After legacy-building Game 5 performance by both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to be at least somewhat energized and back in the series. No, I’m not saying they’ll win necessarily, but at least it won’t go down as a slaughter.
However, three days later, all the talk is on Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, and how his return from suspension will impact the team in Game 6.
Green, obviously, was quite upset with himself and his inability to be there for his team. Green went as far as to say that if he would have been available for Game 5, the Warriors would be celebrating right now.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, instead of defending the rest of his team and their ability to win without Green, insisted that Draymond didn’t owe anyone an apology and went on to call him “probably the most versatile defender in the entire NBA.”
“He doesn’t owe us anything,” said Kerr. “He doesn’t have to come out here and try to be a hero, he just has to be himself.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, on the other hand, continued to defend the suspension itself.
“There’s no place in our game for that. So one of the ways we felt we could crack down on that was to highly disincentivize guys from committing flagrant fouls, which can lead to players retaliating. And even Draymond’s so-called swipe, he even acknowledges he is doing that in retaliation.”
Kerr did end, however, by giving his keys to Game 6.
“I always talk about the game being connected at both ends,” said Kerr. “If you play good defense, your shots are more likely to go in at the other end because you’re getting transition, and the other team is on its heels. If you turn it over, and you give up 28 fast-break points like we did the other night, you’re probably feeding into a couple of great players and helping them get going. We’ve got to take care of the ball. That will be our best defense.”
I don’t know how much Green will help on the road in Game 6, but we’ll see.