NBA Finals, Cavaliers vs. Warriors: Golden State is one win away from a title

The first chapter of the ancient Chinese essay “Thirty-Six Strategems” is titled Yǐ yì dài láo. Translated, it means “wait at leisure while the enemy labors.” The idea is to encourage your opponent to expend all of his energy while you rest, then strike with purpose when he is exhausted.

It’s a winning formula that has been used by more resourceful armies throughout history. It’s also a winning formula used in these NBA Finals. Warriors coach Steve Kerr is employing the strategy in tandem with his team’s depth and pace to grind the shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers into the ground. Slowly, it’s working.

LeBron James is fighting an army by himself. He’s probably going to lose, but he’s not dying easily.

James’ average line in these NBA Finals is 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game. Only Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and James Worthy have managed to do that in a single NBA Finals game since 1986. James is doing it every game. James is the only person to have 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in that time frame ... and he’s done it three times in this series.

Golden State is showing it can’t be beat at its own game, though, not by a team featuring James and little else. The four-time MVP continues to put up staggering numbers night after night in one of the best individual finals performances we’ve ever seen, but matching the Warriors’ array of weapons would require more help than he’s gotten.

Playing small is something Steve Kerr’s team mastered by doing it so much throughout the season. Bogut may not be playing at all now, but before he was only seeing around 23 minutes a night. Golden State has regularly eschewed the big men to spread shooters across the floor when the matchups demanded it.

OAKLAND -- No building has ever roared for a jump shot the way Oracle Arena roared for Stephen Curry. If he were merely a stationary jump shooter it would be different. Anyone can make a shot in this league with their feet set and the defense scrambling. But Curry takes it to a different place, a realm where he creates the space and works his magic in a special kind of rhythm that few -- if any -- players have ever been able to create.

It starts with the dribble, a little shake and bake to build the anticipation. Next comes the step back and the release, which yields a half-second of silence before it begins to build back into a wave that comes crashing down on the floor in a deafening crescendo as the ball rips the net.

Stephen Curry had some performances in the NBA Finals that weren’t quite Steph Curry performances. In Game 2 he went 2-for-15 from three! That’s legitimately bad!

But in the fourth quarter of Game 5 with the winner taking a crucial 3-2 lead in the series, Curry stopped screwing around and started doing what he does best: Hitting silly, preposterous shots nobody else on earth would even attempt.

As good as James was throughout this game -- putting up a ridiculous 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists -- the Warriors’ team game was just too much in the end. Golden State shot 48 percent to Cleveland’s 39.5 percent, and with both teams going small, the Cavs’ rebounding advantage disappeared. Golden State had 11 offensive rebounds, including six from Barnes. Cleveland had 10 offensive rebounds as a team and lost the battle on the boards overall, 43-37.

The Warriors got challenged in a game tailored to their own style, and showed once again that nobody plays small better than them, LeBron or not. Now they’re on the brink of winning their first NBA title in 40 years, something the Bay Area fan base has craved throughout the years. It hasn’t been easy, especially after going down 2-1, but now Golden State is in the driver’s seat with a 3-2 series lead. We’ll see if James has anything left in the tank to push this series to a possible Game 7.

Anything you can do:

While Steph Curry was hitting a 28-foot off-balanced three, Matthew Dellavedova was busy yanking Draymond Green by his arm to the floor:

Somehow, this was called a double foul, even though Green did nothing wrong besides falling on the player who dragged him down. Green was pretty upset, and got a technical.

Emotions are high during Game 5 of the NBA Finals after J.R. Smith was called for a Flagrant 1 after delivering this shot to Draymond Green. Smith didn’t attempt to avoid contact with Green, sending him to the ground with a thunderous shoulder.

This could have been a case of Smith sticking up for his teammate. Minutes earlier a hit from Green on Matthew Dellavedova sent the Cavaliers’ guard to his knees. That could have been a leftover from their run-in last game.

Metallica exited the light and entered the night to shred the national anthem on two guitars at Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals. Darkness soon imprisoned Oracle Arena, and horror was all they could see. Game 5 is so close, no matter how far. Obey your national anthem masters.

(Seriously, this anthem was awesome. More metal bands doing national anthems, please).

Long before he arrived in Cleveland, David Blatt was familiar with the all-consuming expectations that fall on the coach of a title favorite. He’s learned firsthand that the circus is always looking to ride into town and derail it all.

“People in the States that don’t know the history think David was this revered legend who won all these championships here and that he’s not used to being under fire,” A.J. Mitnick, an assistant coach for Bnei Herzliya, told SB Nation. “They don’t realize how it is here.”

What made the decision to go small so effective was the players Golden State had on its bench: Livingston and David Lee. By using those two in the rotation, Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr didn’t have to change up the game plan based on his player rotations. They started small and they stayed the way for all but a handful of minutes when Bogut came into the game.

Livingston is small only in width. He’s a 6’7 guard who can defend multiple positions and handle multiple responsibilities on the floor. Within the context of a smaller frontline, Livingston is a matchup nightmare in the backcourt. He’s a skilled passer who will punish smaller guards in the post and he also has the ability to switch defensive assignments.