NBA Finals Game 6 Preview: Warriors vs. Cavaliers

#1 – Golden State Warriors

It was only a matter of time before Stephen Curry found a way to assert himself on the offensive end, and the roaring fans of Oracle Arena couldn’t have been more thrilled to see it come in the form of a 37-point, seven-rebound performance as the Warriors took a 3-2 lead in the series. The 2014-15 MVP finally made a bid for this year’s Finals MVP in a race that LeBron James was seemingly (and ultimately still could be) running away with to this point. Curry may have wisely avoided the narrative surrounding his match-up with Matthew Dellavedova when questioned by the media prior to Game 5, but he certainly responded with some of the fire that earned him this year’s hardware as he poured in 7-13 from beyond the arc.

Andre Iguodala (14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and Draymond Green (16 points, nine rebounds, six assists) led the other four players who also scored double-figures in yet another balanced effort from this Warriors team.

For as much as some were focused on the fact that Cleveland had previously been 15-0 when playing on 48 hours of rest, the additional respite definitely appeared to have paid off for the Warriors as well, as they were able to simply outlast the Cavs down the stretch for the second consecutive game.

#2 – Cleveland Cavaliers

There may be some who have grown tired of hearing and seeing this, but LeBron James really could conceivably contend to be just the second player to earn a Finals MVP award (Jerry West- 1969) even in the event his Cavaliers are unable to win this series. For perspective, West was awarded the MVP even in a losing effort to his rival Boston Celtics as he averaged 37.9 points, 7.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds for his Los Angeles Lakers. After his second triple-double in seven days on Sunday (40 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists), James is now averaging 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game for this series.

Criticize his volume-scoring all you’d like, but there isn’t a reasonable argument to truly detract from what has been a monumental effort by James and this depleted Cavs team.

James may very well be the “best player in the world” as he so brazenly boasted following their Game 5 loss, but regardless of the narrative, a great player isn’t likely to beat a great team over the course of an entire series.

Guys like Iman Shumpert and Dellavedova have fallen back to Earth over the last couple games, but can hardly be faulted as they are being asked to help defend perhaps the league’s strongest and most versatile perimeter units on the other end of the court.

If J.R. Smith were ever going to make an impact on this series, the Cavs could certainly use it in Game 6 as the former Sixth Man of the Year is now shooting just 19-62 from the field including 11-42 from deep. With Coach David Blatt still relying so heavily upon such a limited core group of players, Cleveland absolutely needs a strong and focused performance from everyone in order to avoid seeing Commissioner Adam Silver hand the Larry O’Brien trophy to their opponents at Quicken Loans Arena.

Who Wins Game 6?

This has probably been an even better series than most of us could have anticipated given the circumstances, but it finally appears as though the Warriors have found their stride just as the Cavaliers appear to have possibly hit the wall. Golden State will likely have to stave off yet another triple-double-type effort from James, but they’ll find a way and should be bringing the first NBA title to Oakland since 1975.