Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 5 vs. Cavaliers

Following their disappointing loss in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, here are five takeaways for the Golden State Warriors heading into a pivotal Game 6.

It’s official. With the Golden State Warriors suffering a 15-point loss — just their fourth defeat at Oracle Arena during the 2015-16 campaign — in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, Draymond Green owes his teammates a performance for the ages in Game 6.

Coming off a monumental road victory in Game 4, the Dubs had all the momentum. They had a 3-1 series lead, they had LeBron James‘ number once again and they had a chance to close out the series in their own building, where they boasted a 50-3 record.

We all know what happened from there: Green’s crotch shot on LeBron was upgraded to a Flagrant 1, earning him enough flagrant foul points for a Game 5 suspension.

Everyone from Klay Thompson to Marreese Speights to Ayesha Curry started talking trash, LeBron internalized all of it like a cyborg receiving his search-and-destroy coordinates, and he and Kyrie Irving came out in Terminator mode with a combined 82 points to stave off elimination in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 5 victory.

Now the series heads back to Ohio after Stephen Curry and a motivated Warriors team completely fell apart in the second half, failing to clinch another championship in front of their home fans. Here’s a look at five takeaways from Game 5 heading into a pivotal Game 6 that could change the narrative of this series.

Next: No. 5

5. Bogut’s Health Will Have An Impact

When Andrew Bogut went down with a knee sprain in the third quarter, holding his leg and writhing in pain after landing awkwardly from a block on J.R. Smith, the Warriors were down three with 10:07 left to play in the period.

From that point on, the Dubs were outscored by a 45-33 margin and dropped their best chance to close out the 2016 NBA Finals on their home court.

Though Golden State’s starting center was reportedly putting weight on his left leg after the game, Tuesday’s MRI will reveal the full extent of the damage. More than likely, however, a hyperextension of that nature — especially to a seven-footer — is not a great sign.

Full disclosure: I’m not a doctor. Nobody on NBA Twitter last night was a doctor, except for, you know, actual real life doctors who just so happen to be on Twitter and enjoy professional basketball.

In any case, the point still stands: We can’t — and shouldn’t — jump to conclusions until the results of the MRI are revealed.

But as much as it sucks for Bogut, especially if his injury requires a significant surgery or rehab time, his absence could force Steve Kerr to ride Golden State’s devastating small-ball lineups to victory in Game 6 and close this thing out on the road.

Through the first five games of this series, Bogut’s impact has been hit or miss. He was mostly solid through the first two games, but when the series shifted to Cleveland, it felt like he was verging on becoming unplayable again.

For the Finals, Bogut is a -5, the worst plus/minus on the entire roster. If he has to miss Game 6 — which feels likely at this point, though again, I’m no doctor — the Warriors might have no other choice but to go small for long stretches…which might just clinch the series for them.

Next: No. 4

4. The Warriors Missed Draymond

I mean…duh. Before Monday night, the Warriors had only lost three games in 53 tries at Oracle Arena this season. Without their most important two-way player, the Cavaliers enjoyed advantages on both ends of the floor.

On the defensive end, not having Draymond’s playmaking ability and the threat of his three-point shot helped the Cavs close off driving lanes. The Warriors still got plenty of great looks on the perimeter, but there’s no question that Green was missed on that end, particularly with Golden State failing to attack the basket.

Going small didn’t help the Warriors without Green’s versatility at the 5 either, and the numbers  below dropped to -39 in 159 minutes for all lineups in this series not featuring Draymond at center.

On the other end, Green’s absence was a huge factor in the Warriors’ paltry defense that surrendered 112 points, 53 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent shooting from three-point range.

Without Green’s underrated rim protection (especially after Bogut went down), the Cavaliers enjoyed 62.2 percent shooting on shots less than 10 feet from the basket. LeBron’s jumper was falling, but seven of his 16 field goals came right around the rim, where Green had been a pesky presence.

The Warriors actually managed on the glass without their leading rebounder, but it’s hard for rebounding to be a major factor in a game when the other team’s shots keep dropping through the net.

You could see the defensive breakdowns in communication from something as simple as LeBron’s three-point play on Marreese Speights to something as under-the-radar as losing Kyrie Irving on the three-point line twice in transition.

Nothing should be taken away from LeBron James or from Kyrie Irving; they came out on a mission in Game 5 and turned in all-time NBA Finals performances. But there’s no question that without their best rebounder, defender, assist man and heart and soul for Game 5, the Warriors were not the same team.

Next: No. 3

3. Kyrie Is A Problem

In the first two games of this series, the Cleveland Cavaliers seemed to be a contest of which LeBron James co-star deserved more criticism.

Kevin Love had been a non-factor on offense and a glaring weakness on defense, but Kyrie Irving hadn’t been much better, averaging 18.0 points and 2.5 assists per game on 12-of-36 shooting from the floor and 1-of-7 shooting from three-point range.

