OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The latest from Game 5 of the NBA Finals:
7;10 p.m. PDT
The Cavaliers hung in OK without LeBron James this time, and Golden State’s lead is just 73-67 headed to the fourth quarter.
James went to the bench for a rest late in the period, and the game got away from the Cavs when he sat in the second half last game. He was on the bench to start the fourth quarter in Game 4 and the Warriors quickly pushed their lead into double digits en route to a 103-82 victory.
James has 24 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists after three quarters. Stephen Curry has 20 points for the Warriors.
But the Warriors are still waiting to see Curry and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson play well at the same time. It hasn’t happened so far in Game 5, as Thompson has just nine points on 4-of-12 shooting
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6:58 p.m. PDT
Stephen Curry has knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game to put the Warriors up.
But Cleveland is getting a nice boost from Tristan Thompson in the third quarter.
He made three consecutive baskets for the Cavaliers at one points, helping them stay right with the Warriors.
LeBron James stood one assist from another triple-double as the teams headed for the final 3 minutes of the period. He had one in Game 2 and has three in this postseason, 13 in his playoff career.
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6:40 p.m. PDT
The Cavaliers are starting the second half with J.R. Smith and center Timofey Mozgov on the bench.
Mozgov started the game but played just 5 minutes in the first half as Cleveland went to its bench to counter the small lineup used by the Warriors.
Too bad for Mozgov.
He just had the best game of his career in Game 4, scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But the 7-foot-1 center can’t cover anyone the Warriors are using Sunday night.
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6:21 p.m. PDT
Now that’s good basketball.
It’s hard to get much better than the first half of Game 5.
Golden State leads Cleveland 51-50 after Harrison Barnes’ three-point play with 3.2 seconds left. He slammed down a follow dunk of Stephen Curry’s miss while getting fouled by LeBron James.
James is once again doing it all for the Cavs, yet again flirting with another triple-double. He has 20 points, matching his total from Game 4, with eight rebounds and eight assists. J.R. Smith came off the bench for 14 points.
Curry had 15 for the Warriors, who shot 54 percent.
The series has had three close games — Games 1 and 2 both went to overtime — but they weren’t particularly well played. This one is so far, with 12 lead changes and six ties in the first 24 minutes.
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6 p.m. PDT
Stephen Curry is hitting from behind arc. LeBron James is scoring from just about everywhere.
The NBA Finals’ biggest stars are both playing well for one of the few times in the series. James had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists at the midway point of the second quarter. He has scored or assisted on the Cavs’ last 13 baskets.
Curry had made all three of his 3-point attempts at the same point, going 5 for 6 overall for 13 points.
The series was hyped as a matchup between Curry, this season’s MVP, and James, the four-time winner.
So far in Game 5, both are in that MVP form.
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5:45 p.m. PDT
David Blatt offered a simple answer when asked by ABC’s Doris Burke after the first quarter what J.R. Smith making shots means to the general mood of the Cavaliers.
“Makes everybody happy,” Blatt said, after Smith made a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
Before the game, Blatt told his team that the biggest thing they can exclusively control is their effort.
“We’ve come this far, fellas,” Blatt said. “We have come this far and come through a lot because we have never given in.”
Smith has 14 points with more than 8 minutes to play in the second quarter.
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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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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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AP Basketball Writers Antonio Gonzalez and Tim Reynolds, and Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.
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