Tristan Thompson Shows His Worth in Game 5; Love’s Stat Line Does Not Tell Full Story

The first thing that jumps out from Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals is that LeBron James and Kyrie Irving dominated and willed their team to victory, each scoring 41 points.

Although the rest of the team only combined for 30 points, it was a great all-around team game, especially on the defensive end.

The Cavs held the Warriors to just 36 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent from three-point range.

A big factor in the game was obviously the absence of Draymond Green, who is a valuable part of everything Golden State does.

Green watched the game from a suite next door during the Oakland Athletics game.

Heading into the game, many writers (myself included) felt it would be a great opportunity for Kevin Love to exploit a mismatch.

The flow of the game did not dictate that, as LeBron and Irving were on fire from the moment the game started.

Love finished with just two points and three rebounds, which would seem to add on to the narrative that he is not worth the max contract, he is not a true third star, so on and so forth.

We’ll get to that in a minute.

But if anyone benefited from Green’s suspension, it was Tristan Thompson.

Thompson signed a five-year $82 million contract right before this season, and he has received some criticism and questions of whether he is deserving of that salary.

Thompson made the biggest impact of any Cavalier in Game 5 aside from LeBron and Kyrie.

The 25-year-old hauled in 15 rebounds and blocked two shots.

He was a force to be reckoned with when Golden State lost Andrew Bogut early in the game, and kept Festus Ezeli away from making a big impact when he was on the floor.

Thompson’s role on this team is simple; clean up the glass. The Cavs could not have asked for a better performance from him in Game 5.

But back to Love.

Two points. Three rebounds. 1 assist. 1-for-5 from the field. 0-for-3 from three-point range. Not exactly becoming of a third star.

But despite those poor numbers, one of the numbers that stood out at the end of the game was that Love had the second-highest plus/minus ratio of any player in the game.

Irving was +20. Love was +18. LeBron was +13.

So even though Love did not put up points, rebounds, or assists, he had an efficient game. Some of the credit for LeBron and Irving going off has to be given to how Love filled his role and saw that on this particular night, the best thing he could do was help spread the floor out and clear the way for the two superstars to go to work.

If you look at the players Love was matched up against in Game 5, it’s interesting to see how inefficient they were.

Love is not known for his defense and Green had a way of exploiting that in Golden State’s three wins of the series, but Love spent much of Monday night matched up against Harrison Barnes and a wide array of Warriors forwards.

Bogut only played seven minutes before exiting the game with a knee injury and did not make a big impact prior to his exit.

The combination of Ezeli, James Michael McAdoo, Marreese Speights, and Anderson Varejao all saw time at the power forward and center position throughout the night.

Love was matched up on all of them at various points of the game due to the frequent screens and switching that Golden State forces defenses to adjust to.

That combination of four frontcourt players off the bench played roughly 37 total minutes. Those four players combined for five total points and nine total rebounds.

Much of the credit for defending those four goes to Love, Thompson, and Richard Jefferson.

It’s a strange day when we’re giving credit to Love for his defense, but it gets even stranger when you look at the guy he was matched up against from the start of the game; Barnes.

Barnes played 38 minutes in Game 5 and was guarded primarily by Love, Thompson, and Jefferson.

Barnes shot 2-for-14 from the field, scoring five points and grabbing five rebounds.

Of course Cavs fans would hope that their all-star, supposed third star and member of the Big Three would put up better numbers, but it all comes down to winning.

Love did what he had to do for the team to win on Monday night. Would we rather see him put up 20 points and ten rebounds in a loss?

People are going to rip on Love for this game and there have been times throughout the season where he deserved it, but the Cavs are alive in the series and there may come a time for Love to shine.

Even if the Cavs win these next two games and Love doesn’t score a single point, if he helps the team win, that’s all that matters.

Love played 33 minutes in Game 5. His presence was a part of the win, the same way it has been a part of losses, even on nights where he scores in double-figures and posts a double-double.

Odds are Kyrie and LeBron will not both be that hot again in any more games during this series. The question then becomes, “Who will step up when they’re not both feeling it?”

In Game 3, it was J.R. Smith and Jefferson.

Perhaps in Game 6 or even Game 7, Love steps up when the Cavs need it most.