Even worse, his points had come on a heavy number of isolation sets, killing Cleveland’s offense with his ball-stopping play and ineffective shooting. The poor shooting changed for the better back in Game 3, but in Game 5, it reached what the Warriors are hoping will be its climax.

Kyrie is still fighting an uphill battle with all these isolation plays against a top-five defense, but the difference in the last three games is those shots have been falling.

Since the series shifted to Cleveland for Game 3, Irving is averaging 35.0 points and 6.0 assists per game on .558/.500/.900 shooting splits. He’s gotten to the basket, gotten to the foul line, knocked down tough midrange jumpers and drilled contested three-pointers.

Basically, he’s given the Warriors a taste of what it feels like to play against Stephen Curry, demoralizing the Dubs with the kind of back-breaking, impossible shots that the Warriors are used to dishing out to other teams.

In Game 5, Irving had a historic night, dropping 41 points on 17-of-24 shooting. He drained five of his seven three-pointers, attacked the rim with ferocity and added in three rebounds, two steals and a block for good measure.

LeBron James was the catalyst behind Cleveland’s victory Monday night, but we already know what he can do after seeing it in last year’s Finals as well. The big question mark was how his co-stars would fare, and as the series has worn on, Kyrie has stepped into the spotlight.

Whether he was matched up with Curry or Klay Thompson, it didn’t matter in Game 5. With Irving reaching the 30-point threshold in each of the last three games, the Dubs are going to have to find a way to take him out of his rhythm and hold him to 20-25 points if they want to close things out in Game 6.

Next: No. 2

2. Game 5 Results Probably Aren’t Sustainable

In a do-or-die Game 5, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving carried the load. They scored 82 of their team’s 112 points, and scored or assisted on a staggering 97 of those points. The Warriors only scored 97 points as a team.

In the second half, the Warriors were held to 36 points and made only three of their 21 three-pointers. For the game, the Dubs shot 36.4 percent from the field — their second lowest field goal percentage of 2015-16, according to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton — and missed 28 of their 42 three-pointers.

The Dubs missed nine of their 10 threes in the fourth quarter, they shot under 37 percent from the floor despite a whopping 48 percent of their field goal attempts being uncontested, and they shot just 4-for-19 on three-pointers that NBA.com classifies as “wide open.” LeBron James, meanwhile, outshot the greatest shooter in NBA history from downtown, making four of his eight threes.

Throw in the fact that Draymond Green didn’t play, the Andrew Bogut mid-game injury, LeBron and Kyrie combining for 82 points and the Cavs setting an NBA Finals record for unassisted field goals in a single game and exactly NONE of this feels sustainable.

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Again, that’s not to take anything away from the Cavaliers. This doesn’t even mean that the rest of this series will have to be played the same way for Cleveland to win. Heading back to Quicken Loans Arena, with Bogut hurt, anything can happen.

But when the Warriors — the league’s No. 1 offense — fail to score over the last 6:39 of game time, when it takes the first time in NBA history where two teammates scored at least 40 points apiece, and when Golden State’s most important two-way player isn’t even playing, it’s hard to see how the Cavs do the impossible and beat the Dubs two more times.

LeBron James was everything his harshest critics wanted and more in Game 5. The question is not whether he can do it again; the question is whether he can do it again while Kyrie also does it again while Draymond Green is back in the game while the Splash Brothers go cold while…well, you get the idea.

Next: No. 1

1. Splash Brothers Need To Respond

No, it’s not just Curry. After Klay Thompson’s comments about the NBA being a “man’s league,” he’s just as culpable (if not more so) for what transpired in Game 5, even after dropping 37 points.

After Klay said LeBron may have gotten his feelings hurt, King James responded with a massive 41-16-7-3-3- stat line and Kyrie added 41 for good measure. Heading into a brutal Game 6 on the road, the onus remains on Thompson to back up his trash talk and Curry to back up his standing as the NBA’s back-to-back MVP and close this thing out.

In Game 5, the Splash Brothers’ box score would tell you they were great. Thompson had 37 points on 11-of-20 shooting, going 6-for-11 from three-point range, while Curry added 25 points and five three-pointers.

But in the second half, the Splash Brothers completely disappeared. Curry went 2-for-8 from downtown after going 3-for-6 in the first half, while Thompson chipped in only 11 points after his 26-point half, going 0-for-3 from downtown in the process.

In Game 5, the Warriors were missing their most important two-way player, but they also had enough to win. The biggest problem? Cleveland’s two studs vastly outplayed Golden State’s superstars.

More hoops habit: 2016 NBA Finals: Game 5 Recap And Highlights

After talking about playing for Draymond Green, after going down as the greatest regular season team in NBA history, after building a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 series lead, all the pressure is on the Splash Brothers — Curry in particular — to deliver a vintage performance and put away a series that, barring Green’s suspension, should have been over already.