The decision worked well as the Cavs scored the game’s first nine points and Jefferson, who has come off the bench all season, finished with 9 points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes.
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Stephen Curry 3-pointer. Splash.
The most Stephen Curry moment of these NBA Finals came while he was serving as a gleeful spectator on the bench in the second half of Game 2.
But the Cavaliers are hanging tight.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) questions a call, during the second half against the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Cleveland, Friday, June 10, 2016. “It was a man-to-man speech that needed to be said, that we all understood in order to kind of will ourselves to understand that we still have a chance in this series”. Physically? Sure, if you say so, though his inability to dribble around Tristan Thompson might suggest otherwise.
After struggling through the first three games of the series, the Splash Brothers finally arrived. However, James and Co. didn’t enough to contain Curry, Thompson or Harrison Barnes, who made four 3s and added 14 points.
He proved it again early in Game 4.
“He’s fast, he’s active and in this series they’ve gone pretty small so he fits in well“, Kerr told ABC’s Doris Burke at the quarter break. And when the game gets physical, this “jump shooting team” is at its best.
Kevin Love has entered the game to a rousing ovation.
Cleveland went scoreless for 6:30 in the fourth quarter to lose at home for the first time in the playoffs. He has scored more than 30 points just once in the Finals – a 37-point performance in Game 5 last season – and his two-year average of 22.7 points a game is more than seven points a game lower than what he averaged per game this season.
“If you can’t get up for that there’s something wrong with you”, Thompson said.
The Warriors set an NBA Finals record with 17 3-pointers.
It might seem a bit foreign to the teams involved, though.
Cleveland’s very short bench for the past two games has them looking exhausted by the end – and the Cavs’ game degenerated into Kyrie Irving isolations or LeBron James jump shots or isolations, which the Warriors could defend.
The defending champion Warriors hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Entering Game 4, the Cavaliers are flawless 8-0 at home in this year’s playoffs. That’s on us. That’s on our starting lineup.
The talk going into Game 4 mostly centered around Curry, who looked listless in Golden State’s Game 3 loss, and on Kevin Love, who was not cleared until minutes before the game started.
Warriors: Thompson wore a wrap on his left leg for protection and support following his Game 3 run-in with Cavs C Timofey Mozgov.
He could come off the bench. He’s been a reserve 82 times in his career, and his teams were 24-58 in those games.
“The Warriors are really the toughest team to go against when you’re up”, James said.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr knows the anguish that Cleveland has felt in its 52-year drought without a major sports title.
He actually felt that pain a few times. If Cleveland is going to pull off this miracle, it’ll need to win there twice.
When asked generally about how he handles lineup changes, (Tyronn) Lue said it’s important to be honest.
Love walked into the arena as Lue was giving his pregame remarks.
“When a great player like that isn’t playing, guys need to step in and play at a higher level”, Irving said.
Love got a concussion in Game 2 of this series against Golden State, and missed Game 3 of the series.
In his sixth straight NBA Finals, the Cavaliers forward named James was the first player on the floor before Game 4. Love worked out on the court at Quicken Loans Arena and then received medical clearance to return.
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Creating a big lead over the Warriors is one thing.
