CLEVELAND -- Shooting guard Andre Iguodala has been so effective for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals that coach Steve Kerr benched center Andrew Bogut and elected to move the veteran guard into the starting lineup in Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And Iguodala did not disappoint, as he scored 22 points on eight of 15 shooting, including a four-for-nine mark from three-point range, in the Warriors' 103-82 win over the Cavaliers, a victory that evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece heading into Game 5 tonight at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
"It's just about playing the game the right way, and our team has been really good at just letting it flow, and whoever's night it is, that is the guy's night," Iguodala said. "The majority of the time, it's Steph (Curry) just because he is who he is and he's going to do that no matter where he's at.
"As we get older and mature and play this game, great players that understand maybe it's not my night, but someone else is going to have a game for us."
Kerr said the decision to make a change in the starting lineup was made on Thursday morning, and he admitted to using a little gamesmanship during his pre-game press conference when addressing what adjustments to the rotation would be made heading into Game 4 after the Warriors dropped two straight contests to the Cavaliers.
"He looks great out there," Kerr said. "He's been our best player through four games. He guards LeBron pretty much every possession that he's out there, and his offense has been terrific.
"He's one of our two captains. He's our most experienced player, and he's one of the smartest players I've ever been around. The guy is brilliant on both ends. He sees the game. If he wants to coach someday, he'd be a great coach. I don't know if he's got the patience, but he's got a great basketball mind."
In addition to averaging nearly 15 points a night over the first four games, Iguodala has drawn the assignment of defending Cavaliers small forward LeBron James.
With Iguodala guarding him for much of the game, James has not shot better than 50 percent in any of the contests. James' best performance came in a Game 1 loss when he knocked down 18 of 38 attempts, and in Game 4, he converted just seven of his 22 shots, a series-low for makes and attempts.
"Andre, he battles him," Kerr said. "He's played him a lot in his career. Andre, whatever team he's been on, he's the guy who has to guard LeBron when LeBron comes to town.
"He just nodded his head and said, 'All right, let's go.' His role didn't really change much. He was still playing big minutes against LeBron anyway the first three games. It was the positions around him that changed, but he was on board and competed like everybody else did."
