CLEVELAND — The Golden State Warriors sounded more concerned about finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 than they did just a few days ago.

It seems the Game 5 performance of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, who combined for 82 points, the loss of Andrew Bogut to a series-ending knee injury, and the shift back to Quicken Loans Arena has made the care-free Warriors uneasy.

Game 5 changed the momentum of this series, with Cleveland simply needing one more home victory to place all the pressure on Golden State to win at home in Game 7. What was once a polite series has turned into a psychological duel with James and his Cavaliers winning the previous battle by sparking the suspension of Warriors forward Draymond Green, then winning with relative ease on Golden State’s home floor on Monday.

So Wednesday featured a rather humble Green promising to atone for his mistake, a flagrant foul against James in Game 4 that prompted the suspension. One of the story lines during Game 5 was Green’s whereabouts — he wasn’t allowed in Oracle Arena. He spent that three-hour window watching the contest from a luxury box at O.co Coliseum nearby while the Oakland A’s played the Texas Rangers.

Green was prepping to celebrate, even bringing his uniform in case the Warriors clinched the title and needed to take team photos. Celtics great Bill Russell also was there to present the NBA Finals MVP award. But James and Irving spoiled those plans.

They slashed the Golden State defense without Green there to help. Bogut won’t be there for Game 6 after hyperextending his knee in the third quarter of Game 5, offering even more opportunity for the Cavaliers to turn this series into a winner-take-all finale.

Green is not usually contrite, but he was Wednesday. He feels indebted to his teammates because he was unable to control his emotions at a critical juncture.

“I have to be better and not put myself in that position to where it is a decision, where there is an investigation,’’ he said. “I have to be better for my teammates as a leader of this team. I can’t put myself in a position where I can’t be there for my teammates on the floor. I do my teammates no justice in street clothes watching the game at the A’s game.

“I have strong belief that if I play Game 5, we win. But I didn’t because I put myself in a situation where I wasn’t able to play. I think my teammates fought and didn’t play well, but still with six minutes to go, down 6 points, continued to battle and battle. It’s on me to come out and help that battle. Not come out and try to be the superstar, try to be the hero, try to be the saving grace, none of that stuff, because being a superstar saving grace hasn’t gotten us this far. Being a great team has gotten us this far.’’

Stephen Curry has won consecutive MVPs with his dazzling ball-handling and stunning shooting prowess and Klay Thompson is among the league’s best shooting guards, but Green is the team’s enforcer, nucleus, and a key leader.

His importance to the team is unquestioned. The Warriors will be considered an all-time great team if they win the Finals, but they already have been beaten seven times this postseason and looked dysfunctional at times in Game 5 without Green.

So there was actually a sense of relief that Green was returning for Game 6 but also a sense of embarrassment that with a chance to close out the series, a chance to win the title at home for the first time in franchise history, the Warriors looked ill-prepared for the moment.

They looked discombobulated and helpless in the fourth quarter, when Irving was scoring at will against a plethora of defensive coverages.

The Warriors may have been too full of themselves after taking Game 4 in Cleveland. They were fully confident they could thump the Cavaliers without Green, but he is an essential part of their arsenal. They know that and so does Cleveland.

Maybe the Warriors took Game 5 for granted. It will be interesting to see if Golden State will respond after a few days of self-reflection.

The Warriors are a great team, but perhaps not in the same class as some of the greatest in NBA history. Green is critical to their success, and losing so soundly without him has revealed the team’s insecurity.

So Game 6 will be the most fascinating game of a fascinating series. The Warriors need a well-behaved Green but that same swagger that has made him one of the league’s indispensable players.

It will be a difficult line to walk, but Green is capable.

“To come back and be a piece of that great team is what I owe to this team. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing,’’ he said. “I’ll move on from the suspension; we move on. It was Game 5; we’re here in Game 6. So it’s behind us.

“We’ve got an opportunity to do something that I don’t know if it’s ever been done to where someone — maybe it has with the Lakers and Celts and all those guys — wins a championship on someone else’s floor two years in a row. We’ve got that opportunity. It’s a fun one. It will be tough.’’

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.