A dominant 103-82 Game 4 road win has the Golden State Warriors back in the driver's seat of the 2015 NBA Finals, allowing them to wrest home-court advantage back from the Cleveland Cavs.
The highs of Game 4 were great indeed, but the time is now to focus on just what it will take to hold serve in Sunday's Game 5 in Oakland. Here's 4 Things The Warriors Need To Do To Win Game 5.
1. Continue To Use Iggy To Contain LeBron James
James' historic Games 1, 2, 3 were the stuff nightmares are made of, but the use of Andre Iguodala as an in-pocket defender turned the tide in Thursday's Game 4. Even before he bashed his head into a camera, LeBron was forced to settle for Dirk Nowitzki-light fadeaways and contested jumpers that had no business going up. If Iggy can continue to blanket James and the Warriors give timely help on switches and double teams, the Warriors will have Game 5 in hand.
2. Keep Limiting Turnovers
The Warriors offense was a mess of turnovers and tentativeness in Games 2 & 3 and parts of Game 1. They reversed that trend in Game 4, turning the ball over only seven times and making the extra pass instead of going for high-risk highlight reel dishes. There's a time and a place for those dimes, but the fact remains that Golden State can find BETTER shots when they take a little of the flash off their passing.
If Steve Kerr can continue to elicit that sort of controlled fireworks out of the offense, things will be just fine at Oracle.
3. Have Steph Continue To Reassert Himself
Curry's 22-point night on Thursday is a bit misleading in retrospect when it comes to just how efficient he was in providing such critical output. Curry was 8 of 17 from the field and 4 of 7 from deep, adding six dimes and a +18 plus/minus when he was on the court. This is the Steph we know and love, and if he sticks around, this series could mirror the Memphis series with G.S. closing things out with three straight wins.
4. Continue To Get Key Minutes From The Supporting Cast
It's weird calling Andre Igoudala a part of the supporting cast with the superstar breakthrough he had in Game 4. Whatever the case may be, he was the best player on the court all night long and outperformed LeBron in a big game situation. If he continues to be that explosive and guys like David Lee continue to chip in with monster minutes, Game 5 will belong to Dub Nation.
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