Stephen Curry went 2 for 3 from 3-point range and scored eight points in the first quarter to help the Golden State Warriors take a 29-28 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers after one quarter in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
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LeBron dunks. Harrison Barnes, who’s been quiet since way back in the early minutes of the first quarter, hits a three.
James attempts a bad three-pointer, Shumpert manages to get the rebound but loses it. Thompson gets the steal. James and Curry exchanged words in the dying seconds. “Game five will be extremely hard”.
The home crowd greeted Love warmly after he sat out Game 3.
Kyrie Irving scored 34 points for the Cavaliers, who need to win Game 5 or they’ll finish as runner-up to the Warriors for the second year in a row.
Nyle DiMarco – the “Dancing with the Stars” victor who is deaf – helped perform the national anthem before Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night.
Later, the team said Richard Jefferson will start again and Love will come off the bench for the first time since 2010, when he played for Minnesota.
Team basketball, which was a major cog of the success of the 1985-86 Celtics, arguably the best team in NBA history, is a vital organ that has the Golden State Warriors one win away from cementing themselves among the all-time great NBA clubs.
Not himself through the first three games of the NBA Finals, Curry silenced his critics by pushing the Golden State Warriors within one win of making more history in this season of seasons.
It might seem a bit foreign to the teams involved, though. The Warriors have been in just two games decided by five points or less in the postseason, Cleveland has been in only three – and two of those were in April against Detroit.
It’ll eventually be forgotten that this team spent half a season without head coach Steve Kerr because of back trouble, that Curry got hurt twice in the playoffs, that the Warriors trailed Oklahoma City 3-1 in the Western Conference finals and were essentially left for dead in that series. The sharpshooting guard was MIA in Games 1 and 2, which Cleveland lost. I have no idea how many lead changes there’s been in this game.
It’s unknown if he’s back in Cleveland’s starting lineup.
It’s unclear if the Warriors even noticed.
Curry had scored just 48 total points in the first three games, but the two-time league MVP made seven three-pointers and Thompson, his Splash Brother, drained four as Golden State took a 3-1 lead in the series.
He could come off the bench. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Chicago Cubs will end their century-plus long drought before a championship parade rolls down the shores of Lake Erie.
Kevin Love returned for Cleveland after missing Game 3 because of a concussion and added 11 points off the bench in 25 minutes.
Love walked into the arena as Lue was giving his pregame remarks.
Golden State has now won 88 games this season, when factoring in the regular season and the playoffs.
In his sixth straight NBA Finals, the Cavaliers forward named James was the first player on the floor before Game 4. And they showed why they have one of the best backcourts in the history of the National Basketball Association.
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The 13-year veteran, nicknamed “Champ”, showed little rust from his lack of playing time, drilling 3-pointers from several feet behind the line, as per usual.
