Warriors limping to finish, hope home-court helps in Game 7

“And if [the Warriors are] not ready to play their best game, I think there’ll be a Game 7”. On Thursday night, James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to victory in Game 6 of the NBA Finals with a 41-point performance that inspired those of us who care about basketball to text far-flung friends in disbelief, just as we had when he scored 25 consecutive points against the Pistons as a 22-year-old in leading the Cavs to their first finals; just as we had when he scored 45 points on 19-for-26 shooting (to go with 15 rebounds) for the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012, en route to his first title; and just as we had as recently as Monday, when he scored 41 points in extending the series to Game 6.

One more win from the greatest comeback in Finals history and one more win from a championship, the one James came home for. He’d do that at the risk of the temperamental Green, who was suspended for Game 5, losing control.

“One more game left”, James said.

He’s averaged 41 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, 3.5 steals, three blocks and only 1.5 turnovers since the Cavs fell behind 3-1. Warriors Coach Steve Kerr tried to counter the loss by opening his small lineup on Thursday, with Green (6-foot-7) at center. A comfortable two-game lead in the NBA Finals becomes a dicey one-game lead, then no lead at all.

“It’s frustrating”, Thompson said. “But at the same time, we can let LeBron go for 40 – but we can’t have Tristan Thompson going 6 for 6 from the field, and J.R. Smith hitting four 3s”.

It would be the fifth title for the Warriors, who won in 1947 and 1956 while based in Philadelphia as well as 1975 and previous year after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962. (Yes, James has taken an astounding 54 fewer shots through six games in this year’s Finals over last season).

From a health standpoint, Andre Iguodala was limited in Game 6 with lower back tightness. James had other plans.

“Just our guys’ fight and our determination, and never wanting to give in”, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said of how the team got to this point in the season. It was like seeing the Golden State Warriors play basketball against every member of the X-Men rolled into one person.

“When the game started, he was always poised and he let the guys figure it out”.

In the interview, he predicted there would be a game 7.

“I don’t get involved in that”, James said.

The third one, the one James craves most, is within reach. Steve Kerr said James “flopped”. “We had two shaky games in Golden State to start the series, and you know, you can always prepare for them, but until you get in-between those lines and see how fast they move, how hard they cut, how hard they play, you really can’t get a gauge for it”. “It wasn’t even trying to get to a Game 7”. “And let’s be frank, we were put in a pretty hard position in Game 5 without one of our best players, and we didn’t respond well”. He’s averaging 27.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in games where his team has a chance to clinch the series. We missed Bogues tonight, but we still feel very confident that we can win without him. When LeBron is Super-Human LeBron, the Cavs are hard for any team to stop, even one that wins 73 regular-season games and survives a tough seven-game series against the Thunder.