The win was a devastating blow to LeBron James’s Cavaliers, who lost their first home game of the postseason and now trail the best-of-seven NBA Finals 3-1 with Game Five scheduled for Monday in Oakland.
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As if passing Michael Jordan and knocking off LeBron James in one night wasn’t enough, the Warriors also hit an NBA Finals record 17 3-pointers in the game.
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. And when he blasted his own team after Game 3 of the NBA Finals by calling them soft – a term that players generally take as a major insult – no one objected.
The question that had been asked often through the first three games of the Finals: when would Curry and Thompson have one of those shooting games the opponent couldn’t overcome? It went six games a year ago when the Cavaliers didn’t have Kevin Love for the entirety of the series and Kyrie Irving for most of the matchup.
“The Warriors are really the toughest team to go against when you’re up”, James said. A win would put the Warriors in the dream position of coming back home to potentially claim the title in Oracle. All but four of those 31 points that came from Thompson, Smith and Love were scored in the first half, and that effort could not match the Warriors’ backcourt production.
The 2016 NBA Finals include The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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.
DiMarco signed the anthem, which was sung by the fans who filled Quicken Loans Arena in what’s become a Cleveland tradition.
And now with Golden State one win away from a second straight championship, the Cavaliers’ search is running out of time. “We’ve got to learn from our mistakes… we had our chances”.
Kevin Love, out with a concussion in Game 3, did not start but returned from the bench to drop in 11 points and pull down 5 rebounds. With around four minutes left in the game, Draymond Green and LeBron James got tangled up at the top of the arc.
In the immediate aftermath Friday, guard Klay Thompson, who backed Curry with 25 points, was already trying to walk the line between excitement and caution about Monday’s opportunity.
– Games decided by 10 points or less: Warriors 6-2, Cavaliers 4-1. “He’s eager to play and we definitely need him back”.
“I have an opinion on who’s our general, and that’s Coach Lue”, James said.
Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) reacts during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Cleveland, Friday, June 10, 2016.
Only 10 teams in National Basketball Association history have rallied from 3-1 down, and the Warriors doing it has to remind the Cavaliers that it’s possible.
Warriors: Thompson wore a wrap on his left leg for protection and support following his Game 3 run-in with Cavs C Timofey Mozgov….
Kerr said he made some great friendships when he played in Cleveland. In addition to James’s sluggish performance, most of the rest of the Cavaliers played poorly in the defeat.
“I think what happened the other night, if that doesn’t get our team prepared to play, then there’s no words that I can use that will do the job”, he said. Kyrie Irving scored 34 points.
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“If you can’t get up for that there’s something wrong with you”, Thompson said.
