ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Three nights after losing Game 6 in Cleveland, the Golden State Warriors (3-3) were back home to defend their title against the Cleveland Cavaliers for an epic Game 7 clash in the 2016 NBA Finals.
The Warriors were without Andrew Bogut (left knee, injury sustained in Game 5) and Kevon Looney (left hip surgery). Also hobbled but active were Andre Iguodala (stiff back) and Stephen Curry (right knee, ankle), although Curry was determined to regain his mojo.
1st Quarter – Solid Start
Festus Ezeli got the start and missed a jump hook inside against Tristan Thompson, then Thompson got a bucket inside and, after a failed alley-oop attempt from Draymond Green to Ezeli, LeBron James went the length of the court for a lefty layup.
But the Warriors struck back and Ezeli fed Green for a cutting uncontested dunk…
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…then on the next Warriors possession, Ezeli drew a foul on Thompson and Harrison Barnes (2-for-22 over Games 5 and 6) drilled his first shot, a right-arc triple.
The Warriors forced James and Kyrie Irving into tough baseline fade-aways, and Draymond hit a three from the left wing after playing hot potato with Barnes at the top, but by the time Ezeli missed a dunk, blocked by Thompson, Festus was really exhausted and couldn’t stop Kevin Love on a stripped rebound and putback from Love.
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson was antsy and airballed an open catch-and-shoot, then took an early three that missed.
Barnes missed a fade inside, but James threw the ball away in transition, but after the Klay miss, Irving hit a crossover fade over Klay on the other end.
With Ezeli struggling to make it upcourt, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 6:58 remaining and the game tied, 8-8.
After the timeout, Stephen Curry hit his first three-ball, stepping in front of Irving…
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…but J.R. Smith answered with a left side layup past Green. Although Barnes started with the made three, he missed his next three shots, starting with a left corner triple, LeBron and Steph exchanged turnovers — Curry’s on a behind-the-back dribble that went awry near halfcourt against Richard Jefferson — with James getting stripped by Draymond…
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…and Klay’s spinning baseline jumper was matched by a rim attack by Jefferson on Draymond.
Steph tried to make up for his turnover with another step-in three, but he missed and was clamoring for a foul from the ref, and James hit Smith on the leak for a touchdown layup.
Klay fed Green for a three, but LeBron got a left-baseline two-hand smash after Curry gambled on the entry pass, and after Barnes’ second and third straight misses, the third a layup attempt trying to overpower Smith, and Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue took a timeout with under three minutes to play, the score tied again, 16-16.
Out of the timeout, Iguodala got a steal and Curry hit a three from the right corner on a shovel pass from Anderson Varejao:
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Draymond got a layup on a crossover past Jefferson…
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…but the Cavs went on a free throw spree, with Kevin Love and LeBron outscoring Varejao from the line to end the quarter 23-22, Cleveland.
2nd Quarter – Draymond Carries, Lifts Warriors
Shaun Livingston got a jumper, then this banker putback of his own miss…
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…but Green lost the ball after some rim protection on a Mo Williams layup, and James fired a touchdown to Williams, who had barely gotten up from the miss.
However, Draymond atoned for the mistake with another triple to retake the lead, 29-27:
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Livingston, though, made two mistakes. First, he fouled Iman Shumpert on a close-out, hitting the wrist and the ball went through, then he simply lost the ball on the right baseline in transition.
Meanwhile, Curry got this strong and-one:
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Green came to the rescue again after Livingston’s miscues, hitting his third trey:
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But Klay couldn’t hit anything and they weren’t close, bricking most of his couple missed threes, Steph got volleyball-swatted by LeBron again and had a little confrontation on the out-of-bounds dead ball as James kept staring and putting his chest forward. Nothing came of it, though.
Draymond struck again on a catch-and-shoot from the top beyond the arc, assisted by Iguodala from the post…
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…but Irving got an and-one on Klay the next trip down. With 3:59 to play, Kerr called timeout with the game tied, 38-38.
Out of the timeout, Green hit another triple…
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…but LeBron answered yet again with an and-one layup on the left baseline with Iguodala fouling from behind. The refs gave James the bucket, as he did not make another dribble after, and Draymond’s help was a split-second too late.
After Leandro Barbosa got blocked at the rim by LeBron, Shumpert and Klay bricked threes and Green deliberated with a post-up versus Smith on the right block, eventually spinning past for an and-one, plus a flex, to put the Warriors up, 44-40, after a timeout by Lue:
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The Warriors got a stop the next Cavs time down, and Klay drove and dished to Barbosa for a right-corner three that finally gave Golden State some separation, 47-40, with 2:08 left:
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But the half closed out with Curry’s third personal foul, penalized by free throws from Shumpert, on a questionable call…
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….after Irving lost the ball and a subsequent jump-ball to Draymond, and Iguodala buried a turnaround over Irving from the left block.
James and Livingston traded missed pull-ups, LeBron’s from downtown, and Jefferson lost the ball at halfcourt at the buzzer, giving the Warriors a 49-42 cushion heading into halftime.
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