NBA Finals Game 5: Cavaliers earn victory and force Game 6 with Warriors

• Will Harrison Barnes keep missing that many open looks when so much attention is paid to everyone else on the floor?

• Why can’t we all just appreciate LeBron?

Some performances, you just can’t watch alone. You need to be around friends. You need people with you when Kyrie Irving does something so incredible that it seems almost unreal. You need to affirm that actually happened, that you’re not hallucinating from the exhaustion that comes from watching late West Coast games. Otherwise, you’ll be cursing alone after every shot and questioning your own reality.

Uncle Drew is a baller. He said it himself and it’s so very true: he gets buckets. That’s never been in question. At just 24, he’s one of the league’s best finishers around the rim and possesses a lightning-quick handle.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

NOT YET: Facing elimination in a hostile arena, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving decided the Cavaliers weren’t quite done yet, so they each dropped 41 points to push Cleveland to a 112-97 win over the Warriors in Game 5, pulling the series to 3-2. They’ll meet again in Ohio on Thursday (9 p.m. ET on ABC per usual).

The look of disappointment and, frankly, a deep and familiar hurt that washes over the face of Kevin Love really plucks your heartstrings. He just wanted to celebrate life and congratulate LeBron on a good play, and here he is being lectured again. He didn’t sign that contract last summer so he could be the new Mario Chalmers. He’s really trying to fit in instead of fitting out, and this is what he gets! A lecture!

Kevin Love finished the game with two points and three rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Thankfully for everyone involved, it’s only a matter of time until he’s traded somewhere where his high-five availability will be more readily appreciated.

James and Irving were back at it again in Game 5, going iso on the majority of their offensive plays -- but this time it worked. The two Cavaliers stars both had otherworldly individual performances to stun the Warriors in Game 5 with a dominant 112-97 win. James had 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, and Irving had 41 points on 17-of-24 shooting as they became the first teammates in NBA Finals history to both score 40 points or more.

Irving and James had no such trouble. James carried the burden in the first half, scoring 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds as the Warriors and Cavaliers were tied at 61 after two quarters. Irving took over in the second half, scoring 23 points while putting on a shot-making exhibition. Thompson defended valiantly, but no matter what he did, Irving would find the bottom of the bucket.

Both James and Kyrie were otherworldly in Game 6. James went off for 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, and Irving had 41 points on 17-of-24 shooting to keep the Cavaliers’ season alive. It was the first time in Finals history that two teammates scored 40 or more points.

The Warriors came out firing, jumping out to a 12-5 lead, but the Cavaliers settled down. Despite eight turnovers in the first and four made threes by the Splash Brothers, the Cavaliers were down only 32-29 after one. James had 12 points to keep the Cavaliers in it. James kept pouring it on in the second quarter as the Cavaliers took their first lead after going up 33-32, but Thompson caught fire, too. He hit six threes in the first half and had 26 points at the half. James was superb, as well -- he had 25 points and nine rebounds, and the score was tied at 61 at the half.

Marreese Speights is but a bit player for the Warriors, but he led the war of words against LeBron James after Game 4 of the NBA Finals, saying he’d “lost respect” for the superstar after the step-over and mini-scuffle that got Draymond Green suspended. He even tweeted out an emoji of a baby bottle to signify that he felt James was a baby for complaining about Green.

Well, James got his vengeance.

Draymond Green may not be allowed in the arena tonight, but his jersey is.

That’s Warriors owner Joe Lacob rocking the jersey of his suspended star. Have to respect that move.

There’s zero doubt that ABC will have a “Green Cam” at some point during Game 5, as they figure out what suite he’s located in at the A’s Coliseum. The real question will be if the game is a Warriors blowout and the celebration is imminent. Will Green risk a fine and try to come over early, so he can immediately join the team on the floor?

The Coliseum makes the most sense, but there’s a few other places that we think would make sense.

The Cavaliers will need to take advantage of this opportunity. Without Green, Golden State could be vulnerable on defense on pick and rolls that involve its centers. They will need to avoid the temptation of simply having James post up or Irving go one-on-one and instead involve the big men in screening actions that could spring leaks in a typically air-tight team defense. If they do that, they could stave off elimination and go back home with a chance to tie the series and force a Game 7.

The Warriors have lost just once at home in the playoffs and were dominant in Oakland throughout the regular season. The Cavaliers have struggled on the road in the past two series. Everything points to Golden State emerging victorious, yet Green’s absence looms large. Anything could happen.

But lamenting Green’s self-inflicted exile isn’t useful either, because that which drove him to suspension is what drives him to drive LeBron crazy while he’s out there. Green plays like a very smart lunatic with little ability to stop at the whistle or stop at the invisible line of sportsmanship. His showboat flexes are part and parcel with the fierce ball strips. His retaliatory swipes come out of the same personality trait that allows him to body up to players with four, five inches on him.

The retrospectively costly Beasley throwdown was a) hilarious and b) illustrative. Remember what that looked like?

LeBron James and Draymond Green nearly scuffled in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday, getting in each other’s faces after some physical play. Green has now earned a flagrant foul and a suspension for Game 5.

The sequence started when James attempted -- and failed -- to step over Green’s floorbound body:

With three minutes to go in the fourth quarter of Game 4, Green and James started battling for position, as Green attempted to set a screen for Stephen Curry. Both players were using their arms to gain leverage but James pushed harder and Green fell to the ground. After that happened, James tried to step over him, which Green didn’t appreciate.

The two continued to shove each other, but there was no flagrant called on the floor. That benefited Green, as it would have earned him an automatic suspension. As he tried to go after an offensive rebound while still being tangled up with James, the officials called a double foul instead.