As Golden State Warriors beat writer Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group put it, the same franchise that drafted Chris Washburn, Todd Fuller, and Patrick O'Bryant is a win away from an NBA title.
The Warriors can end 40 years of frustration Tuesday night in Cleveland with a victory to close out the Cavaliers and claim their first championship since 1975.
History, both macro and micro, should be on their side. Reigning league MVPs (Stephen Curry in this case) with a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals are 13-0 all time, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Since Warriors coach Steve Kerr "lied" and inserted Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup for Game 4, Golden State has won the two ensuing contests by 21 and 13 points.
If Golden State does wrap it up Tuesday, the decision by Kerr to sit Andrew Bogut and commit to going small will be remembered as the turning point in the series. Here are the numbers going into Game 6:
| Warriors' lineup | Minutes played/NBA Finals | Net Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Curry-Thompson-Barnes-Iguodala-Green | 56 | 18.4 |
| Curry-Thompson-Barnes-Green-Bogut | 15 | 0.4 |
Much has been made of LeBron James' high-volume shooting in the series, but Iguodala has done an admirable job on him defensively. Using the old sports cliche "you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him," Iguodala may have a more convincing case for Finals MVP than James, win or lose.
Going into Game 5, Iguodala had held James to 18-of-54 shooting and nine turnovers when guarding him.
James was last in this situation two years ago, down 3-2 in the Finals as a member of the Miami Heat against the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat won the last two games in South Florida to clinch their second straight title, but times have changed.
James no longer has that type of supporting cast. Additionally, the Finals have since switched from a 2-3-2 to a 2-2-1-1-1 format. A Cavs win Tuesday would be followed by another cross-country flight before a Game 7 on Friday night at a very loud Oracle Arena.
That's not to say James should be ruled out. Given the load he's shouldered for the past two months, who would happily bet against him with his back to the wall, and then in a winner-take-all game? It's for that reason that the Warriors would be better served finishing this thing off Tuesday.
Kerr has some history with NBA championships on June 16. He won his first as a player on this date with the Chicago Bulls in 1996.
On this date in 1996, Steve Kerr and the @ChicagoBulls defeated the Sonics in Game 6 to clinch the #NBAFinals. pic.twitter.com/18ZJAkp1NV
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) June 16, 2015
It can be expected that Cavaliers coach David Blatt will get center Timofey Mozgov back on the floor after a failed second-half experiment to match the Warriors' small-ball attack in Game 5.
Going into Game 6, James and Curry are tied for the postseason lead in total points with 569.
