Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 6: Draymond Green Returns, LeBron James Seeks History
The Cleveland Cavaliers march into Game 6 of the NBA Finals with renewed vigor and resolve, having picked themselves up off the mat in Game 5 and willed themselves from the brink of elimination for at least another day.
The Golden State Warriors will counter with the return of the one irritant they hope will quickly put an end to all the buzz now suddenly stoking the Cavs' comeback chances.
Green's Suspension Over
Draymond Green is set to return from his one-game exile and how that comes to effect LeBron James and Kyrie Irving's Game 5 domination could tell the story.
What's clear is Green won't lack for confidence and almost certainly figures to be Public Enemy No. 1 among Cavs' faithful gathered at Quicken Loans Arena for Thursday's 8 p.m. EDT tipoff.
"I have a strong belief that if I play in Game 5, we win," said Green. "But I didn't because I put myself in a situation where I wasn't able to play. I move on from the suspension. That was Game 5. We got an opportunity to do something that, I don't know if it's ever been done where you win a championship on someone else's floor two years in a row."
Indeed, history is already on the Warriors side, as the Cavs enter Game 6 desperately seeking to become the first team in NBA history to claw back from a 3-1 deficit to win a title.
LeBron, Kyrie Looking for Repeat Performance
Much of it rides on the simple question of just how many more otherworldly performances do James and Kyrie Irving have left in them?
Both exploded for 41 points in the Cavs' Game 5 win, with James adding 16 rebounds and seven assists and Irving leaving the crowd mesmerized by his scintillating 17-of-24 shooting display.
Still, as much as anything else, the Warriors were done in by their own inefficiencies, namely misfiring on 19 of 22 second half 3-pointers, a showing that's far out of a character for a Steph Curry and Klay Thompson led team that boasts the league's best effective field goal percentage.
That's where Green is hoping to come in, serving as the team's Game 6 stabilizer and most interchangeable weapon, in the same way he has all season.
Green insists he won't change his style, even though either another flagrant foul or a pair of technicals could mean a possible Game 7 suspension.
"I think I've got to come out and play my game regardless," he said. "There's those little fine lines you know you can't cross. It's not every play that you're close to that line. I just have to make sure I'm composed when those situations come about that I control my emotions and channel that energy."
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