OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The latest from Game 5 of the NBA Finals:
5:40 p.m. PDT
At center for the Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James.
With small-ball making a big impact at the NBA Finals, James ended up as Cleveland’s de facto man in the middle after center Timofey Mozgov and power forward Tristan Thompson went to the bench early.
The unconventional lineup helped the Cavs recover after Golden State’s quick start, and it was tied at 22 after one quarter.
Listed at 6-foot-8, James was on the floor as the Cavs surged back with J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones. James mostly played on the perimeter on offense, using his speed advantage when Draymond Green defended him.
James and Smith finished with eight points in the period. Green had 10.
The Warriors had started the shift to small when they inserted Andre Iguodala into their starting lineup in Game 4.
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5:30 p.m. PDT
Two 3-pointers and one flagrant foul in an eventful first few minutes for J.R. Smith.
Ice cold in the NBA Finals, Smith came off the bench and hit two quick 3-point attempts after going 0 for 8 from behind the arc in Game 4.
Then he leveled Draymond Green with a forearm toward the head area while trying to fight through a screen, drawing a flagrant foul 1.
The Cavaliers went to Smith early to match up with Golden State’s small lineups.
Green, playing as an undersized center, had gotten free for a couple of easy baskets while Timofey Mozgov struggled to defend his speed.
The Cavs took their first lead of the game at 17-16 with 2:46 to play in the first quarter.
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5:12 p.m. PDT
The Cavaliers sure look ready to get started.
A couple of players were even walking back to the bench area and taking off their warmup tops before the national anthem was even finished. LeBron James was dancing from side to side, unable to stand still.
They were beaten badly in Game 4, but the Cavaliers are 7-2 on the road in the postseason, including a victory here in Game 2, and were confident they could win again.
It’s 2-2. It’s a three-game series right now,” coach David Blatt said. “Both teams learned things from the previous game or games, and both teams try to make the proper adjustments. But right now we’re thinking Game 5 and Game 5 only, and we’ve got to go after it.”
Both teams need to settle down, neither could score in the first 2 minutes.
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5 p.m. PDT
No changes in the starting lineups from Game 4.
The Warriors are sticking with Andre Iguodala starting in a small lineup after he started for the first time all season in their 103-82 victory Thursday in Cleveland.
Steve Kerr wouldn’t say before the game whether he would stay with it or go back to Andrew Bogut, his starting center.
The Cavaliers are sticking with their usual five:
LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova, just as James said they would Saturday.
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4:50 p.m. PDT
LeBron James will surpass Michael Jordan tonight — at least in one postseason category.
James will move past Jordan into 10th place on the career list in postseason minutes played once he plays 5 minutes. Jordan, a six-time champion, played 7,474 minutes in the playoffs.
James, a two-time champion playing in his fifth straight NBA Finals, is rapidly climbing up most individual career lists and is already in the top 10 or even top five in a number of categories.
This is James’ 177th postseason game, tying Rasheed Wallace for 18th place. He would tie Jordan’s 179 games if the series goes to a Game 7.
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4:15 p.m.
Before Game 4, he lied. Before Game 5, Steve Kerr didn’t say much at all.
In a practically Popovich-ian pregame press conference, Kerr had two one-word answers, and another that lasted all of four words — and that’s only because he repeated the same two words.
That was a question about whether he would stick with the small lineup he unveiled in Game 4.
“We could,” he said. “We could.”
Kerr is a former TV analyst and was voted the winner of the Rudy Tomjanovich Award by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, given to a coach for his cooperation with the media and fans, along with excellence on the court.
He was asked Sunday if he felt guilty about lying about his lineup before Game 4 — he doesn’t — and if he had a clear conscience.
“Very clear,” he said, laughing. “Thanks for asking.”
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4:05 p.m. PDT
Stephen Curry is off to a rough start — he missed all five of his pregame “hallway” shots.
Curry airballed his first attempt, twice hit the front of the rim, then the side of the backboard and the back rim on last try. Curry stayed to sign autographs for fans crowding the stands around the tunnel before heading to Golden State’s locker room.
Curry had made at least one hallway shot in the previous two home games of the NBA Finals. He ends each his extensive pregame routine with the shot, which is taken about 15 feet behind the Warriors’ bench.
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3:50 p.m. PDT
A rare NBA Finals afternoon game — on the West Coast, anyway — changed up some normal pregame routines.
Rather than a morning shootaround, as teams would normally have at home if they didn’t play the previous night, the Warriors opted for an afternoon walkthrough at Oracle Arena before the 5 p.m. PDT start.
They sent word Saturday night that from 2:30 to 3 p.m. local time, there would be no non-Warriors basketball personnel allowed into the arena bowl. Media, production crew and staff members had to clear the area.
Normally at the NBA Finals, the floor is already filled with people two hours before game time. So this time, NBA crew members had to get all their work done earlier, and any Cavaliers players that wanted to get in some early work had to wait a little longer.
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AP Basketball Writer Antonio Gonzalez contributed to this report.
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