Cavs are ready in Game 6 as Warriors expected to miss Andrew Bogut
The defending champion Warriors lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 entering game six Thursday at Cleveland, with the Cavaliers needing a victory to force a seventh game Sunday in California.
James and Irving each scored 41 points to spark Cleveland past Golden State 112-97 Monday to avoid elimination, becoming the first teammates in NBA Finals history to reach 40 points in the same game.
“We’ll be very well prepared for game six,” Irving said. “That’s the only thing that’s on our mind right now. We’re not satisfied. We understand the magnitude of what game six means for us and we know that it will be an incredible level they are going to play at, and we have to play at an even better level.”
Golden State was awaiting final results of an MRI exam on Bogut, the Australian who suffered a left knee injury early in the third quarter Monday, to know his status for the remainder of the series.
Bogut blocked six shots in game two, the most in a finals game since Pau Gasol in 2010, and averages 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in the finals.
The Aussie’s absence would partly be offset by the return of forward Draymond Green from a one-game suspension for accumulated flagrant fouls, but still require Golden State dig deeper into the bench for help.
“Our bigs are just going to have to step up. Been doing it all year,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson. “We’re still in a great position. We’ll come back stronger.”
No team has won the NBA Finals after trailing 3-1 and only two of 33 such teams, the 1951 New York Knicks and 1966 Los Angeles Lakers, even managed to force a game seven.
“We still have our backs against the wall and have to come out swinging. We have to be ready to play again,” Cavaliers forward J.R. Smith said.
“Mentally, nothing can change. We have to continue to play with desperation to exhaustion. We have to try to force a game seven. We have to bring the same effort.”
‘Whatever it takes’
James, who also had game highs of 16 rebounds and seven assists, is trying to bring Cleveland its first sports champion since 1964 and avoid a third loss in a row in his sixth consecutive NBA Finals trip.
source: interaksyon.com
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