QUICKEN LOANS ARENA, CLEVELAND, OH — Two nights after getting routed, the Golden State Warriors (2-1) were back at “The Q” for Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors were without Brandon Rush (inactive), as head coach Steve Kerr opted for James McAdoo as a possible substitution, and Kevon Looney (hip surgery).
The Cavs welcomed back Kevin Love from concussion protocol, but head coach Tyronn Lue had him come off the bench and stuck with the same starting lineup as Game 3.
1st Quarter – Curry Makes Some Plays
The game got off to a scorching start, as both teams scored on the first five possessions before Draymond Green got a piece of Kyrie Irving’s jumper, but Andrew Bogut wasn’t mobile enough to stop Tristan Thompson from an offensive rebound putback.
Harrison Barnes got off to a strong start, hitting a three on the first possession, then taking Richard Jefferson off the dribble for a stop-and-fade, then hitting another three as Stephen Curry and Bogut played “tic-tac-toe”.
Green got Irving to foul him in the post, then missed both throws, Curry picked up his first foul on contact against J.R. Smith on a pick-and-roll with LeBron James, and both teams had several empty possessions as the game got more physical, with Jefferson driving into Bogut with no call, then Curry coming downcourt with the ball, pulling up from beyond the arc with a lot of contact from Smith, but also no call.
Kerr inserted Andre Iguodala for Bogut to go small with 7:40 remaining and the score tied, 10-10.
But Curry missed a left baseline fade against Irving, Irving shed Curry on the other end in the paint and, with Steph expecting a rotation with none coming, Irving drilled a wide-open three from the left corner and Kerr called timeout.
Curry stayed aggressive, taking James off the dribble on a switch, finding Iguodala under the hoop, who slung the ball out to Klay from the top for three:
LeBron tried to take Green strong, but Draymond got a hand on the ball and it was out of bounds on James. Steph went with the left side drive again and found Draymond for a reverse lefty.
The refs continued to let the players play as Green tied up the ball deep in the paint against Tristan Thompson, but there was no such whistle and Thompson ended up drawing contact from Draymond on the shot, made the shot, and a trip to the line.
Steph kept pushing and got this nice assist to Klay…
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…but Irving came back with an “and-one” against Klay, who picked up his second personal and a trip to the bench with five minutes to play.
Curry then had a lefty behind-the-back flick deflected, James missed an attacked, but the Warriors couldn’t capitalize and LeBron came back once more with an attack coast-to-coast, this time over Iguoala.
Steph came back with a pull-up three over Jefferson:
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But Kevin Love came in and, on a switch, got an offensive rebound over Curry for a putback, then Shaun Livingston drew Jefferson’s second personal, and Kerr put McAdoo in.
Tristan Thompson managed once again to grab an offensive rebound and dunked it home, but Curry answered with a dribble-and-pop triple from the top against Iman Shumpert:
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Love drew free throws on a post play against Iguodala, with the help coming too late, and McAdoo got a dunk on a cut, fed by Iguodala:
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The Warriors took a 29-28 lead heading into the second stanza.
2nd Quarter – Warriors Can’t Hold Off Cavs
Klay got a three off nice ball movement to start the second quarter…
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…and Green not a nice block of Channing Frye, although the play ended up a foul by Barnes on Matthew Dellavedova…
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Meanwhile, the refs continued to be a little inconsistent, such as this “phantom foul” on Livingston:
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But Livingston got his patented jumper to fall over Love:
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It looked like the torch was set after Curry hit this improbable triple from the left corner, the ball bouncing off Iguodala on a feed from McAdoo…
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…but Irving came back with a coast-to-coast layup and Steph then tried to answer with a lefty drive, with the ball squeaking out to the base line for a turnover.
Klay also missed Curry on the open three…
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…and Steph missed the offensive banker putback, then Festus Ezeli got called for an offensive rebounding foul, plus committed a defensive three-second violation, allowing Irving to break the tie with a free throw.
Curry also got blocked by Irving after driving past Tristan Thompson, then shot an airball pull-up three, but Klay got an “and-one” against Tristan Thompson on an iso, with the fade-away trickling in.
Green later turned the ball over, then claimed he got fouled on a banker, resulting in a touchdown dunk to Smith from LeBron. Kerr and Draymond were upset by the no-call.
Curry finally stopped the mini-drought with this move…
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…and after Smith missed a three, Iguodala pushed the ball up, seemed to get fouled by Smith, but there was no call. A technical was issued on assistant coach Luke Walton for arguing.
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The Cavs took a 55-50 lead heading into halftime, with the technical free throw to be shot at the beginning of the third.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @ladventures)
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