The Cleveland Cavaliers staved off elimination Monday night with a 112-97 win over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and it wouldn't have been possible without historic performances from Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
According to the NBA's official Twitter account, James and Irving—who each tallied 41 points—became the first pair of teammates to finish with at least 40 points apiece in a Finals game.
| Kyrie Irving | 40 | 41 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 17/24 | 5/7 |
| LeBron James | 43 | 41 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 16/30 | 4/8 |
| Source: NBA.com | ||||||||
The two were so dominant, in fact, that they combined to score or assist on each of Cleveland's final 25 made field goals. The last field goal that neither player contributed to came with 5:27 remaining in the second quarter, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Bleacher Report @BleacherReportKyrie and LeBron made more FGs than the whole Warriors team combined
In every way imaginable, James was outrageous. According to NBA.com, the 31-year-old became the first player since Shaq in 2001 to go for at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in the Finals.
At 32.4 points per game, James now owns the highest scoring average in NBA history when facing elimination, per ESPN Stats & Info.
If the Cavaliers are going to prevent their season from coming to a close again, James and Irving will need to come up with another pair of monster efforts in Game 6 on Thursday night.
The Warriors will have Draymond Green, who served a one-game suspension Monday, back at their disposal, and the human Swiss army knife should be able to provide some more resistance against James and make him work for every point he scores below the free-throw line.
It won't be easy for the Cavaliers' biggest stars, but they've proved once in an elimination setting that they won't be intimidated by the gravity of the moment and will look to do so again Thursday.
