(CNN Philippines) — Highlighted by another brilliant display from LeBron James, Cleveland cruised past Golden State, 115-101, to even the NBA Finals at 3 games apiece and force a rubber match.
According to James, much of his success is due to the efforts of his teammates and the strategies of their coaches.
“I give a lot of credit to my teammates and my coaching staff to put me in position to be successful. I mean, without the ball moving, without the screens being set, without the coaching staff putting out the game plans for us offensively then, what I’ve been able to do, it doesn’t happen. So those guys definitely get the credit,” James said on Thursday (Friday in Manila) at a post-game press conference.
James pushed the Cavaliers’ chances of its first title in franchise history, scoring 41 points (16-of-27 shooting), eleven assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
“I try to be the best player I can be for this team every night, lead these guys out,” he said.
The four-time MVP became the fifth player to score back-to-back 40 points in the Finals — Shaquille O’Neal (2000), Michael Jordan (1993), Rick Barry (1967), Jerry West (1965 and 1969).
For James, locking down on defense against the Warriors in the final 48 minutes of the season will be their key to basketball immortality.
“You have to defend, and that’s what we’ve all been talking about since we got together even from last year that in order for us to be ultimately successful, we have to defend, and I mean, if you don’t defend versus these guys, you see what happened. I mean, we’ve all seen it all year for the last couple years. If you don’t defend these guys or you make a mistake, they make you pay,” he said.
The Cavs is the third team in NBA Finals history to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 and James is just excited to play in another one.
“I’ll take it. It don’t matter to me. Like I told you guys the other day, it’s two of the greatest words in the world, and that’s ‘Game 7,’ so I’ll play it anywhere,” James said.
The winner-take-all Game 7 is slated on Monday PHT at the Oracle Arena.
