OAKLAND — Through the first five games of The Finals, the difference between wins and losses has been the Golden State Warriors' offense. They have scored 114 points per 100 possessions in Games 1, 4 and 5, but just 95.3 in Games 2 and 3.

The constant has been their defense, having allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to score just 99 points per 100 possessions in both their wins and their losses. Cleveland had the postseason's No. 1 offense through the conference finals, but it has been shut down by the regular season's No. 1 defense in this series.

Kyrie Irving's absence over the last four games has something to do with that. Through the first three rounds, the Cavs' offense wasn't much worse with Irving off the floor (108.2 points scored per 100 possessions) than it was with him on the floor (108.9). But the extra load that LeBron James has had to carry obviously has taken its toll. Over the five games, the Cavs' offense has been at its best in the first quarter and at its worst in the fourth.

Still, the Warriors deserve plenty of credit for making James work for his 36.6 points per game and for keeping what's left of his supporting cast in check.

It's not like we can ignore what they've done defensively over the last eight months and put all of the blame for the Cavs' offensive struggles on their injuries.

After another strong defensive performance in Game 5 on Sunday (particularly in the second half), the Warriors are one win from their first NBA championship in 40 years. Here's a few ways they got it done defensively in Game 5 …

After a rough first four games, J.R. Smith got going in the first half of Game 5, scoring 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting (4-for-10 from 3-point range), with two of those shots being half-court heaves at the end of quarters. But he finished with those same 14 points, shooting 0-for-4 in the second half (all on threes).

In the first half, Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston were chasing Smith around and trying to fight through screens.

That wasn't working. With the Warriors' guards getting caught in those screens, Smith had time to catch, square and shoot. So, Golden State switched those pin-down screens in the second half.

James was somewhat efficient in the first half, scoring 20 points on 15 shots, with six of those 15 coming in the restricted area…

The Warriors did a much better job of keeping him away from the basket in the second half, when he scored 20 points on 19 shots, with only two of the 19 coming in the restricted area.

A big part of the Warriors' defensive success this season was their ability to switch on screens with a bunch of players who had similar length and size.

Andre Iguodala has been the primary defender on James all series, but Golden State hasn't been willing to switch on screens in order to keep James in front of them. Over his career, James has shot 71 percent in the restricted area, but just 41 percent in the area of the paint outside the restricted area. So if you can keep him from getting all the way to the basket, you're twice as likely to get a stop.

Though James is much bigger than Klay Thompson and much quicker than Draymond Green, both guys were able to keep him from getting all the way to the rim and contest his shots on second-half switches with Iguodala.

Though the Warriors effectively removed Timofey Mozgov from the game by double-teaming him in the post early and often, they didn't double-team James very much. There was one occasion in the second half, however, where a well-timed double-team by Thompson forced James into one of his two turnovers.

After a Warriors turnover, James takes the ball directly into the post against Harrison Barnes with Thompson guarding Matthew Dellavedova at the top of the key…

As Barnes holds his ground at the left block, Dellavedova joins Smith and Iman Shumpert on the weak side of the floor… Thompson uses that move as an opportunity to double-team James in the post, knowing that Iguodala and Stephen Curry can guard all three Cavs on the weak side… James sees the trap coming and tries to get rid of the ball, but he doesn't see Shumpert coming back to the strong side and Iguodala intercepts the cross-court pass.

Given the way the Warriors have defended James in the post most of the series, that looked like an audible from Thompson. And it was a pretty smart and timely one.

It's true that the Cavs don't have all the tools that made them one of the league's best offenses in the regular season and through the conference finals.

It's also true that this is the best defense they've faced all year.