ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Golden State Warriors, Game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
The Warriors took a 52-43 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter – Cavs Get Back Into It
The Warriors got a good start to the third period as the Cavs went flat, as Andrew Bogut answered a jumper by LeBron James with a hook shot and Draymond Green waltzed in for a layup uncontested.
Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue quickly called a timeout to regroup as the Warriors’ lead stretched to 56-45 with 9:57 remaining.
Cleveland came back with a mini-run as Kyrie Irving hit a fade-away, then got a layup plus the foul against Harrison Barnes, and Tristan Thompson scored inside, after a missed three by Barnes, off-target jumpers by Klay Thompson and Bogut, and a Stephen Curry lefty sling pass that got intercepted by Irving.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout as the Cavs capped a 7-0 run to trail just 56-52 with 8:03 to play.
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Out of the timeout, Andre Iguodala drilled a three, but James answered back with a triple as well, after getting blocked by Klay and a missed trey by Iguodala.
Klay bricked a three, then James found Tristan Thompson for a thunderous alley-oop, and after Curry got stuck on the deep right wing by three defenders, who deflected his escape passes twice, the second went into Kevin Love’s hands and Love eventually went baseline against Festus Ezeli for an “and-one”.
Suddenly, the Cavs were only one point behind after Love’s free throw, 63-62, with 4:36 to go.
Love hustled past Ezeli to get his own rebound after Draymond missed a three, and the Cavs had their first lead at 64-63, but Iguodala found Green for a dunk to retake the lead.
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Late in the next shotclock, LeBron found himself iso’ed on Ezeli and took him strong lefty again, and Iguodala’s lob to Ezeli went awry, but Matthew Dellavedova missed a runner and in transition, Steph missed a three, however, Shaun Livingston was there to clean up the miss with a putback after an upfake.
James tried to respond with a three but missed, and Curry went the distance down the right lane, drawing contact and scoring a layup against LeBron, to go up 71-68 with 55 seconds left.
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Green tapped out a Dellavedova dribble from behind, then on the run back on defense, got entangled with Iguodala, forcing a review which yielded a common foul on Dellavedova.
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An angry Iguodala hit a catch-and-shoot three from Livingston after the official’s review…
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…Irving missed a stepback, and Steph fought hard for the rebound, then crossed halfcourt and missed the prayer at the buzzer, although it looked like it was on line.
The Warriors held a 74-68 lead heading into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Livingston and Bench
To start the fourth, Iguodala hit a turn around jump shot then Barbosa got a 20 footer to drop. Cavs called timeout with the lead back to 10 and 11:10 left in the game.
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Shumpert turned the ball over, Livingston hit a right elbow jump shot to extend the lead to 12.
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Love missed an easy lay up then Barbosa scored two with a high banker…
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…Irving responded but then Livingston hit another mid range shot.
Love swished a left corner jump shot just inside the three point line, then the Warriors’ recognised that Barnes had am mismatch with Irving on him and Barnes delivered with the strong finish.
Shaun Livingston got another pull up shot to drop, giving him 16 points on the night and the lead was out to 16. Lue called timeout with 8:34 left.
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James got an easy layup then Green found Harrison Barnes for the cutting dunk shot.
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Irving hit a tough layup then Livingston was fouled by Smith on a jump shot – he hit both free throws. Green intercepted Love’s pass then he got tripped up by Irving. He then got fouled by Smith and Draymond hit both free throws.
James missed a shot then Stephen Curry found Iguodala with a no look bounce pass for the dunk. The lead was out to a game high 21 points with 5:43 to go.
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Jefferson got the ball at the three point line, drove into the lane and got the and-one to go, drawing a foul on Curry in the process.
Klay missed a wide open three, Kyrie missed one then Green turned the ball over which resulted in a JR Smith three pointer, his first of the night. The lead was cut to 14 with 4:43 to go as Kerr called timeout.
After the timeout, Curry missed a lefty layup, James turned the ball over then Thompson missed a driving layup. LeBron James hit a three to cut it to 11 then Green found Livingston in the paint who was fouled and hit two free throws.
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Irving got two free throws to cut it back to 11, Curry’s pass just missed Green but then Draymond Green chased down LeBron to get the steal which led to a Curry splash.
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Irving missed then Curry found Klay Thompson for the dagger three. Lue called timeout and their starters subbed out of the game.
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Multiple misses by both teams led to Kerr calling timeout with 1:32 left. He took the time to rest his starters as the lead was 17.
The bench played out the remaining minute and a half with only two points being scored.
FINAL: Warriors (1-0) won 104-89
Shaun Livingston top scored with 20 points, Green had 16-11-7-4-1, Iguodala had 12-7-6, Barbosa had 11 while the Splash Brothers combined for just 20 points.
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