It took something special for the Golden State Warriors to be on the cusp of something really special.

The Warriors are one win away from their first NBA title since 1975 and one win shy of the fourth NBA title in franchise history after topping the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

They improved to 48-4 at home this season and know that, at worst, they have at least one home game remaining, with Game 6 in Cleveland on Tuesday.

Curry leaves a lasting impression

NBA MVP Stephen Curry showed why he won the award, picking the Warriors up when they most needed it.

Curry scored 17 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Cavaliers at bay. He outdueled LeBron James in the final 12 minutes, including the final five minutes, in which the Warriors outscored the Cavaliers, 19-7.

Elias notes that Curry is one of five players to score 17 points in the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game in the past 40 years (he's done so twice in this series). The others are Shaquille O’Neal (2000 Lakers), Dwyane Wade (2006 Heat), Russell Westbrook (2012 Thunder) and Kevin Durant (2012 Thunder)

The 37 points were the most scored by a Warriors player in a NBA Finals game since Rick Barry scored 38 against the Bullets in Game 3 of the 1975 Finals.

Of note: Reigning MVPs with a 3-2 series lead are 13-0 all-time in NBA Finals’ series.

LeBron’s: All-World effort …

James continued an amazing one-man performance, finishing with 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. He became the second player in NBA Finals history to score 40 points in a triple-double, joining Jerry West, who did so in the 1969 NBA Finals for the Lakers against the Celtics. James has three 30-point triple-doubles in the NBA Finals, which Elias Sports Bureau notes is as many as everyone else in NBA history combined.

James was responsible for 70 of the Cavaliers’ 91 points in Game 5 via scoring and assists. The Elias Sports Bureau noted that only two players in NBA history were responsible for more points in a Finals game—Walt Frazier (74 on 36 points and 19 assists in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Lakers) and Jerry West twice (for the 1969 and 1970 Lakers).

James has six triple-doubles in the NBA Finals. The only player with more is Magic Johnson, with eight.

James played 44 minutes, 46 seconds. He passed two players on the NBA’s all-time postseason minutes played list -- Michael Jordan and Bill Russell -- and now ranks in ninth place in that stat.

LeBron James was responsible for 70 of the 91 Cavaliers points in Game 5 (40 scored, 30 assisted). That's behind only Walt Frazier and Jerry West for most offense generated in a game in NBA Finals history.

But supporting cast not there

Early in the game, it looked like James was going to get the help he needed from J.R. Smith, who was hot from the field early. But after making a shot with 9:09 left in the second quarter, Smith did not make another. He finished with 14 points.

Smith, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova combined to make 10 of 33 shots in their 115 combined minutes of play.

Smith and Shumpert scored 23 of their points off James passes. They were a combined 0-of-11 for one point on plays that didn’t come off a James pass.

The Cavaliers also tried to adjust to the Warriors move to play Andre Iguodala as much as they did by sitting Timofey Mozgov for most of the game.

Mozgov scored 28 points in 33 minutes in Game 4, but did not score in nine minutes in Game 5.

The bottom line for the Cavaliers: James outscored Curry, 40-37.

But Warriors not named Curry outscored Cavaliers not named James, 67-51.

The Cavaliers started this postseason 4-0 without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. They have since lost their last two without them.

Looking ahead

The Game 5 winner of an NBA Finals series that is tied 2-2 goes on to win the series 71 percent of the time.

James is 2-4 in playoff series’ when his team trails 3-2.

The Warriors are 9-1 all-time in playoff series when leading 3-2. Their only loss was to the Suns in the 1976 Western Conference finals.

Steve Kerr is one win away from being the first NBA rookie coach to win the NBA title since Pat Riley in 1982.

A James team is trying to overcome a 3-2 deficit to win the Finals for the second time in three seasons. The other was the 2012-13 Heat, who rallied to beat the Spurs.

The Warriors are 3-1 in potential series-clinching games this postseason.

The Cavaliers are facing elimination for the first time this postseason. They are 2-5 when facing elimination with James on the team.