Irving, James lead Cavaliers over Warriors
CLEVELAND: Kyrie Irving and LeBron James unleashed a historic scoring spectacle Friday to power defending champion Cleveland over Golden State 137-116 in the NBA Finals, ending the Warriors’ bid for a perfect playoff run.
Irving scored 40 points, hitting 15-of-27 shots from the floor and 7-of-12 3-pointers, while James added 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to pull the Cavaliers within 3-1 in the best-of-seven championship series.
“The magnitude of the game, it hit me in a very deep place,” Irving said. “You want to play extremely well and you understand that’s a do-or-die game.”
No team has escaped a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series in 126 tries and the Warriors can claim the crown by winning game five at home on Monday in Oakland, California, but the Cavs made the greatest NBA Finals comeback last year from 3-1 down to beat the Warriors.
“The job is still far from over,” Irving said. “We’re still in a hole. But this is a good start.”
Opening the game with the highest-scoring quarter and half in NBA Finals history, the Cavaliers became the first finals team trailing 3-0 to force a fifth game since the 1996 Seattle SuperSonics.
“At the end of the day we’ve just got some resilient guys,” James said. “We’re battle tested, they’re battle tested. And getting swept is something that you never want to have happen. You hate to get swept, lose two games on your home floor. So I think a lot of guys had that in their mind today, and they came out and played like it.”
The defending champion Cavaliers snapped Golden State’s NBA-record post-season win streak at 15 games. The Cavaliers shot 24-of-45 from 3-point range, setting a finals record for 3-pointers and ending one shy of matching the league’s all-time record. — AFP