Records fall, courtesy of Cavs

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue saw it coming at the morning practice on June 9 before Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals.

“We had a great vibe at shootaround,” Lue said. “Guys were upbeat. Guys were into it.”

Ten hours later, Lue’s gut hunch played out on the court as the resurgent Cavs rode a scintillating offensive performance to a 137-116 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena.

A quartet of NBA Finals records, three of them longstanding, fell like dominoes as the Cavs avoided elimination. They trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Game 5 is set for June 12 at Oracle Arena in Oakland. Tipoff is 9 p.m.

The Cavs live to play another day because they played like there was no tomorrow. That was especially true in the first half as they shot red-hot totals of 60.9 percent from the field overall and 59.1 percent from 3-point range.

“When we’re making shots and playing with pace, we’re a tough team to beat,” Lue said.

That marksmanship helped them build an 86-69 lead at halftime and set these records.

• With an onslaught of 49 points in the first quarter, the Cavs bettered the 47 points scored by the Los Angeles Lakers against the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers won the game, 137-104, but lost the series, 4-3.

• The Cavs’ output of 86 points shattered the previous record of 79 set by the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals. Boston won that game, 148-114, but lost series, 4-2.

• The combined total of 154 points in the first half eclipsed the previous record of 140 accumulated by the San Francisco Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 of the 1967 Finals. The 76ers won the game, 125-122, and the series, 4-2.

• After making just 31 3-pointers in the first three games of the series, the Cavs drained an NBA Finals-record 24 3-pointers in a win-or-go-home situation.

“It was hard to keep up with us tonight. We kept attacking, kept attacking,” said Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving after leading all scorers with 40 points.

He scored 28 in the first half.

LeBron James had 31 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. It was his eighth career playoff triple-double anchored by 30 or more points. Kevin Love added 23 points.

“With LeBron and Kyrie pushing the pace like that, it opened up a lot of shots for us,” Love said.

The Cavs finished the game shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from 3-point range.

TIM PHILLIS - THE NEWS-HERALD Kyrie Irving drives to the basket during the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Warriors on June 9.