Stephen Curry finally has his MVP moment in these NBA Finals

OAKLAND — It is always just a matter of time before Stephen Curry gets into a zone.

Yet the time, place and circumstance on Sunday night — with the Golden State Warriors engaged in another tooth-and-nail battle against the Cleveland Cavaliers — made this a necessity.

LeBron James was going off, as usual, carrying the Cavs on his back with a 40-point, 14-rebound, 11-assist triple-double, leaving the thousands packed inside Oracle Arena to seemingly hold their breath for much of the fourth quarter.

Curry, more than anyone, needed to answer King James.

Done.

The Warriors are headed back to Cleveland with a chance to claim the franchise's first NBA title in 40 years on Tuesday night, thanks to the sizzling heroics in crunch time from their MVP point guard.

Curry caught fire by scoring 17 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, and he ignited the explosion that broke open the game.

I mean, it was a one-point game with five minutes left.

A little more than two minutes later, it was a 10-point game with Curry bringing down the house with a pull-up three-pointer.

That's what an MVP is supposed to do: Smell blood, then strike with the dagger.

"I thought he was great," complimented James, who scored 16 in the fourth. "You tip your hat off to a guy like that. He made seven threes. I don't know, were any of them not contested, hand-in-face, falling, step-back off the dribble?"

Probably not.

For my money, James is still the MVP of these NBA Finals, whether the Cavs rally to spring a Game 7 upset or wear down and take the 10-count against a deeper opposition.

Move over, Jerry West. At the moment, West is the only person from a losing team to be named NBA Finals MVP, in 1969. Now it's possible that James can have that distinction, too, although if you heard him after the 104-91 verdict in Game 5 you realize that he is not conceding anything yet.

But, classy guy that he is, James was quick to praise Curry.

"He's the best shooter in our league," James said. "But that's not why we lost. We gave up 18 fast-break points. We gave up 15 second-chance points. Steph was special, obviously, but him hitting those step-back threes is not why we lost the game."

Put it this way: Without those big treys from Curry, the Warriors might not have won.

Curry came through like an MVP is supposed to deliver. For much of these Finals, he has hardly resembled an MVP. Especially early in Games 2 and 3, when Matthew Dellavedova got the best of him. If you had to pick a Warriors MVP for the series, it has been Andrew Iguolada, with his consistent versatility.

Yet there was no debate as the fourth quarter progressed in Game 5, which is traditionally so huge when it comes to settling NBA titles. Curry drove hard to the basket for layups. He worked hard to create space to allow room for the step-backs. One shot was so deep — and over "Delly" — that it should have been a four-point basket. He was suddenly the man of the moment.

No one could question Curry's energy this time, as his own coach, Steve Kerr, did after Game 3.

Curry — who entered Game 5 averaging 23.5 points in the Finals, with his best offensive impact coming in a Game 3 loss — gave his team exactly what they needed when they needed it most.

"I called all of those plays," Kerr deadpanned on Sunday night. "Those were my genius inventions. No, that was just Steph taking over the game."

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Kerr left his imprint by going with his small-ball lineup again, which called for Iguodala to start at forward and Draymond Green to switch to center, with Andrew Bogut hitting the bench. The Cavs tried to counter with their own small lineup, barely playing center Timofey Mozgov, but it backfired.

Mozgov scored a game-high 28 points in Game 4, but had zero points in nine minutes in Game 5, when the Cavs were out-rebounded 43-37.

Yet for all of the questions about Cavs coach David Blatt's use of Mozgov, the game swung with Curry's hot streak in crunch time.

It came with the type of breathtaking play that we're liable to see replayed for decades — and hopefully in slow-motion. Curry lost Dellavedova with a deft move that might be best described as a behind-the-back, crossover dribble, capped by a fade-way three-pointer from 27 feet away.

Just awesome.

Was that his signature moment of the series?

Curry wanted to hear none of that.

"I mean it was a fun moment, but it'll only mean something, and I'll probably have a better answer for that question after we win the championship," Curry said. "Signature moments only come for players who are holding the trophy at the end of the day."

Maybe that will come on Tuesday night. Thanks to Curry's flurry, the Warriors are surely better positioned to close out this deal. Remember, the team that won Game 5 in a series that was tied 2-2 went on to win the NBA crown 71.4% of the time (20 of 28).

"We're not getting ahead of ourselves," Curry said. "But we know the sense of urgency of the moment."

And how.

Follow columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.