Warriors beat Cavs 108-97 now lead finals 3-1

The New York Knicks John Starks (3) puts his finger to his head after losing possession of the ball late in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Sunday, June 19, 1994, Houston, Tex.

After the first three games of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers were all blowouts, Game 4 was actually a great battle between the two sides and everyone watching the game was glued to their seat until the very end.

The Cleveland Cavaliers still find themselves in a big hole in the NBA Finals, down 2-1 against a Golden State Warriors team that is not likely to lose three out of the next four games.

Kerr didn’t have to say much more to make his point after Golden State fell behind by 20 in the first quarter of Game 3 on the way to a 30-point defeat. There was a 63 point turnaround from Game 2 to Game 3.

Shortly after, James and Draymond Green got into a pushing, jawing incident that did not escalate – or draw technicals. They went almost seven minutes between baskets in the fourth, while the Warriors countered with Harrison Barnes’ fourth 3-pointer of the game to stretch the lead to 93-84 – their largest of the night – with 5:56 to play.

Kyrie Irving had 34 points for Cleveland, LeBron James added 25 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists.

The Cavs hardly missed Love, still suffering from a concussion sustained in Game 2.

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to tie up the series with the Golden State Warriors Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

“It’s going to be our biggest game of the year, obviously”, two-time reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry said.

Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love participated fully in the team’s Friday morning shootaround. That’s down about 17 percent from Game 4 of the 2016 finals, which averaged almost 19.8 million.

Here’s an oddity: The Warriors shot 47 percent from 3-point range, 36 percent from 2-point range.

The Warriors are now up three games to one and heading back to Oakland one win away from repeating, after they repeatedly hit their 3’s all night long.

Warriors came out in the second half hitting threes and getting the stops and transition plays they needed, and took the lead at 72-69 on Stephen Curry three in transition where nobody found him – and on those 22 points to start the third the Splash Brothers scored or assisted.

The NBA Finals on ABC won the night across all of television for the 51st consecutive time. Specifically, the Cavs were upset with the lack of calls on fouls committed by the Warriors on LeBron James.

Seven of Golden State’s nine losses during the regular season came on the road, and against a team like Cleveland, even Warriors fans had to expect a tougher opponent in Game 3 at “the Q” on the East Coast.

“Some of my aggression turnovers I’m OK with”, James said. The Warriors have been in just two games decided by five points or less in the postseason, Cleveland has been in only three – and two of those were in April against Detroit.

To knot the series, it nearly certainly means the Cavaliers can’t let Curry or his backcourt mate Klay Thompson – and definitely not the both of them – have big games.

“It could have played a part in it”, Lue said of overusing those two. “We got back to who we are as a team”. Golden State’s number was padded by intentional fouling in the final minutes.

Point is, when pushed Kerr will push back, whether it’s against a teammate who just may have been the greatest player that the game has ever known, or against an inanimate object used by coaches to draw up plays during time-outs.

Jones played with James from 2010-14 in Miami, winning two National Basketball Association titles and getting to the finals four years in a row.