CLEVELAND — Warriors coach Steve Kerr admits he wonders — usually unsuccessfully — about ways to stop the Cavaliers’ LeBron James.
Kerr really has no answer — but whatever solution he tries, it starts with Andre Iguodala.
“Andre was brilliant again,” Kerr said after the Warriors’ 104-91 home victory in Game 5 that left them with a chance to clinch Tuesday in Game 6 at Quicken Loans Arena. “He does everything for us. He’s our best defender on LeBron. He’s an incredible decision‑maker.
“I mean, seven assists, no turnovers. He rebounds. He guards everybody. When he’s off LeBron, he goes on to a shooter and stays at home with the shooters and challenges shots. He’s a brilliant defensive player.”
Wasn’t too bad offensively, either. Iguodala scored 14 points in Game 5 with two huge makes in the fourth quarter — honest, someone besides Stephen Curry scored in the last 12 minutes for Golden State. With 4:13 left, Iguodala nailed a 3-pointer for a 94-89 lead. And 28 seconds later, he scored inside for a seven-point lead.
For all the talk that he has been the Warriors’ true MVP of the series, Iguodala, who started a second straight game, said nothing has changed about him.
“Being in the league for 11 years and never being in this moment and knowing how hard it is, I’m just excited to get back on the court, playing as hard as possible,” Iguodala said. “Win, lose or draw, just knowing I gave it my all throughout the whole process. I don’t think a trophy or a ring can really signify who you are as a person, but the work you put in kind of says it all.”
In Game 4 of the Finals, Cavs center Timofey Mozgov scored a best-ever 28 points. In Game 5, Mozgov scored 28 points less than that. As in zero.
Coach David Blatt’s decision to yank Mozgov less than five minutes in, not start him in the second half and ultimately utilize him for all of 9:19 in a move to match Golden State’s small-ball has critics and second- guessers weeping tears of joy. Blatt defended his move.
“Did I make a mistake? Listen, when you’re coaching a game, you’ve got to make decisions. I felt that the best chance for us to stay in the game and to have a chance to win was to play it the way that we played it,” Blatt said.
But the Warriors welcomed the chance to play the Cavs on their own battlefield.
“They made an adjustment,” Curry said. “Didn’t play Mozgov pretty much at all in the whole game. So they tried to match our lineup. Obviously over 48 minutes, we feel like we can be versatile with who we can throw out there and how we’re going to win games.”