After taking a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers went almost seven minutes without a field goal and wound up getting outscored 58-42 in the second half.
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Game 5 of the series is on Tuesday (Manila time), back in Oakland, California.
After blowing out the Warriors by 30 in Game 3, the Cavaliers had a chance to even the series. Love came off the bench for the first time in six years after returning from concussion, and he was inserted into the game with five minutes to go in the first quarter.
“This is a great opportunity for us, and we need to play with a sense of urgency and a sense of aggression like we did tonight”, said Curry.
The Warriors were 17-of-36 from 3-point distance, while holding the Cavs to 6-of-25 behind the stripe in dealing Cleveland its first home loss of the postseason. Their arrival was a welcomed relief for the Warriors, who had managed to bury the Cavs in the first two games despite minimal production from their two stars.
“It was a great response after Game 3, when we were really embarrassed by our performance”, coach Steve Kerr said. “We got back to who we are as a team”.
Curry and Thompson also responded well to all the criticism they received.
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.
Of the 32 teams that have faced a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals none have ever come back to win the championship.
Kyrie Irving has 27 points and LeBron James had 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, two dimes shy of his seventh career triple-double in the finals. But he was uncharacteristically passive on offense for most of the night.
James delivered those. The one he wants most may be out of reach, but the Warriors aren’t writing him off. Green appeared to hit James between the legs on his way up.
“It’s going to be a close game but, it’s not going to be a blow out game”, said William Burgos of Cleveland. Nor did the fact Kerr subbed in James Michael McAdoo late in the first instead of Festus Ezili, probably to avoid bad switches on defense. “We’ll see what they say”. So I don’t read too much into that. He immediately was tackled and taken off in handcuffs.
– Games decided by 11 points or more: Warriors 8-4, Cavaliers 9-3.
Stephen Curry has 25 points and Klay Thompson 21 for Golden State. The Warriors lead the series, 2-1. During the field-goal drought, Green rejected a layup attempt by James.
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With Golden State leading 88-84, Curry got loose for a backdoor layup and Barnes followed with a dagger 3-pointer, deflating a crowd of 20,000-plus fans clinging to hope that this would be the year Cleveland would win its first pro sports championship since 1964.
