The NBA playoffs standings in the finals has the series tied 2-2 heading into Game 5 after the Golden State Warriors won over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night and now the series shifts back to Oakland and will be best of three for LeBron James and Stephen Curry and this will be very tough for the Cavs, as they now have to win two more games on the road.
The teams have split the games in Oakland and Cleveland and that gives the Warriors the advantage moving forward. The team lost only two games at home during the regular season and while they lost to the Cavs already in overtime in Game 2 at home, now things have changed a bit. The Cavs are gassed with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving out of the rotation and that has put pressure on LeBron James, Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson to play big minutes.
The Cavs now have to find a way to slow down the Warriors, as they picked up the pace finally after three games of middling offense compared to what the team did during the season. The Warriors scored 103 points and Dellavedova looked tired by the end and that allowed Stephen Curry to have a solid game. Andre Iguodala played very well and led the team with 22 points, while Curry had six assists and now the Warriors may have a new starting lineup moving forward.
Draymond Green had his best performance of the series and he added 17 points and seven rebounds and was effective on the inside. James had his worst game of the series and that saw Timofey Mozgov lead the way with 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs. James had scored 40 points twice and had a triple double in the first few games and he also set a record for the most points scored by a player in that stretch in the finals.
James had eight assists and Tristan Thompson once again played well with 13 rebounds, but the team could not keep things close at the end of the game. The team came back and got close in the third, but they were outscored by 15 in the final frame and now this could be enough to push the Warriors to a victory. The Cavs had a 2-1 lead coming into the game and now they head back west and the one positive thing is the two day break heading into the next game.