Cavaliers evoking sweet '16 comeback

Cavaliers evoking sweet ’16 comeback

OAKLAND, Calif. — The NBA Finals returned to the Bay Area with the Warriors up 3-1 against the Cavaliers, same as it ever was.

All it took was one Cleveland victory to evoke memories of last season’s Finals and generate a flicker of an idea that maybe — just maybe — the Cavaliers can turn this into a series.

And all it would take is a Cavaliers victory Monday in Game 5 at Oracle Arena to make one think that maybe it’s possible that Cleveland pulls off another unprecedented championship.

The series looked like it was over last season after four games, and it looked over after three games this season. And maybe it is. But maybe it isn’t.

“Being down 3-1, we understand that it’s a predicament that we put ourselves in,” said Cavs guard Kyrie Irving, who has scored 78 points in the last two games. “But coming out in Game 5, we feel like if we come to play and we make sure that we focus on our game plan and we bring the physicality and we bring it to them, then we’ll put ourselves in a great position.”

The Cavs have the confidence they can do it given that they came back from a 3-1 deficit last season. If Cleveland wins another game, another level of doubt creeps into Golden State’s collective mind, and the Cavs know that.

Richard Jefferson, who delivered an underappreciated effort for Cleveland in Game 4, told Fox Sports Ohio that if the Cavs win Game 5, it’s going back to Oakland for Game 7.

While the circumstances of how the series got to 3-1 are not the same as last season — Golden State won the first three, and no team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series — there are similarities beyond the series margin.

Golden State’s Draymond Green isn’t suspended for Game 5, but his histrionics when calls went against him in Game 4 were a distraction. Can he keep his cool without a technical foul in Game 5?

Once again, a Warriors family member bought into conspiracy theories. A year ago, Steph Curry’s wife, Ayesha, accused the NBA of rigging games, and during Cleveland’s Game 4 victory, Green’s mom tweeted, “These OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY PAID!” adding multiple poop-face and money-bag emojis to her tweet.

Last year, LeBron James took exception to something Green said to him, and James was motivated when Klay Thompson said, “I guess his feelings just got hurt.”

In Game 4, Kevin Durant and James had a verbal confrontation, and while neither revealed what was said, James is not a fan of trash talk, saying he’s there to play ball.

The Cavs also planned to have a team dinner Sunday at the same San Francisco restaurant they went to before Game 5 last year.

Now the parallels will be rendered meaningless if Golden State wins Game 5, and Curry isn’t thinking about last season.

“This year’s a totally different year; I actually wasn’t thinking about that until you asked me,” Curry said when asked about another 3-1 Finals lead. “I’m confident, I’m energetic and positive about the opportunity we have in front of us tomorrow. The past is the past.

“It’s fueled us all year, just trying to keep that hunger to get back to the stage. But we understand we’re one win away from getting the job done, and we have a chance to write our own story. So this is going to be a fun night, and we want to keep a clear focus on what’s going on in the present.”

On the surface, the Cavs have a basic game plan: limit turnovers, defend the three-point line and play with the physicality they showed in Game 4.

“We have to be 20 times better [at Oracle Arena],” James said.