AP Photo/Ben Margot

By Jeff Hall

OAKLAND –

It was a game that appeared like a football game with two great offenses that you got the feeling that the team who had the ball at the end would come away the winner. While that was not exactly how it ended, it was a wild start to the NBA Finals and it was The Golden State Warriors that out lasted the Cavaliers 108-100

Both teams had a long wait before game one, and no one seemed to have benefited from the break more than LeBron James. James seemed to be everywhere the ball was in the early going in the game. James Led the game’s scoring and had seven points quickly in the first few minutes of the contest. The Warriors seemed cold and rusty and struggled shooting at the start of the game

The Warriors were 0-3 from beyond the 3-point line until Harrison Barnes made the first long ball after the Warriors first time-out.

The Warriors were 6 for 21 shooting in the first quarter Cleveland took advantage and went on a 10-0 run late in the first quarter.  Cleveland led after the first 29-19. Lebron James had 12 first quarter points, Curry was held to just 4 points

“It was a slow start for all of us, I thought in the first half we looked nervous.”said Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr.

In the second, the Warriors pulled within four points thanks to the bench play of Marreese Speights. Speights took charge and gave the Warriors the offensive spark they needed and seemed to heat up the play of the entire team. The Warriors recovered from a fourteen point deficit thanks to outstanding benh play.

Despite the Warriors poor shooting, they managed to stay close to the Cavaliers

The Warriors tied the game eight minutes in the second quarter thanks to the great deliverer Stephen Curry who made his first 3-point shot to even up the scoring. A Cleveland turnover and another Curry three gave the Warriors the lead in the second

JR Smith ended a wild first half with a 3-point shot in the final second of the first half to give the Cavs a 51-48 lead at the end of the first half James led all scorers with 19 first quarter points and despite the slow start, Curry finished the first half with 14 first half points. The Warriors bench gave the Warriors the lift they needed scoring 18 total points with Speights leading all bench scoring with six first half points.

The scoring remained fierce in the third quarter with the teams exchanging the lead throughout the action.

Draymond Green got himself into foul trouble when he committed his fourth foul with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Andre Iguodala drove to the basket after a Warrior steal away from James in the final seconds of the third and the teams were tied at seventy-three. James led all scorers with 30 points by the end of the third.

LeBron was definitely the star of the game, but not even his greatness was enough to help his team pull away from the hard scoring Warriors offense and tough defense in a game that was ultimately decided by the outstanding bench play of the Warriors.

James scored 44 points for  the cavs.

Kerr had this to say about James performance. “He’s a great player and he’s a tough player to stop.  You pick your poison and you take your chances.”

Notes:

James 44 points became the highest point scoring total in his play in an NBA Finals game

In the final seconds, Curry missed a layup after being tightly defended by Kyrie Irving and allowed the Cavs and James to get the final shot of the game with the game fourth quarter.. James missed a step-back 3-point attempt and a missed second attempt by Iman Shumpert and sent the game one into overtime.

Curry scored the first points in overtime making two free-throws nearly two minutes into the overtime period

Curry was fouled again and made two more free-throws giving the Warriors a four point lead. Harrison Barnes gave the Warriors  essntially a game finishing shot with a 3-point basket with two minutes remaining in OT giving the Warriors a 7- point lead.. After the play Kyrie Irving had to leave the game as he held on to his back and struggled to get back into the locker room. Irvin has been fighting a knee injury throughout the playoffs and worked hard to be ready for play in the finals. Irving was a big part of this game on both ends of the floor and this would be a huge loss for the Cleveland if they have to go the rest of the way without him.

” I felt something a little different in my knee and couldn’t continue to play” said Irving after the game.

“I hope he’s okay, you want everyone to be healthy in the Finals. I hope he’s able to come back.” Said Kerr after the game regarding the injury to Irving.

While the Warriors appeared to be the nervous team in the beginning of the game, Cleveland looked like the unsettled team during the Overtime period The Cavs scored only a single basket thanks to a easy give away layup from LeBron James at the very end of overtime.

James led all scorers and scored a game total  44 points. Curry Led he Warriors scoring with 26 points and eight assists. Klay Thompson seemed to be just fine scoring 21 points after not knowing if he would be able to play in Game one of the finals.

“We came out of regulation flat an without the kind of energy we displayed throughout the game. It could have been fatigue.” said Cavalier’s Head Coach David Blatt.

Notes: James 44 points became the highest point total for him in an NBA Finals game.