With new schedule for NBA Finals, viewership down for Game 4

Green is averaging 15.3 points this post-season – third-most on the team behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson – and a team-leading 9.6 rebounds along with almost six assists.

Sunday is officially trash talk day for the Golden State Warriors.

James and Draymond Green exchanged words in the fourth quarter after it appeared the Golden State forward hit Cleveland’s star below the belt. If the Cavaliers have hope of taking advantage of the Green-less Warriors to extend the series, they will have to get the ball inside. Golden State won 108-97.

While the National Basketball Association said the suspension was the result of the contact, there were also hard feelings among the players that lingered Sunday about what Green said to James during the scuffle. Golden State and Cleveland turned the second half into a slugfest, trading harder-than-expected fouls and jawing back and forth throughout. The Warriors took game 4 at the Q with a 108-97 win.

The defending world champion Warriors hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, putting them in position to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy on their home court Monday in Game 5.

One of the Warriors’ signature plays is the Curry and Draymond Green pick and roll.

“I knew he was going to throw it up there”, James said later. “He’s a competitor. He’s been under a heavy microscope, and rightfully so. He struggled the first three, tonight he was our guy”. “We answered the bell”. “That team’s hungry over there, and they’ve got some all-time great players”.

Even Jimmy Kimmel got into making fun of Curry’s dad shoes.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke to Green earlier in the post-season about keeping his emotions in check. “He’s going to impact the game in 1,000 different ways”.

The topic came up in the first round against the Detroit Pistons but since the Cavs were up 3-0 in the series, it wasn’t a huge story.

Yes, Stephen Curry healed whatever it was America decided was ailing him, and yes, Klay Thompson re-revealed himself as a confident shooter.

Golden State set an NBA Finals record with 17 3-pointers on Friday night, outscoring the Cavs by 33 points from beyond the arc. I wrote them off in 2014 as a bunch of big headed guys who thought they were better than they actually were, and dubbed Steph Curry the next injury-laden Derrick Rose. “Sooner or later it’s going to happen”.

“Now, you gotta act like you didn’t try to do it”, Barkley continued.

Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving believes the key to victory is studying what worked in the 10 previous playoff games between the clubs.

Warriors: Thompson wore a wrap on his left leg for protection and support following his Game 3 run-in with Cavs C Timofey Mozgov. Surely he gets cooking at some point in the next three quarters.

“Let’s get one”, he said of his mindset heading out to California.

“We can’t relax just because we’re going home and we’ve got a two-game cushion”, said Thompson.

Kyrie Irving collected 34 points, while LeBron James flirted with a triple-double after posting 25 points, 13 boards and nine assists – all not enough for the Cavaliers to level the series.

Coach Tyronn Lue made the gutsy call to bench Love, his $110 million power forward, and stick with the starting lineup that worked so well together in a 120-90 win in Game 3 on Wednesday. Cleveland went scoreless for 6:30 in the fourth quarter to lose at home for the first time in the play-offs.

Of the 32 teams that have faced a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals none have ever come back to win the championship. “It wasn’t the only reason I came back, and there wasn’t just one reason why I came back”. “We can’ t wait to get to Oracle on Monday”.

In a tightly contested game, the Cavaliers threatened to pull away after leading by eight points, 61-53, following a James triple at the 9:29 mark of the third period.