“It was that I-hate-that-I’m-going-through-this moment, I-feel-like-I’m-letting-you-guys-down moment without him actually even saying it”, James said. The only issue was it came from a place of frustration, not confidence – the game out of reach for the Cavaliers and the team on the brink of going down 1-3 in the best of seven series.
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Down eight early in the third and up two headed into the fourth, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-97 on Friday.
The league’s MVP was mostly MIA, scoring 19 points – two in the first half – on 6-of-13 shooting. Curry finished with 38 points and six assists while Thompson had 25 points to power the Warriors to a win on a night when, for the first time in this series, Golden State didn’t get a massive edge from its bench. While Cleveland’s decision to switch less paid off when the Warriors settled for jumpers in Game 3, it could backfire if the Warriors are more aggressive attacking the basket and running in the open court. They combined to shoot 11-for-22 from three-point range, and the Warriors made an NBA Finals-record 17 three-pointers in 36 attempts.
Cavaliers: F Kevin Love (concussion) was listed as questionable prior to clearing NBA Concussion Protocol and being declared active one hour before tipoff. “We’ve still got some work to do”. We haven’t played that well.
Curry backed coach Steve Kerr’s calling the Warriors “soft” in game three.
Warriors probable starting lineup: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut. Through three NBA Finals games, he’s averaged 16 ppg and shot 43.6 percent from the floor. “That team’s hungry over there, and they’ve got some all-time great players”. “We have certain rules and we’re trying to follow our rules. but no matter what you do, he’s going to have a huge stat line and he’s going to impact the game 1,000 different ways”. The result was a 29-28 Warriors lead after one, with the Kyrie Irving having nine and Stephen Curry with eight. “I think in the first two games with Golden State, they were definitely that”, said Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue.
Point is, when pushed Kerr will push back, whether it’s against a teammate who just may have been the greatest player that the game has ever known, or against an inanimate object used by coaches to draw up plays during time-outs. While the Cavs were successful without Love, Jefferson is the first to acknowledge they’re better with him.
Game 5 is Monday in Oakland, where the defending champion Warriors are 50-3 this season.
“You never have to worry about egos and feelings, not with our team”, Kerr said. “I just thought we made some defensive mistakes that cost us”, said Lue.
A Game 4 loss at the Q past year cost Cleveland a chance at a 3-1 and all but cost them the series. The two-time National Basketball Association most valuable player started gradually in Game 4 and ended with a flourish, scoring 24 points in the second half and 38 altogether.
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“If you can’t get up for that there’s something wrong with you”, Thompson said. Nor was there enough offense, after scoring 55 points to take a five-point halftime lead. Smith nailed a shot from halfcourt at the end of the second quarter, but the shot came after the horn and was waved off. Lue said he doesn’t pay any attention to the all the outside second-guessing about his lineups.
