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NBA Finals: 5 Standout Stats from Game 5

By Omar Josef Guerrero

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The Golden State Warriors have the Cleveland Cavaliers on their heels after a 104-91 drubbing in Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals. With several non-calls on fouls against LeBron James, the refs have made it clear that he’s too big and strong to be given the same calls as other superstars. Even Jeff Van Gundy agrees with me.

Conspiracy theories aside, the Warriors played spectacular basketball in the last five minutes of the game, combining terrific shooting with several hustle plays to put them one win away from winning another championship after 40 years.

The Cavs have a lot of soul-searching to do including possibly buying some of the other players more minutes by giving Mike Miller and Timofey Mozgov more playing time and even utilizing the Matrix, Shawn Marion. Three players played in 40 or more minutes which contributed to the lackadaisical effort in the last minutes of the fourth. Game 6 will be back at the Q and I doubt that the Warriors will have an easy time against an angry Cleveland team and city.

For now, let Golden State celebrate this win and let’s look at the stats one more time.

1. LeBron James: 40 Points, 14 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 1 Steal, 3-8 3-Pt FGs, 7-9 FTs 

LeBron’s game was nothing short of historic. Again.

Though I’m sure he would have traded the historic numbers for a win, he still had a performance for the ages. He also passed or tied many Hall-of-Fame greats along the way.

  • Second player in NBA history with a 40-point triple-double since Jerry West did it with the Lakers in 1969.
  • Recorded his 6th career Finals triple-double, second only to Magic Johnson (8)
  • Passed Jason Kidd for 6th place all-time in postseason steals (303)
  • Passed Bill Russell and Michael Jordan on the all-time minutes played in the playoffs with 7,515.
  • Passed Paul Silas and Kevin Garnett for 15th most career rebounds in the playoffs (1,540)
  • Tied Karl Malone for 3rd most career free-throws made in the playoffs (1,269)

Additionally, Elias reports how unique his accomplishment has been with this 40-point triple-double.

"“James is the first player to produce two triple-doubles with 30 or more points in one Finals series. And including a 32-point triple-double with the Heat in the 2013 Finals, he now has three triple-doubles with 30-plus points in Finals competition, matching the total for all other players in the shot-clock era.”"

ESPN adds that for the entire game, James had scored or assisted on almost all of his team’s points as he accounted for 70 of the Cavs’ 91 total, that’s 77% of their output for the night.

After Game 5, LeBron’s Finals numbers are still off-the-charts—36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assists.

No matter what happens in this series, LeBron has earned the Finals MVP even if the Cavs don’t win the championship. Whether the NBA gives it to him or not, he definitely deserves it.

2. CAVS: 37 Rebounds; WARRIORS: 43 Rebounds

There’s just no excuse for not boxing out your man. That fueled the Warriors’ 19-7 run to close out the game.

After being beat on the hustle plays several times during the first three quarters, the Warriors doubled down and grabbled five offensive rebounds against the Cavs.

Chalk it up to a lack of focus and a lack of energy as the Cavs again looked listless after the clock hit the five-minute mark of the fourth. The Cavs lost the rebounding battle from that series of sequences when the wine and gold were beat on the defensive glass time and time again after missed free throws by Andre Iguodala. There’s just no excuse for not boxing out your man. That fueled the Warriors’ 19-7 run to close out the game.

3. CAVS FASTBREAK POINTS: 3; WARRIORS FASTBREAK POINTS: 18

It’s no secret that the Warriors want to run every single time. Tonight they did so to the tune of an 18-3 advantage in fastbreak points.

The Cavs tried but there were too many lapses in their transition defense that caused that mindboggling margin in fastbreak points, something that Coach David Blatt has to address before Game 6. There’s no way you can give up easy points to this Warriors team especially on their home floor.

4. CAVS: 32-81 FGs (39.5%), 12-35 3-Pt FGs (34.3%); WARRIORS: 36-75 FGs (48%), 12-26 3-Pt FGs (46.2%)

The Warriors found their groove again from the outside especially Stephen Curry in the fourth. While the Cavs shot poorly, the Warriors consistently got their shots to fall throughout the night. Again, chalk it up to Curry lighting it up for more than 30 points but Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, and Leandro Barbosa made their shots when they mattered most, too.

For the Cavs, however, many of the shots that were falling in the first three quarters were simply gone late in the fourth. J.R. Smith had a hot shooting night to start the game but cooled off with 9:09 left in the second quarter. He wouldn’t score since.

5. Stephen Curry: 37 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2 Steals, 5 Turnovers, 13-23 FGs, 7-13 3-Pt FGs

Curry was phenomenal in this game as he took LeBron to a one-on-one shooting exhibition which ended with the current MVP winning in the end versus the four-time MVP.

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This was Curry’s first 30-point game of the series, showing just how tough the defense has been on him whether he admits it or not. But as the series has progressed, Curry has gotten more and more comfortable taking and making shots. The guy is just unconscious down the stretch of these last three games and if the Cavs have a shot at winning the championship, they have to keep the ball away from Curry in the final minutes of the game for the next two games. Easier said than done but the Cavs have no other choice.

Otherwise, we’re going to be looking at a long summer ahead.

Which stats were most significant to you from Game 5?

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