QUICKEN LOANS ARENA, CLEVELAND, OH — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 4.
The Warriors took a 54-42 lead into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Warriors Survive Cavs’ Frontline Onslaught, But Not Unscathed
Golden State got off to a good start in the third quarter as Andre Iguodala opened the frame with a swish triple that got answered with two treys by Matthew Dellavedova and a putback slam by Tristan Thompson after LeBron James missed a three-pointer from the top.
But Stephen Curry went inside with a floater over Thompson, then drew two free throws on a cut and an entry pass from Draymond Green.
The Warriors maintained a 63-52 lead with 8:13 remaining.
The lead quickly evaporated after a timeout, however, as Curry missed a lefty at the rim and Iman Shumpert received a pass on a James attack, and scored a runner past Klay Thompson going right to left.
Curry then got careless with the ball, losing it after getting a steal from James and leading the break, with David Lee, who had come in early when Green picked up his third personal on an entry pass to Mozgov, diving for the ball and deflecting it off of a Cavs player’s leg.
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However, neither of the three refs saw it, and the ball went over to Cleveland.
James went down the left side for a bucket, then on the next possession, Steph got his pass up top deflected by Dellavedova and he and Tristan Thompson were off the races. Delly lofted an alley-oop for a slam to the trailing LeBron, The Q was rockin’, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr ordered a timeout after Klay Thompson brought up the ball past halfcourt.
The Cavs had slashed the lead to 65-62 with 5:08 to go.
Taking Lee off the floor, Kerr went small and Harrison Barnes, who had already missed an open three-pointer earlier, got the call out of the timeout on a Curry attack of the paint, and the Warriors’ small forward got the triple to drop from the right corner, breaking a 20-11 run by Cleveland to open the half.
There seemed to be a lid on the bucket for the Warriors, as Iguodala missed an iso jumper over Mozgov, Curry missed a pull-up over Shumpert, and after Mozgov and Tristan Thompson missed at the rim three times, luckily for the Warriors, Cavs head coach David Blatt called timeout.
After James missed a fade over Iguodala, Iguodala found himself iso’ed against Mozgov on the right side with the Cavs playing tight defense on everyone else. Andre got his legs up under him and drained the jumper.
LeBron answered with a lob inside to Mozgov as Draymond Green was caught in between on the help, but shortly thereafter, Shaun Livingston smothered Dellavedova’s attack and Iguodala drew free throws on the break.
Things fell apart near the end of the quarter, as James and Tristan Thompson owned the offensive boards, LeBron getting a tip-in, then Livingston threw a pass from the left baseline back up top past Barnes into the backcourt.
Shumpert missed a three-pointer, but LeBron was too strong for Livingston and got fouled on the rebound.
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However, James missed another free throw, just 5-for-10 on the night.
Kerr called out a double-pinch screen by Barnes and Green for Steph up top and Curry took advantage, getting a stepback over the switched Thompson, giving the Warriors a 76-70 cushion going into the final stanza.
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4TH QUARTER: Steph Goes MVP Mode
With James starting the fourth period on the bench, the Warriors took advantage. Dellavedova missed a step-back over a switched Draymond, and Curry found Green on a touchdown pass.
AFter a series of misses by both teams, Dellavedova missed another runner, Curry went off to the races, hesitated at the top of the circle and found Klay streaking down for an easy layup.
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The Warriors were back up by ten, 80-70, and Blatt called a timeout with 10:12 remaining to bring back James.
Green picked up his 4th personal on a catch by James…
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…but LeBron airballed a fade-away and Steph went down the lane for a nice floater with contact as James Jones tried to draw a charge. There was no call.
After JR Smith blew by Barnes for a righty layup and Klay’s early catch-pivot-shoot triple went in and out, the Cavs had a series of triples on the same possession miss, which burned a lot of clock in the process.
Smith missed a three, got it tipped out, but Shumpert missed, Jones missed a three, and Smith missed another one after Mozgov grabbed the rebound and literally dragged Draymond with him, both holding the ball.
Curry went into MVP mode, came down the floor, crossed Jones, and drained a three in front of him to make it 85-72 with 7:58 to play.
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Mozgov drew free throws, upping his point total to 26 on the night, but Curry fed Green when double-teamed, and Green found Livingston on the left who found Iguodala open in the right corner with a sling pass. Andre hit the three and the Warriors were back up big, 88-74.
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Draymond picked up his 5th personal foul, helpless against a bigger Mozgov’s reverse layup attempt, but it wouldn’t matter tonight, as Livingston, guarded by Mozgov, found Klay, who cut to the hole, drew a defender, and got the ball to David Lee — who had come in for Green — for a dunk.
James answered with another lob to Mozgov, giving the Cavs’ center 26 points on the night, but the Cavs were still down 90-77 with 6:32 remaining.
After a timeout, Lee found Iguodala again, open this time in the left corner, and Andre’s triple splashed through, giving him 22 points on the night, a virtual nail in the Cavs’ coffin.
James picked up his 4th and 5th personals as Curry ordered the ball be passed into Livingston iso’ed on the right post against Dellavedova. Livingston spun and found Lee in the middle and James had no choice but to hack him.
Iguodala got a steal, Steph ran pick-and-roll with Green, and Draymond lobbed it to Livingston for an easy bucket, then Mozgov’s post dribble got stolen by Livingston and he went coast-to-coast, only to be fouled by LeBron to prevent the layup, giving James five fouls.
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Shumpert tried to drive on Curry, but was short, then Steph brought the ball up, shielded the ball with his back as defenders tried to sneak in, and got a finger roll over Mozgov, the death knell to the Cavs.
Blatt called timeout with 3:06 remaining and the Warriors up, 98-79.
It was out of reach, and Blatt removed James from the game. Kerr did the same with Curry and shortly thereafter, emptied the bench.
After garbage time, the final score was 103-82, Warriors.
Game 5 will be back in Oakland on Sunday, three nights from now.
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