Once again, LeBron James took over the game. He finished the game with 38 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. With those totals, he registered another 30 points, 5 rebound, 5 assist playoff game. This was his 51st game with the 30-5-5 tying him with Michael Jordan. That is an impressive feat but for this game, the most important stat could have been his 0 turnovers.
The game was a game of runs but in the end the Cleveland Cavilers held onto the victory. Their dominance of the second quarter (29-20) and their big run during the end of the 3rd quarter and beginning of the 4th quarter was their game saver. They were able to withstand the Chicago Bulls impressive 25-9 run to close out the game (before the fouls at the end of the game). The Cavs won 106-101 to push their series lead to 3-2.
James had great help from Kyrie Irving. Irving ended the night with 25 points and 5 rebounds.
The Bulls had an impressive game with multiple players contributing. Their leading scorer was Jimmy Butler who had 29 points and 9 rebounds. The Bulls had 5 other players who finished with double-digits. They were the following: Mike Dunleavy (19 points), Derrick Rose (16 points), Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and Nikola Mirotic each ended with 10 points each.
The Chicago Bulls had two areas of weakness in their game 5 against the Cavs. Rose had an off shooting night 7-24 was their first weakness. His 3-point shooting was off which led to the second weakness which was the Bulls 3-point shooting s a team. They were 7-25 from the 3 point arch.
However, if you are a stat junkie, one of the interesting facts of the game was that the Cavs were -4 with James on the floor. If you are looking for “the plus” guy tonight for the Cavs, you have to look no further than J.R. Smith. He was an amazing +18.
