Early in the broadcast of Game 5 on Monday night, ESPN ran a graphic noting that Draymond Green had been the only Golden State Warriors player to feature in all 88 of their wins, regular season and play-offs, this year.
He is still the only Warrior to appear in every Golden State victory.
It might be going a bit too far to directly chalk up the Cleveland Cavaliers’ do-or-die 15-point win to Green’s absence. Golden State’s defence definitely suffered some, and spiritually there just seemed to be a “void”, as Shaun Livingston put it, without him.
But the Cavs, behind Kyrie Irving and LeBron James combining for the first dual 40-point games by teammates in NBA Finals history, were at another level. Green, suspended for his bizarre, sudden turn as the Luis Suarez of groin shots, almost certainly couldn’t have accounted for it solely himself.
More from the NBA Finals:
• Jonathan Raymond: Golden State Warriors know who they are, and it is better than Cleveland Cavaliers
• Game 5 report: Golden State affected by Draymond Green 'void' as Cleveland keep NBA Finals alive
Every long LeBron pull-up, every herk-and-jerk Irving turnaround, every LeBron charge to the rim and every Irving dribble-jab step-back seemed to go in. If they tried it, it worked in Game 5.
That, sometimes, is going to be basketball. The Cavaliers hit just about everything in sight in Game 3, when they won by 30. They did it again in Game 5.
Cleveland didn’t change the way they have played. Not really. There was little ball movement, although they were more controlled in their drives into the middle, and exploited that space for better looks. They didn’t suddenly go back to a threes-heavy attack (24 attempts), though they made them count for more (41.7 per cent).
No, James (16-of-30) and especially Irving (17-of-24) just basically couldn’t miss.
“That was special,” LeBron said in the post-game interview with Doris Burke of Irving’s performance. “That will go down in the all-time greatest performances in finals history by my point guard. He was spectacular tonight.”
Could Green have really denied that? All of that? Realistically, he might have been able to slow down or trouble LeBron more, but Irving was feeling it, Golden State's shot collectively went in the tank in the second half and Green or no Green, that very probably was a game for Cleveland whatever the case.
The Cavs shot 53 per cent as a team in Game 5. They shot 52.7 per cent when they won Game 3. The Warriors have managed to win games with shooting percentages of 40.7 and 49.4 (they won Game 2 shooting 54.3 per cent).
That’s a pretty key difference, and Cleveland’s offence even on Monday night still relied almost exclusively on the individual playmaking skills of James and Irving. That can win you games, obviously, but if 50-plus per cent shooting is what it’s going to take to win the next two and steal these finals, the Cavs are still staring up at a pretty tall mountain of a task.
“We just happy we got another day,” James said after the game, subtly acknowledging the chasm that still lies between this victory and his team actually winning the finals.
Compare that with Green's attitude. According to teammate Harrison Barnes, he texted the squad after the loss and said "winning it the next game is going to be most satisfying".
Arrogant, no doubt. But the Warriors, if you haven’t noticed by now, are pretty arrogant. That tends to come with the relentless, nearly ceaseless winning they’ve done over the past two seasons.
As James and Irving nailed shot after shot, the Warriors were an abysmal 3-of-21 from three in the second half. Barnes and Stephen Curry, in particular, were bricking shots that couldn’t have been more wide open if they were taken in an empty gym.
Barnes finished 2-of-14, Curry 8-of-21. Klay Thompson’s excellent, shoot-from-the-hip, 37-point night was for naught.
But looking at the broader picture, what we saw in Game 5 was Cleveland on their best shooting night yet, Golden State on their worst (36.4 per cent) and with their best defensive player (and no unimportant part of their offence) watching from a suite next door at a baseball game.
Does that feel particularly like the indications of a massive turning tide in this series? Green may not have been able to make the difference the way this game went, but it’s probable he’ll be that significant a factor in at least one of the next two.
So Game 5, in a way, feels a bit more like a respite rather than a reprieve for the Cavaliers.
And if the Warriors are to reach win No 89, it’s probably only right that Green will be on the floor for it.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
