In getting the crucial road win, the Warriors finally got an MVP-worthy performance from Curry, who had scored just 48 points in the first three games. The Dubs hitting an NBA Finals record 17-three pointers – and the lead is 10. They went almost seven minutes between baskets in the fourth, and the Warriors countered with Harrison Barnes’ fourth 3-pointer of the game to stretch the lead to 93-84 – their largest of the night – with 5:56 left. No team in NBA history, and there have been 32, has fumbled away a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. But with the return of the Splash Brothers as we’ve known them â MVP Steph Curry exploded for 37 points and Klay Thompson scored 25 â and a trip home for Game 5 the Warriors did the next best thing to celebrating another crown at Quicken Loans Arena.
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Also, Green defends James and his absence would make life easier for Cleveland’s superstar playmaker, who averages 31.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists in games when his team is facing elimination. He played 37 minutes and was plus-11 for the game.
But Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, well aware that the odds are stacked against his team, had a blunt message. LeBron James was made available to reporters but he elected to take a pass when asked if Love should start.
But for the Cavaliers there was no way to defuse the Curry and Thompson time bomb that exploded again on Friday.
“This is a great opportunity”, Warriors and National Basketball Association scoring leader Stephen Curry said. “Every closeout game is hard, but when you’re at home, for a unusual reason, it’s even more hard. You gotta go for a guy like that”. After being handed their worst loss in more than two years, the Golden State Warriors bounced back to down the Cleveland Cavaliers and move one win shy of completing a dream title run.
Golden State, frankly, looked soft in Game 3. “I thought we competed”, Lue said.
Cleveland: A year after the Golden State Warriors made a change to the starting lineup that turned momentum in the NBA Finals, the reigning champions might turn to the bench again. Love finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes.
Thompson and Curry broke out of their Finals scoring funk by combining for 63 points as the Warriors pushed the Cavs to brink of elimination heading into Monday’s Game Five in Oakland.
As the tense first half neared its end, officials called a technical foul on Golden State’s coach Steve Kerr, for what was obvious from reading his lips were some four-letter words directed at them.
Green is no stranger to controversies on the court, after he appeared to kick Kiwi star Steven Adams in the groin during the Western Conference finals series, which the Warriors won 4-3 over Oklahoma City Thunder.
“All the slander”, forward Draymond Green said of the criticism directed at his teammate.
“If you don’t get up for that, there’s something wrong with you”, Thompson said.
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Cleveland had the campaign’s fourth-best offense; Golden State’s attack was historically efficient.
