It is my privilege to state these words that have never been said in the history of the Dub Sack column, the existence of SFist or Gothamist blogs, or even the very Internet itself. The Golden State Warriors are one win away from an NBA Finals championship after a 104-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a pivotal, series-altering win in Game 5 of the Finals.
The Warriors earned a 3-2 series advantage with Sunday night’s win, and now stand on the verge of bringing the Bay Area its second major sports championship in eight months. This historic Warriors win was a joy to watch and flawless in its execution from the moment those two guys from Metallica graced the Oakland arena with their stirring, Hendrix-inspired national anthem.
Steve Kerr, looking as handsomely Doogie Howser as ever, appears to have identified and mastered all these pesky Cavaliers’ weaknesses. He willingly allows LeBron and the LeBron-ettes to make a game of it for the first three-and-a-half quarters. Then the Warriors overwhelm the Cavs with equal parts fatigue, home court advantage, bench depth and and fatally surgical three-point marksmanship. So it went again Sunday night, as LeBron and the toyed-with Cavaliers went toe-to-toe with the Warriors in a close, evenly-matched, humongously entertaining game...for the first three-and-a-half quarters.
Cleveland clung to a marginal 80-79 lead with 7:39 left in the fourth quarter, but then momentum went relentlessly in the Warriors’ favor. Steph Curry reminded Matthew Dellava-D-League what an undrafted nobody he genuinely is with a lead-clinching 3 from the right-hand top of the arc in the mid-4th quarter. Andre Iguodala made a man-variety put-back with a +1 foul to extend the lead to 7 points with 3:45 remaining. Steph Curry then sent the Roaracle Arena crowd into game-sealing delirium with an insurance “Now I’m in inside the 3-point line, now I do a behind-the-back dribble to myself to place both feet behind the 3-point line and hit nothing but net” shot to seal Golden State’s win.
The Golden State Warriors will win the title if they keep doing exactly what they’re doing. Forcing Cleveland to play a small-ball roster the amplifies Golden State’s strengths, getting steady contributions from their magnificently deep bench (Leandro Barbosa had 13 last night) and continued MVP performances from the 2014-15 MVP Steph Curry.
Once again Curry did not bring out his adorable daughter Riley with him to his post-game press conference (he brought Draymond Green intsead). You get the feeling that Steph is saving Riley for an occasion that’s really historic and special. An occasion that’s really historic and special might take place in Game 6 (Tuesday, 6 p.m., ABC).
