If the Cavaliers were going to stave off elimination in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, they were going to need someone other than LeBron James to step up and do damage against the Warriors. Kyrie Irving answered the call—and his incredible performance helped him and LeBron make history in the process.
Irving scored 41 points in 40 minutes of action on 17-for-24 shooting from the field, including 5-for-7 from behind the three-point line. LeBron called it one of "the all-time greatest performances in Finals history" after the game ended:
It's probably still too early to throw what Kyrie did into the "all-time" conversation (er, maybe not?!), but he obviously played well and hit some ridiculous shots. Like this one:
And Kyrie's performance, coupled with LeBron’s 41 points in 43 minutes on 16-for-30 shooting, allowed Cleveland to stay alive in their series with Golden State. They now trail 3-2. It also made LeBron and Kyrie the first two teammates to score 40-plus points in the same game in Finals history:
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson offered up praise for their performances during their post-game press conference:
J.R. Smith, who scored 10 points for the Cavs, was the only other Cleveland player in double figures.
In addition to teaming up with Kyrie to set a new NBA record, LeBron—who also grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out seven assists during the game—made some history of his own:
On the other side, Thompson lit it up for the Warriors. He scored 37 points, including 26 in the first half, on 11-for-20 shooting. But Curry shot just 8-for-21 from the field en route to scoring 25 points during the game and Andre Iguodala, who scored 15 points, was the only other Warriors player in double figures.
Game 6 of the NBA Finals is Thursday night back in Cleveland. This series just keeps getting more and more interesting.
