Game 5 is Monday in Oakland, where the Warriors will shoot for back-to-back titles.
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Curry and Thompson, the star backcourt of the Golden State Warriors, did what they could to evade all the noise in the hours before Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night.
If Cleveland are to win a maiden National Basketball Association title this season, they will have to win three straight games over a Golden State team that has not lost three straight all season.
The Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 58-42 in the second half, with Steph Curry, 38 points, including seven three-pointers, and Klay Thompson, 25 points, having their best games of the finals.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) in game four of the NBA Finals in Cleveland, June 10, 2016.
Kyrie Irving collected 34 points, while LeBron James flirted with a triple-double after posting 25 points, 13 boards and nine assists – all not enough for the Cavaliers to level the series.
Still, the Warriors did not go 73-9 over the regular season without knowing how to bounce back and Steve Kerr, their coach, made some changes to keep his side in contention.
“This team has been through a lot together”, Golden State forward Draymond Green said.
“So when he made that shot, that was a good indication he was feeling better about himself and about the way the game was going”. I always tell our guys, ‘That’s why we get paid.
“They got going”, Kerr said.
“We all saw it in the locker room”, James, telling reporters how the team reviewed video of the incident after the game, said. Golden State actually finished the night with more three-pointers than standard two-pointers, hitting 16 in the latter category. Irving had 41 points on 17 for 24 shooting and added six assists for the Cavaliers. Leading up, the big question was whether or not Kevin Love, if he cleared the NBA’s concussion protocol, would start or come off the bench.
Thompson made four three-pointers and Curry knocked down three from behind the arc as the pair combined for 19 of Golden State’s 29 points in the quarter. “I’m all fine with that, but some of the words that came out of his mouth were a little bit overboard, and being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids and a family, things of that nature, some things just go overboard”. Neither was hit with a technical, though, leaving Green still two shy of a mandatory one-game suspension.
“He said something I didn’t agree with”, James explained. His struggles invited a host of concerns about his health (he sprained his right knee in the first round of the playoffs) and his play (which had suffered).
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It was another story inside the somber home locker room, where the Cavaliers who lingered to speak with the media spoke in hushed tones about Curry’s on-court outburst.
