LeBron James said Steph Curry's performance in game five was not the match-winning one, lamenting the Cleveland Cavaliers' defence at the Oracle Arena on Sunday.

James' Cavs slumped to a 3-2 deficit in the NBA Finals, as the Golden State Warriors moved within one win of a breakthrough championship - largely on the back of Curry's 37 points.

But four-time MVP James said the incumbent MVP Curry was not the reason why Cleveland are on the brink of defeat in the best-of-seven series.

"I thought he was great. You tip your hat off to a guy like that. He made seven threes," James said of Curry.

"I don't know, were any of them not contested, hand in his face, falling, step-back off the dribble? I'm okay with that. We're okay with that.

"You tip your hat to a guy who makes shots like that, and he's the guy that can do it in our league. He's the best shooter in our league.

"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."

James said he was still confident, despite being one loss away from yet another failure in the NBA Finals.

He has been in the title-deciding series in each of the past five seasons, but only has two championships to his name.

"I feel confident because I'm the best player in the world. It's that simple," he said.

The Warriors out-rebounded the Cavs 43-37, with only five Cleveland players registering a possession off the boards compared to nine from Golden State - a deficiency coach David Blatt was unable to explain.

"It seems like when you force long, hard shots, the ball falls far from the basket," Blatt said.

"It doesn't fall necessarily within a close distance to the basket, and sometimes you're just not prepared and locked in at the same level to get those balls that fall between the dotted line and the three point line, and you need to be.

"It seemed like we weren't, and if there's any explanation, that is the best I can do for you."