STAY HERE WITH KRON 4 NEWS FOR MORE COVERAGE ONLINE OF THE NBA FINALS. Then tune in tonight on KRON 4 for complete post game coverage, analysis, highlights, and more from the Oracle Arena in Oakland.FINAL: Warriors 104, Cavaliers 91
THE WARRIORS ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM TEAM’S FIRST TITLE IN 40 YEARS
Stephen Curry made seven 3-pointers and scored 37 points, and the Warriors withstood another brilliant performance from LeBron James to outlast the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-91 on Sunday night for a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals.
With a sellout crowd rocking and roaring in their golden-yellow shirts, the newly minted MVP and his teammates took control of the game – and possibly the series – in the final minutes. Curry connected inside and out – sometimes way out – to help the Warriors pull away.
“He took over the game down the stretch,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
The Warriors will try to win their first title since 1975 on Tuesday night in Cleveland, which hasn’t won a major sports championship in 51 years. Game 7, if necessary, would be in Oakland on Friday night.
James carried Cleveland as far as he could. The four-time MVP had 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, slowing down the pace the way only he can.
James made 15 of 34 shots in 44 minutes.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr told told ABC’s Doris Burke between the third and fourth quarters that defending the Cavaliers in Game 5 is a dual challenge – the combination of LeBron James being great again and Cleveland’s shooters still being a concern.
“We have to keep scrambling because they’re playing small tonight, they’ve got shooters on the floor, so it’s a mixture of getting to LeBron and helping and then getting back to their shooters,” Kerr said.3RD QTR: Warriors 73, Cavaliers 67
Stephen Curry dropped his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 3:11 left in the 3rd quarter to put the Warriors up 66-65. He has 20 points after three quarters.
Andre Iguodala widened the lead with his own 3-pointer from 26-feet giving him 8 points in the game.
Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson helped keep the Cavs within reach of the surging Warriors throughout the third quarter by giving his team 10 consecutive points, all inside the paint.
LeBron James is on his way to earning a triple-double. A triple-double will give James two in this series (Game 2), three in this postseason, and 13 in his playoff career.
2ND QTR: Warriors 51, Cavaliers 50
Warriors’ Stephen Curry is showing more offense than in the previous four games hitting three 3 pointers, two of them in the 2nd quarter, and finished the half with 15 points. His marquee counterpart, LeBron James, is scoring from just about everywhere near the paint. James leads all players with 20 points midway through Game 5.
The series is taking a more physical tone with players on both sides committing aggressive fouls. Draymond Green was whistled for a double foul on the Cavs’ Matthew Dellavedova as both players fought under in the paint after Steph Curry’s 26-foot three pointer.
Golden State needed to overcome a 6-point deficit late in the 2nd quarter and stop the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Down 42-36, the Warriors scored eight straight points to regain the lead 44-42 with 3:28 left in the half.
Andre Iguodala, the Game 4 unsung here, has had little offensive impact for the Warriors. The Dubs’ small-ball strategy put James in the paint, forcing the 6-8 forward to play center, leading to 8-of-15 shooting.
1ST QTR: Warriors 22, Cavaliers 22
The Warriors got off to a big start in the 1st quarter with SF Draymond Green leading the charge. The Dubs led 8-2 after the first five minutes of the opening quarter with Green dropping two back-to-back buckets to give his team a six-point lead.
The Cavaliers made it easy. Sloppy play on offense led to five turnovers, but the Cavs managed to bounce back and grab their first lead of Game 5 after an Iman Shumpert 26-foot, 3-point jumper to send his team up 17-16 with 2:54 left in the quarter.
Warriors guard Steph Curry missed an opportunity to give the Warriors the lead at the end of quarter after missing a layup with clocking winding down in the final seconds.
Green finished the quarter with 10 points, leading all Warriors in scoring.
WARRIORS FINALS: Roaracle too much for Cavaliers
OAKLAND (KRON) — The Golden State Warriors are back in familiar territory after dominating Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday with 103-82 road win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team returns to Oakland tonight for Game 5 needing to win two of the next three matches to claim their first title since 1975.
With the series winding down and the fans eager to win a their first title in a generation, the Warriors will get the added the advantage of playing in front of one of the loudest arenas in the league, The Roaracle, where the team played to a 39-2 record in the regular season.
“We’re going to feed off our crowd’s energy tomorrow,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “We’re going to need because that’s why you play so hard during the regular season, to have home-court advantage, to be able to capitalize off of that in situations like these.”
The home court has given the Dubs a major advantage during this post season having lost only twice at Oracle Arena, including Game 2 of this series. They nearly lost Game 1 to the Cavs and needed overtime to get the win.
“I think if you look at the entire playoffs, the first two games at home have been a struggle,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on Saturday. “Part of that is just trying to adapt to your opponent and get a feel for what they’re doing. Easing into the series. Not easing in, but trying to get a grasp on what you’re wanting to accomplishment. So I think we should be better tomorrow because we have a feel for our opponent, and I’m looking for a better game at home.”
The other advantage favoring the Dubs is their health. The team has been lucky to avoid serious injuries to their roster and the bench has given Kerr the option to play more small ball. Meanwhile, the Cavs — are stretched for help at every position due to injury and fatigue.
We’ll see how much energy is left in Cavs star LeBron James who had been largely responsible for much of the team’s offense in the first three games of the series. He’ll also be playing with stitches on his head injury after he got during the second half of Game 4 when he crashed into a cameraman. He scored only 20 points on 7-of-22 shooting in Game 4 after averaging 41 through the first three.
“For me, from the perception, it’s a lose-lose when it comes to, ‘OK, well, in the first three games I score 40, but I shoot a lot of shots. Last game I scored 20, I don’t shoot as many shots, and we lose.’ So it’s like, what do you want?” James said.
“So for me, that’s not my thought process. I don’t really care about it. All I care about is how I can produce for our team.”
Teams that won Game 5 when the finals are tied have gone on to win 20 of 28 times, according to STATS.
The Warriors will host the final game on Friday night, if necessary.