FINAL: Cavs 137, Warriors 116: The Cavaliers still have life thanks to a historic performance in Game 4 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Cleveland set records with 49 points in the opening quarter and 86 in the first half, both of which helped the Cavs beat the Golden State Warriors. They also set an NBA Finals record with 24 3-pointers, and LeBron James now has the most Finals triple-doubles of all time.
Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 40 points, while LeBron James (31 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds), Kevin Love (23 points) and J.R. Smith (15 points) also reached double figures. Kevin Durant led Golden State with 35 points.
The series now shifts back to Oracle Arena with the Warriors leading the series 3-1. Sound familiar?
Fourth quarter, 2:40, 132-111: The Cavs now have 23 3-pointers after buckets from J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving.
Fourth quarter, 4:39, 126-108: LeBron James has a triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. You can add that to the list of records broken in this game.
Fourth quarter, 8:56, 120-104: LeBron James is back in, and Kyrie Irving is doing his best to keep the Cavs comfortably in the lead with five straight points. Irving now has 37 points.
Fourth quarter, 10:55, 115-102:Â Patrick McCaw and Klay Thompson both have made 3-pointers with LeBron James on the bench, and the Cavs had to call a timeout.
End third quarter, 115-96:Â The Cavs now have an NBA Finals record 20 3-pointers after Deron Williams and LeBron James drained shots from deep in the final minute.
Third quarter, 1:15, 109-93: Stephen Curry made one of his two free throws to make it a 12-point game, but the Cavs created some more breathing room thanks to a Deron Williams jumper and Kyle Korver 3-pointer.
But the more noteworthy moment was when Zaza Pachulia appeared to hit Iman Shumpert twice in the groin area. Both players were assessed double technicals.
A fan also was ejected after an incident with the Warriors bench.
That wasn’t just any fan, though.
Third quarter, 2:49, 104-91: It appeared as though Draymond Green got his second technical foul, but his first-half technical was assessed to Steve Kerr instead, so he got to stay in the game.
The Warriors, meanwhile, only are down by 13 now. Stay tuned…
Third quarter, 7:26, 99-80: LeBron. James. Yes, he really just did this:
An alley-oop to himself. What can’t LeBron do?
James did come up limping soon afterward, but he appeared to walk the injury off.
Things also got pretty heated between James and Kevin Durant after a Kevin Love hard foul on KD. Both Durant and James were called for double technicals.
Love was called for a flagrant foul after review.
Third quarter, 11:15, 86-72: The Cavs already have called a timeout after the Warriors scored four straight points to open the second half.
End second quarter, 86-68: The Cavaliers look well on their way to picking up their first win of the NBA Finals thanks to a historic effort in the first half. They scored 49 points in the opening quarter, which is a new NBA record, and their 86 points were the most by any team in a half in Finals history.
Kyrie Irving leads all scorers with 28 points thanks to four 3-pointers and 11-of-14 shooting. LeBron James (22 points, eight assists, six rebounds) and Kevin Love (17 points) also came up big in the first half. Kevin Durant leads the Warriors with 22 points.
Second quarter, 3:26, 73-55: Kyrie Irving has had quite the start offensively, as he already has 25 points, 12 of which coming on 3-pointers. He’s 10-for-12 shooting overall. He made the final four points before another timeout.
And if you’re looking for one stat that tells the story of this game so far, here it is:
Second quarter, 5:49, 69-49: OK, so maybe you can count out the Warriors. The Cavs now have a 20-point lead at the latest TV timeout.
Second quarter, 8:38, 54-42: Don’t count out the Warriors yet. They opened the second quarter on a 9-4 run to cut into their deficit a bit.
End first quarter, 49-33: There was a contentious moment when Draymond Green was called for a foul on a jump ball at halfcourt, and he had a technical foul added when he voiced his displeasure with the call.
The Warriors had it back down to six at 31-25, but the Cavs finished the quarter on fire and had the best scoring quarter in Finals history.
Golden State also is in foul trouble, although Cleveland has missed eight free throws.
Kevin Love leads Cleveland with 14 points. Kyrie Irving has 11 points, while LeBron James has eight points. Kevin Durant leads the Warriors with 10 points.
First quarter, 2:35, 34-27:Â Kevin Durant has scored, but he hasn’t been much of a factor so far.
The Warriors went on a 7-1 run at one point to make it a 10-point game. Then LeBron James made more history.
But the Cavs already have missed five free throws, and the Warriors keep chipping away at Cleveland’s lead.
However, Kyrie Irving added to his highlight reel with a 3-pointer.
First quarter, 5:27, 29-13: Kevin Love also got in on the fun with 10 straight points to up Cleveland’s lead to 24-9.
The Cavs are 5-of-8 from 3-point range so far, which is a pretty good number, to say the least. And it might not be as obvious, but Tristan Thompson has been huge so far, too.
First quarter, 9:22, 14-5: The Cavs made their first three shots — a J.R. Smith 3-pointer and 3- and 2-pointers from Kyrie Irving — to take a quick 8-2 lead. Smith later hit another 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 14-5 lead before the first timeout. LeBron James also had an and-1 mixed in.
The Cavs couldn’t have asked for a better start.
Oh, and there’s this:
And this:
First quarter, 12:00, 0-0: Game 4 is underway.
9:05 p.m.: Here’s a look at the projected Game 4 starters for both teams.
Warriors
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Draymond Green
C: Zaza Pachulia
Cavs
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: J.R. Smith
SF: LeBron James
PF: Kevin Love
C: Tristan Thompson
6:30 p.m. ET: Believe it or not, the NBA Finals actually aren’t over yet. They just feel like it.
The Golden State Warriors hold a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers after staging a furious late comeback to top the Cavs in Wednesday’s Game 3. As a result, the Warriors can win their second title in three seasons with a Game 4 victory Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.
It appeared as though LeBron James and Co. were on the verge of getting back in the series, but Kevin Durant made sure his new squad continued its perfect start to the NBA playoffs.
No NBA team ever has erased a 3-0 series deficit to win a playoff series, so the Cavs would have to make history (again) in order to win back-to-back titles. A win Friday night also would be historic for the Dubs, who are one victory away from a perfect 16-0 postseason run.
Game 4 is set to tip off around 9 p.m. ET, and you can keep it right here for live updates, analysis and highlights throughout the contest.
Click to watch NBA Finals Game 4 online >>
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
