Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Keys To Forcing A Game 7

2. Supporting cast must show up for entire game

With such a depleted roster, the Cavs need as much scoring punch as possible. And during the first half of Game 5, both J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert provided the Cavs with that scoring punch, combining for 21 points on 7-for-17 shooting (6-for-14 from deep). In the second half, however, it was a different story to say the least. In fact, the duo combined to score just three points on 1-for-7 from the field, including 1-for-6 from distance.

Another player who must have an impact for the entire game is Matthew Dellavedova. Prior to Game 5, “Delly” received a ton of praise in regards to how he was defending the league MVP.

And while the praise may have been a bit premature, Stephen Curry did have his struggles against the undrafted point guard, scoring 23 points on just 9-for-28 shooting from the floor in Games 2-4. However, the trend came to an abrupt end in Game 5, as Curry exploded for 37 points, with 26 of those points coming against Dellavedova. Along with that, Curry converted 10 of his 13 makes when he was guarded by Dellavedova.

That being said, with their season on the line, the Cavs role players have to find a way to play well consistently. Because although the best player in the world is putting up such gaudy numbers, he simply cannot lead this team to a championship on his individual efforts alone.

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