AP Photo/Ben Margot

By Jeff Hall

OAKLAND –

The Warriors lead this series 3-2 with a 104-91 win because when the Cavs ran out of strength in the game the Warriors got stronger and Andre Iguodala was once again a strong presence for the Warriors The Warriors went on a 17-5 run in the final four minutes of the game. Stephen Curry scored 17 fourth quarter points and finished the game with 37 points. The Warriors have so many weapons and they proved again they have more weapons than the Cavaliers.

Once again Warrior’s coach Steve Kerr decided to start Andre Iguodala for defensive purposes.

Neither team shot well at the beginning of the game. The Warriors scored the first points after a Klay Thompson lay-up three minutes into the game. The Cavaliers turned the ball over four times in the early minutes. The Warriors scored their first three baskets in transition all on the turnovers of the Cavs.

Draymond Green got off to a hot start scoring 9 points in the first 7 minutes of the game.

Carried on the back of LeBron James the Cavs took their first lead of the game mid way through the first quarter.  James scored eight points in the first quarter. J. R Smth scored eight points for the cavs. Smith had been struggling scoring earlier in the series.

Green led the Warriors in scoring in the first with 10 first quarter points. Stephen Curry had 7 points in the first.

Despite the slow start by the Cavs, the game was even at 22 points at the end of the first quarter of play.

In the second quarter J.R. Smith continued the hot hand in scoring. Smith was 4 of 7 from beyond the Arc and provided the Cavs with much needed scoring from someone besides LeBron. Speaking of LeBron he was just shy of a triple double in the first half of action in the game. James scored 20 first half points. He had eight rebounds and eight assists in the first half. Matthew Dellavedova was held to just two first half points.

Curry responded with what the Warriors needed. Curry was 3 of 4 from 3-point land and 15 first half points

The first half of play was wild on both sides and there were 12 lead changes in the first half.

On the final play of the first half, Curry drove to the basket and led the ball to Harrison Barnes who followed the ball dunking it into the basket and was fouled giving the Warriors a 51-50 lead at the end of the first half.

Igoudala scored just three points in the first half but played well. He had 7 rebounds and six assists in the first half.

“Andre was brilliant for us tonight. He does everything for us. He’s our best defender on LeBron. He’s a Brilliant defensive player. He missed some free throws down the stretch, but it didn’t matter.”

The Warriors shot 54% from the field in the first half. The Cavs shot 42% from the field.

After the first half, The primary question of the game would be will the Cavs have enough gas in the tank to finish the game in another hard fought game at the Oracle Arena.

In the third the Warriors were the stronger team and went on a 13-4 run in the final minutes. The Warriors increased their lead to seven and took advantage when LeBron James was sent to the bench to get a much needed rest. James began to show struggles and signs of fatigue.. James scored just four third quarter points. And was just 9 for 21 from the field.

With 6:47 remaining in the Game, James had scored nearly half of the Cavs total points as a team. James had 34 points and the Cavs had 80 points total and trailed the Warriors by five.

With five minutes to play it was a another nail biter with the two teams with the Warriors holding onto a one point lead. The game took a turn after James made a long distance 3-point shot. Seconds later Curry responded with a 3-point shot of his own.

“That was big, because that was he first three of the fourth quarter and we didn’t let the momentum slip. “said Curry

Next it was Klay Thompson that made a 3-point shot and the Warriors lead began to grow and they started to pull away from the Cavs and increased their lead by 10 points.

James scored 40 points, had 14 rebounds and 11 assists for a his second triple double in the finals.

This game is just a reminder that Cleveland does not have enough to get their offense going consistently. J.R. Smith who had a great start in the game did not score a single point in the second half. Dellavedova had just five points in the game.

Game Six returns to Cleveland and the Warriors need one more win to win the championship.

Kerr talked about the difficulty of winning the deciding game. “It’s going to be hard, we are going to have to play better then we did tonight”

The Warriors stuck with the small line-up and Andrew Bogut did not get any action in this one. “It’s a small series and It works well for us, we’re comfortable with this style..” said Kerr regarding the line-up adjustment to stay small.

The Series returns to Cleveland for game six on Tuesday.

Notes:

Curry has made 16 of his last 23 3-point attempts.