Game Six (GSW 3-2)

1st Quarter

The Golden State Warriors could close it out tonight and bring the trophy home to the Bay Area. It won’t be easy though – at least not the way that both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have been playing.

Early in the game Irving finds LeBron for a tone-setting slam.

Tristan Thompson with a monster put-back jam and things are looking good for the Cavs.

Despite the highlight reel plays from Cleveland the Warriors kept the game close in its early stages. This was due primarily to league MVP Stephen Curry scoring 10 of the team’s first 14 points. Klay Thompson was the only other player to have scored mid-way through the first quarter.

The Cavs build a small lead though and finish the quarter up 34-27.

2nd Quarter

After extending the lead to 9 the Warriors make a mini-comeback with Leandro Barbosa knocking down a three forcing a Cavs timeout.

Kyrie Irving knocks down a three to recapture the lead. The earlier run from the Warriors had been good enough to steal it away.

It’s a 59-55 lead for Cleveland at the half.

3rd Quarter

Curry makes a nice contested lay-in. To this point the quarter has gone back and forth with the Cavs holding a slim lead throughout.

Andre Iguodala powers through the foul with a slam – the call seems to have shocked Irving. The lead is trimmed back down to 2.

Can the Warriors pull this one out? They’ll head into the fourth with the score Cleveland 82, Golden State 80.

4th Quarter

Early in the fourth a big sequence as Klay Thompson blocks a LeBron James shot, and that’s followed by Andrew Bogut scoring to put the Warriors out in front.

A minute and a half later Timofey Mozgov throws one down to take the lead back.

LeBron hits a three to tie up the game. The Warriors had a lead of as much as 4 moments earlier.

Andrew Bogut, probably not who anyone would expect, takes over a minute and a half period. Draymond Green finds Bogut for a slam that takes the lead to 3. On the next possession, after a Cavs score, Bogut grabs the offensive board and scores. Then Curry finds Bogut for another basket that extends the lead to 5.

LeBron James knocks down a clutch three to tie it up with just a minute remaining. He follows that with another to stun the Warriors and give the Cavs a 3 points lead.

Curry and Green miss three-point attempts as the clock winds down. The Cavs hold on to win and send the series to game seven with a 114-109 victory.

Main Statistical Contributors

Cavaliers

LeBron James: 52 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 19-26 FG, 6-7 3PT

Kyrie Irving: 23 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 10-23 FG, 2-6 3PT

Tristan Thompson: 16 points, 15 rebounds, 7-12 FG

Iman Shumpert: 7 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2-4 FG, 1-2 3PT

Matthew Dellavedova: 6 points, 3 assists, 2-3 FG, 1-1 3PT

Timofey Mozgov: 4 points, 7 rebounds 2-4 FG

Warriors

Stephen Curry: 25 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 10-21 FG, 3-5 3PT

Andrew Bogut: 20 points, 11 rebounds, 9-10 FG

Klay Thompson: 15 points, 6 assists, 6-17 FG, 2-6 3PT

Andre Iguodala: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-11 FG, 1-5 3PT

Harrison Barnes: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 6-9 FG, 1-3 3PT

Draymond Green: 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 5-8 FG, 1-3 3PT

Analysis

The Cavs closed out the game on a 13-3 run on the back of a legendary performance from LeBron James. He scored 19 points in the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. It wasn’t just him though. Tristan Thompson’s efforts, particularly snagging offensive rebounds, created opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

On the other side Andrew Bogut stepped up big and would have been the Warriors MVP for this one game had they been able to win. Klay Thompson had a second straight poor shooting performance and that proved costly.