Despite another triple-double game from LeBron James (40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists), the Cleveland Cavaliers still fell to the Golden State Warriors 104-91 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Golden State is now one win away from their first NBA title in 40 years, thanks to league-MVP Stephen Curry’s 37-point performance on Sunday.
But all hope is not yet lost for the Cavaliers, as they will look to force a Game 7 when they travel back to Quicken Loans Arena for Game 6 on Tuesday. Can Cleveland still even the series to set-up a do-or-die game on Friday, or will the Warriors finally wrap up their NBA season on the top of the summit?
Read on to see what the experts have to say about the upcoming match, and head over here afterwards for our own preview and prediction for Game 6.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Experts Predictions for Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Game 6
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 91 at Golden State Warriors 104
Game 6 – June 16, 9:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors (-4.5) at Cleveland Cavaliers (+4.5); total: 195.0 – view all NBA lines
Game 7* – June 19, 9:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors
*If necessary
Rant Sports
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Jerry Landry | Golden State wins |
Jerry Landry of Rant Sports predicts that Golden State will ultimately win the series in Cleveland in Game 6 behind a 40-point performance from Stephen Curry.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Game 5 saw Curry go for 37 points on 7-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc. A 40-point game from him in Game 6 is not far from being a possibility especially since he’s looking to close out the series on Tuesday as an NBA champion.
Landry also believes that James will record his third triple-double of the series in Game 6 by halftime. That may sound very absurd, but James was very close to accomplishing this feat in Game 5 where he had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists before halftime. Even more so, the King either scored or assisted in 16 out of Cleveland’s 17 field goals in the first half.
Sports Chat Place
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Mark Roberts | Golden State wins |
| Peter | Cleveland wins |
The two contributors from Sports Chat Place were split on who will come out victorious in Game 6.
Mark Roberts sided with the Warriors — putting emphasis on their tremendous effort in scoring as a team. Golden State hit a series-best 48 percent of its field goals in Game 5, while Cleveland finished the game by just going 39 percent from the floor. The Warriors have won all three of their games in this year’s Finals where they shot for over 44 percent from the field.
Andre Iguodala continues to put up great numbers for Golden State’s balanced offense in his second start of the season. He tallied 14 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals in 42 solid minutes on Tuesday. Iggy has to work on his shooting stroke from the charity stripe though, as he only went 2-for-11 from the free-throw line in that game.
Roberts’ fellow writer, Peter, went with Cleveland to win Game 6 seeing that it’s LeBron’s last game this season to put on a show in front of his hometown. But in order for that to happen, the Cavaliers must get more out of their supporting cast like Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith.
Thompson bagged his third-straight double-double with 19 points and 10 boards on Sunday, and was integral in the smaller lineup that the Cavaliers tried against the Warriors. Surprisingly, however, the Warriors scored 22 more points while Thompson was on the floor for the Cavaliers.
J.R. Smith also pitched in with 14 points and seven rebounds in Game 6, but went cold and scoreless in the second half. Smith has by far been the most inconsistent player on Cleveland’s roster. At the same time, he can be the much-needed X-factor for Cleveland’s offense once he gets in his shooting groove.
If Cleveland’s head coach David Blatt can come up with a lineup that will get everybody involved and not have James do all the work on offense, then the Cavaliers can certainly beat the Warriors at their own game on Tuesday and still force a Game 7.
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Top Bet
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Top Bet | Cleveland covers |
We here at Top Bet think that the series will go the distance as the Cavaliers will win Game 6 at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland should be able to get more out of Matthew Dellavedova on Tuesday, as he is averaging 15.7 points in his past three games at home where he was a starter. The Aussie has been a non-factor as of late though, as he only pitched in 15 points on 22 percent shooting for Games 4 and 5 combined.
Another player that should look to contribute more minutes and numbers for Cleveland in Game 6 is Timofey Mozgov. Mozgov led all Cleveland scorers in Game 4 with his 28 points, but only had just one measly steal in nine minutes of play in Game 5.
Mozgov’s limited minutes were justified by Cleveland’s insistence on Sunday to go small and keep up to speed with the Warriors’ own smaller lineups. But the Cavs still lost that game, and should reconsider getting more points in the paint through Mozgov in Game 6. The hulking Russian has not shot below .500 in the first four games of the Finals, but went 0-for-1 in Game 5 before bowing out of the rotation.
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