.  The series now heads back to the home court of the Cleveland Cavaliers where LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have the chance to tie it at 3 games a piece. No team in the history of the NBA Finals has managed to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win, and only two teams have ever been able to take it to the seventh game.

This Game 5 was do-or-die for the Cavaliers, especially for LeBron James who would have lost 5 NBA Finals had the Warriors managed to win at home. The Oracle Arena is considered to be one of the most raucous and have the loudest fans, and the 2016 NBA Championship is Oklahoma’s to lose. And now that seems to be a very real possibility.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving outscored Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. While Thompson played well, Curry shot only 8 for 21 to score 25 points. Their missed 3s when they had open shots in the Fourth Quarter and when they went scoreless for almost five minutes, was when they lost the game.

But the most important talking point about this game was the suspension of Draymond Green, the Warriors power forward, and biggest cheerleader of the team.

In a move that many have called “embarrassing” and “unsportsmanlike”, Lebron James in the press conference after Game 4, explained to the media in very specific terms what Draymond Green said to him on the court. It was during a play that saw LeBron James step over a fallen-down Draymond Green, and a retaliation by Green who proceeded to swing at James.  Many commentators and fans have opined that LeBron James shouldn’t have “snitched” to the media, and argued that it was the “snitching” that led to the league suspending Draymond Green for Game 5.

Mychal Thompson, a radio commentator for the Los Angeles Lakers former 2-time Champion with the Showtime Lakers, and father of Klay Thompson articulated as much.

“Are we this PC (Politically Correct) that we can’t trash talk on the court?” he said “ Are you freaking kidding me? Who complains to the media after being called a name?” He also added that although he respected the abilities of Lebron James as a player, he didn’t care too much about the entitled way that James sometimes acts, like he is supposed to get everything he wants.

Rick Barry, a former NBA Champion and All-Star blamed the media for the suspension that the League imposed on Draymond Green, especially on the back of Draymond’s tussle and kicking the groin of Steven Adams, the Oklahoma City Thunder Centre during the Western Conference Finals.

This Game had that special feel to it. It would have been such a disappointment and an anti-climax had the Cleveland Cavaliers lost, especially after the hype leading up to these Finals. A repeat of last year’s Finals, a more competitive down-to-the-wire Game 7 Finals, reminiscent of the past years’ Lakers v Celtics, and from three years ago Heat v Spurs, had been predicted by many. But with a comfortable 3-1 lead heading into their home court where they’d only lost 3 games all season, the Warriors were expected to clinch the Championship, even with the absence of Draymond Green.

LeBron James had to show up and perform at the highest level. And either Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, or both, had to play just as good. The embarrassment of a loss and a repeat Championship for the Warriors after that tainted events of the past 36 hours would have demolished the energy and most importantly, the legacy of LeBron James. And that’s exactly what they did. Lebron and Kyrie were phenomenal. The Warriors just could not stop them. One might argue that the absence of Draymond Green cleared the lanes for LeBron to attack the hoop, but on such incredible form and shooting, one doubts the outcome would have been a different one.

Bill Simmons, sports writer and commentator extraordinaire, formerly of Grantland and now The Ringer,  tweeted after the game that “LeBron played 75 percent of his greatest game and the Kyrie took over the other 25 percent.”

LeBron played 75 percent of his greatest game and then Kyrie took over the other 25 percent.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 14, 2016

It adds to the drama of these Finals. What a story it would be if the Cleveland Cavaliers were to come back from 3-1 down to win. They would have to win the next two games, the first at home, and the decider at the Warriors’ home court. It has never been done, but how remarkable and amazing it would be for LeBron James especially.