CLEVELAND -- When small forward LeBron James elected to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers two summers ago, young point guard Kyrie Irving was one of the players with whom he was excited to play alongside as he aimed to bring a championship to Northeast Ohio.
Fast forward two years and the Cavaliers are within two victories of that championship goal, and that is largely because of James and Irving.
“I think when you're around someone every, single day your relationship automatically grows,” James said. “But when you also share some of the same common goals, it helps that process a little bit faster than others. I've watched the kid continue to grow over the last two years, and it's a benefit not only for himself individually, but for our team, for me, and for this franchise.”
Irving added, “It's been expedited substantially just from the standpoint of having a leader like Bron coming in, a championship winner, and then, you know, you have a perennial All-Star in Kevin that he's been a franchise player for however many years he was in Minnesota, and then we try to make it work with the different pieces, and we come in, and you just learn from different guys that I still have great relationships with that have either left the team or are still on the team now, which has been great for my development.”
Anchored by 41-point performances from James and Irving, a first in NBA Finals history, the Cavaliers staved off elimination and earned a 112-97 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Monday night.
And with the Cavaliers again facing a must-win situation against the vaunted Warriors, who in addition to being the reigning league titlists, won a regular-season record 73 games, James knows another effort from himself and Irving will be necessary with the season and a chance at the team’s first-ever NBA Championship hanging in the balance.
“Just need him to be aggressive,” James said of Irving. “You know, from the defensive side of the floor and the offensive side of the floor, go out and make an impact on the game, no matter if he's not scoring, no matter if, at times, he feels like he's not getting touches. We all just need to continue to be aggressive. He needs to be aggressive to help us try to send this game back to Golden State.
“I think he's looking forward to the challenge. I think he's looking forward to the moment. We definitely need him. He's too big of a piece to our puzzle.”
By being aggressive, James wants the Cavaliers to continue to drive toward the hoop, especially now that the Warriors will be without starting center Andrew Bogut for the balance of the series.
“We want to continue to attack,” James said. “We want to continue to not turn the ball over and stop those guys, Steph and Klay, from just having one of these barrages from the perimeter. We also want to try to put pressure on those other guys.
“Those other guys can beat you as well, with Draymond coming back and also Iguodala and Livingston and Barnes and things of that nature, and even Andy gave them a big couple minutes last couple games, Speights as well, and everyone that they put in. Even with Bogut out, they still have so much firepower that it doesn't take any of the focus out of our mind going into Game 6.”
Although the Cavaliers trail the Warriors in the best-of-seven series, 3-2, Irving relishes the opportunity to even things up in front of their home fans and push The Finals to a deciding Game 7 on Sunday night.
“It's been great because we get everyone's best shot,” Irving said. “It flipped roles when I went from going from the team that was trying to steal a win in a great team's building to sold-out arenas, everyone's coming in to watch us play, and that was a flip. It was a complete 180 from coming in, spotted fans being in there, to everyone just coming in and seeing us play and we're getting all this attention.
“Since my rookie year, (I was) trying to just be on a great team. We know we have great management, great ownership, and when you put great players on one team, this is what I wanted to be a part of. Right here, the magnitude of this moment, being with these great guys in the locker room, a great team just fighting for a championship, that's what I wanted to be a part of.”
