[VIDEO] NBA Finals Game 6: Cavaliers vs Warriors highlights, scores, blog

Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers and it’s do or die for King James and his loyal servants. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 11am (AEST).

The increasingly uphill battle that is Cleveland’s 2015 championship quest is starting to remind me of the film 300.

The Cavs have been drastically outnumbered ever since Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving copped spears in the opening scene.

Yet with LeBron James – built like a Greek god himself – reminding the world he’s the best player alive by dropping nightly triples while seemingly playing every position at once. Add in Tristan Thompson swallowing all rebounds, light, and matter, above the hoop, Timofey Mozgov protecting the rim like it’s rigged with explosives, ultimate ‘crazy enough it just might work’ signing J.R. Smith sporadically catching fire, and human bulldog Matthew Dellavedova hustling his butt off until his very own cult was born, you just can’t count out these Cavaliers as they head into battle against Persian god-king Steph Curry and his army of Warriors.

Game 5 was the first finals match-up in which Curry truly looked like Curry, and despite most of Australia rightly working themselves into a lather over Dellavedova’s defence on the MVP earlier in the series, there’s nothing Delly, anyone on the Cavs, or anyone in the world can do when Steph is reaching peak Steph levels – raining threes from the corporate suites and wreaking run-and-gun havoc, leaving nothing but a trail of shattered ankles and dreams behind.

As David Friedman pointed out, David Blatt must revert to playing Timofey Mozgov despite Golden State’s small ball play, as he allows the Cavs perimeter guys to close out hard and get inside the Warrior guards’ shorts, knowing that their enormous Russian mate will be there to protect the hoop if they get beaten as a result.

Not to mention Cleveland’s offence is better when Mozgov is on the floor; the man has been a beast on both ends almost all series, and the seven-deep-at-best Cavaliers have no other viable options anyway.

We know that LeBron and Curry will engage in another freakish game of HORSE. At this point in the series, that’s almost as certain as Andrew ‘one of the last traditional centres in captivity’ Bogut warming the pine, and Draymond Green trying to fight someone. However, it’s Mozgov who can make the difference, but only if Blatt has the testicular fortitude to play him.

Golden State did a tremendous job of stifling J.R. Smith after he hit an assortment of threes in the first half of Game 5. LeBron is desperately searching for any kind of offensive help, and scarily enough, part-time three-point assassin and full-time maniac Smith might be his best bet.

If the Warriors can continue to suffocate Smith whenever he’s looking dangerous, it might just be enough to sink the Cavs’ offence completely, no matter how hard LeBron paddles.

While LeBron and Mozgov hold the key for Cleveland (and will hold the key to the city if they somehow pull this off), the Cavaliers could use a little more from Dellavedova after he gave them just five points and two assists on 2/9 shooting in game five. Even if that means Delly skips warmups in order to whip himself into a rage by borderline overdosing on various mixtures of black coffee, Red Bull, and Stone Cold Steve Austin highlight reels.

Prediction
This thing is going seven. That prediction was probably 10 per cent head and 90 per cent heart, but I’m an emotional guy. The basketball world deserves Game 7, a high-stakes battle to the death in the league’s loudest arena.

LeBron will continue to fight like a god among men in Game 6, and along with his goofy cast-off army of 300, will live to fight another day.