The Cavaliers
Irving scores 40 as defending champs stay alive
turned in one of the best offensive performances in NBA Finals history, scoring a finals-record 49 points in the first quarter and cruising to a 137-116 win over the Warriors in Game 4 behind a triple-double from LeBron James.
CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers stopped Golden State from celebrating and maybe started another comeback.
Just like last year, the NBA Finals are at 3-1 after four games.
LeBron James recorded a tripledouble, Kyrie Irving scored 40 points and Cleveland outperformed the NBA's most electrifying offense in a testy Game 4 filled with technical fouls on Friday night, beating the Warriors 137-116 and ending their perfect postseason.
A series that appeared to be headed for a quick conclusion is California-bound for Game 5 on Monday night.
The Cavs set scoring records in the first half and then held on during a wild third and fourth quarter that included technical fouls, James jawing with fellow superstar Kevin Durant and Cleveland's crowd roaring like a jet engine.
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs.
But until the Cavs did it last year, no team had ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals.
Cleveland took Game 3 at home, lost Game 4 and then won the final three games — Game 7 in Oakland — to capture the city's first sports championship since 1964.
As the final seconds ticked off, Cleveland fans chanted, “Cavs in 7.”
The Warriors won their first 15 playoff games, the longest postseason streak in North American sport history, but 48 minutes from a party they've been planning for a year has been put on hold.
Durant, still one win from the coveted championship he left Oklahoma City to get, scored 35 but got little help from Stephen Curry, who scored 14 on 4-of-13 shooting.
James finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his ninth career triple-double in the Finals, breaking the record of eight held by Magic Johnson.
Kevin Love added 23 points for Cleveland, which made 24 3-pointers and finished the first half with a jaw-dropping 86 points.
Leading up to Game 4, James acknowledged that he knew what might happen when Durant merged with the Warriors, a 73-win team out for revenge.
James understood the potential of this Golden State Goliath with more firepower than perhaps anything the NBA has seen before. Even with that, James isn’t envious of the Warriors for building a super power in sneakers. He’d do it, too. One day after Cleveland plunged into a 3-0 hole following a demoralizing 118-113 loss in Game 3, James said he didn’t have a problem with Durant tilting the balance of power by joining forces with a star-studded team that already had Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
“It’s part of the rules,” James said Thursday. “Is it fair? I don’t care. It’s great for our league. Right now, look at our TV ratings, look at the money our league is pouring in. I mean, who am I to say if it’s fair or not?”
James paved the way for Durant by leaving Cleveland as a free agent in 2010 to play with All-Stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami, where the trio won back-to-back titles sandwiched among four straight Finals. James doesn’t begrudge the Warriors; he even pointed out the NBA isn’t the only league where dynasties have been built by owners throwing around money.
James, who has expressed a desire to own a team one day, cited the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s as examples of teams that spent for success.
“I’m not one to judge and say if it’s fair or not if guys are adding players to their team,” he said. “It happens. It’s sports. You have an opportunity to sign one of the best players, and you can do it, go ahead and do it.
“Why not? If I become an owner, I’m going to try to sign everybody.”
With that, James walked off the dais, ending a news conference in which he addressed the dawn of Golden State’s dynasty, his future and criticism for a play late in Wednesday’s loss.
It would have been understandable if James had been dour given that his hopes to win a fourth title and second straight with Cleveland evaporated in the closing minutes of Game 3. The Warriors outscored the Cavs 11-0 down the stretch to run their postseason record to 15-0, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t close out the series on Friday night.
But except for an exaggerated yawn before taking the first question, James was upbeat, satisfied that he has done everything within his power to slow the Warriors, who have toyed with the field for weeks.
And now he has Game 5.