The Golden State Warriors didn’t put their foot off the gas pedal this time around, as they blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala were red hot from the field as they each scored 22 points for Golden State, and Lebron James turned in another solid performance (albeit in a loss) for the Cavaliers by almost tallying another triple-double on Thursday.
It’s now a best-of-three series with both teams tied at two games apiece in the NBA Finals. Who will come out on top in the ever so crucial Game 5 matchup at Oracle Arena this coming Sunday? Read on as we analyze and predict the upcoming showdown between the two clubs battling it out for the chance to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
And right after this, why not check in on the predictions of some other analysts for the upcoming game? Head over here to find out what the experts have to say about Game 5 of this exciting series.
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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors Game 5 Preview
Series Scores and Schedule
Game 1 – June 4, 9:00 PM ET– Cleveland Cavaliers 100 at Golden State Warriors 108 (OT)
Game 2 – June 7, 9:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers 95 at Golden State Warriors 93 (OT)
Game 3 – June 9, 9:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors 91 at Cleveland Cavaliers 96
Game 4 – June 11, 9:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors 103 at Cleveland Cavaliers 82
Game 5* – June 14, 9:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers (+8.5) at Golden State Warriors (-8.5); total: 195.5 – view all NBA lines
Game 6*– June 16, 9:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers
Game 7* – June 19, 9:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors
*If necessary
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers
Fueled by muscle and hustle, LeBron James once again mustered every ounce of strength that he had to try and put the Cavaliers up by two games in the series. Unfortunately, James’ best wasn’t enough to win Game 4 even with his 20 points, 12 boards and eight assists. This is the first game in the series that he failed to hit the 30-point barrier.
[sc:NBA240banner ]The King also suffered quite a scare and almost “broke his crown” in the first half. He sustained a cut to his head when he crashed into a camera after a foul by Golden State’s Andrew Bogut.
James would be alright though as he still played for the majority of the game, but clearly his shots weren’t falling as well as before the injury. He finished the game by going 7-of-22 from the floor and hit only half of his 10 free throw attempts.
The lack of support for James got the better of the Cavaliers again. Matthew Dellavedova, Game 3’s unlikely hero, only had 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. And J.R. Smith still couldn’t find his shooting stroke in Game 4, as he mostly just kept on shooting his own team in the foot with his poor decisions on offense. Smith finished with just four points on 2-of-12 shooting, and missed all of his eight attempts from downtown. The Warriors also outscored Cleveland by 27 points in Game 4 when Smith was on the floor.
If there’s a silver lining to Cleveland’s loss though, is that their frontcourt tandem of Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson is still dominating inside, as both players tallied double-doubles on Thursday. Mozgov led his team with 28 points (going 10-of-12 from the free-throw line) and 10 boards. Thompson finished with 12 points and 13 boards.
Cleveland has got to keep feeding their twin towers in the paint instead of relying on their outside shooting. In Game 4, the Cavs shot 6-for-45 (13.3%) from outside the paint, by far their worst shooting performance this season from beyond the painted area. Mozgov has not had a game in this series where he shot below .500, and Thompson is averaging 13 rebounds a game in the Finals himself.
The Warriors started the game and mostly stuck with their smaller lineups on Thursday. The Cavaliers must counter that with more plays in the post for their bigs in Game 5. If Golden State continues to go small, Cleveland needs to convert on much more efficient shot attempts down low.
It was only a matter of time before Stephen Curry went ballistic again. The league MVP carried over his hot shooting streak from the second half of Game 3 into Thursday’s game, as he finished Game 4 with 22 points (8-of-17 from the field) and six assists, including going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. Curry helped the Warriors avoid their first three-game losing streak of the entire season.
The Warriors also got a big boost from Andre Iguodala, who was inserted into the starting lineup in place of struggling Andrew Bogut. Golden State head coach Steve Kerr has got to be pleased with his decision to go small early on in Game 4, as Iggy finished with 22 points and hit four threes just like Curry did.
Not only did Iguodala provide firepower on offense this Thursday, but he played stellar one-on-one defense against James yet again. LeBron shot just 4-of-14 in Game 4 with Iguodala guarding him on D and is now 18-of-54 in the series.
And the stats may not be very eye-popping, but Golden State also got solid contributions from two key bench players. David Lee chipped in with nine points and five rebounds in just 15 minutes of play, and Shaun Livingston had seven points, eight boards and four dimes of his own.
Both Lee and Livingston were instrumental in keeping Golden State’s starters fresh, and they also served as viable options on offense. Livingston in particular was quite an intangible force playing at forward for the smaller lineups of the Warriors in Game 4. The Dubs scored 25 more points with him on the court.
The depth of the Warriors’ roster has been critical to their success the entire season, so look for more of their bench players to step up in the games ahead.
Golden State now brings the series back to Oracle Arena in Oakland, where the Warriors are 8-2 in the playoffs and 47-4 including the regular season.
Writer’s Prediction
The Warriors win 112-96 and move one game closer to becoming the 2015 NBA champions.
