With or without Draymond, the Warriors weren’t winning
Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5, but he wouldn’t have been able to stop the Cavaliers from extending the series.
With their backs against the wall, the Cleveland Cavaliers came to the play.
Their two stars, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, played historically well, each totaling at least 40 points. They were hitting shots from all over the court, beating everything the Warriors could throw at them. Golden State didn’t have their full arsenal at their disposal as Draymond Green was serving a one-game suspension.
Of course, playing without your All-Star power forward, a player that has emerged as a potential top-10 player in the league, is very difficult. The Cavaliers were able to attack the paint without much resistance. Surely, missing Green had an impact on how the Warriors had to play on both sides of the ball.
But Draymond Green’s suspension isn’t why the Warriors lost. Even if he had played 45 minutes, the series would still have shifted back to Cleveland for a sixth game.
The Cavaliers’ point guard Irving had a special game. He scored 41 points while shooting over 70 percent from the field. He only attempted two free throws while shooting 5/7 from beyond the arc. It was tough shot after tough shot for Irving, who probably could have banked in a floater from the locker room if he tried. It was just one of those nights for a player that can shoot his team to a Finals win just as well as shoot them to a loss.
James returned to Miami Heat form. He became the LeBron James that eats souls, the one that can overwhelm you and destroy you at the basket or can methodically pick you apart from the perimeter. He looked like the LeBron James that was undoubtedly the best player in basketball. He scored 41 of his own, knocking down 4/8 from three and 47 percent of his shots outside of the key, up from the 30 and 33 percent from the regular season and postseason respectively.
When those two guys are shooting the ball like that, you can’t beat them.
Green’s presence would have affected James. Often times, Marreese Speights switched out onto James and that’s less than ideal for Golden State. Green, a runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year, is significantly better than Speights at defending one of the greatest players of all-time. But Irving was hitting shots over a good defender and he had to work for almost all of them.
Offensively, the Warriors had their chance. They got the guys they wanted open looks, but they just couldn’t hit anything. Even without one of their primary playmakers, the Warriors were finding holes in the Cavaliers defense, but they just couldn’t make them pay.
The best shooter in the history of the game missed seven uncontested shots. Harrison Barnes was 2/14 and 1/6 from three, missing what were mostly wide open catch-and-shoot opportunities. Klay Thompson got hot, scoring 37 points, but the Warriors went away from him and he cooled down.
Even without Green, the rotation should not have been as jumbled as it was. Steve Kerr still looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing, sending out questionable lineups for key stretches to try to beat a red hot Irving and James. He played 11 players in the first quarter alone while Curry and Thompson barely touched 40 minutes.
Draymond Green is a fantastic player that does so much for his team, but not even he could have prevented what happened last night. The Cavs couldn’t miss and the Warriors couldn’t hit anything. It was just one of those nights. Unless he could somehow will the ball from Curry’s fingers through the rim, there wasn’t much he could have done.
The Warriors will try to repeat as champions one year from the date that they did last season in the same exact location. They’ll have Green on Thursday and he’ll do everything he can to make sure they celebrate again.