Tag: Klay Thompson

The Warriors crush the Pacers to win the final game of the four-game roadtrip

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Indianapolis- The Golden State Warriors, led by Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green, beat the Indiana Pacers 120-83 Monday night at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Pacers, depleted by injuries, were no match for the Dubs. The Warriors were hot in the first quarter as they went on a 7-0 run early and slowly but surely increased the lead to 34-21 at the end of the first twelve minutes of play. Klay Thompson scored ten, including two 3-point shots) in the quarter. JaVale McGee made two nice buckets in relief of Zaza Pachulia. The Warriors increased the lead to nineteen at the end of the first half. Steph Curry found his shot and make a couple of three-pointers Klay scored six more points to end the half with sixteen. Kevin Durant had twelve. Draymond Green was all over the court in the first half. He scored six points to go along with seven assists, four rebounds, and two blocked shots. In the half, the Dubs had thirty-five rebounds, eighteen assists, four steals and five blocked shots as they held the Pacer offense to just 35.2% from the floor.

In the second half, the Warriors continued to have no trouble with the Pacers. The Pacers did score twenty-nine points in the third quarter, but the Dubs countered with thirty-nine to take a commanding twenty-nine point lead at the end of three-quarters. The Dubs in the lead 100-71. Coach Steve Kerr removed his starters for the entire fourth quarter. The Dubs, nevertheless, held the Pacers to just twelve points and won the game 120-83.

Game Notes- The Dubs won their eighth game in a row to improve to 12-2 for the year. The Pacers fell to 7-8. The Dubs had 31 assists for the eighth game in a row, too. The Warriors outrebounded the Pacers 70 to 56, and the defense had nine steals and ten blocks in the game. After the game, Steph Curry remarked that “we’re getting better” No kidding, Steph. He also said the guys were ready to go home” it’s a little too cold out here”. Steve Kerr said the game was dedicated to young Brody Stephens who is battling cancer. Steph made a 75 foot 3-point shot just after the buzzer sounded ending the first half and Kerr said that shot was for Brodie. Kerr said the team appears to be getting “better and better” He also thought is was a “great trip to go undefeated.” He mentioned that the team “took care of the ball and defended well.” he also said this about Draymond Green: ” I’m thrilled with Draymond’s play on both ends of the court.” Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 25 points. Steph had 22 while Durant scored just fourteen, Durant, however, had 11 rebounds and six assists plus a couple of blocked shots. Andre Iguodala pitched in with nine, Ian Clark ten and David West seven. Rodney Stuckey scored 21 for the Pacers. Jeff Teague added 11 and Thaddeus Young knocked down 14 for the hometown Pacers.

The Dubs return home to face the Los Angeles Lakers at Oracle Arena Wednesday night at 7:30p PM. The Dubs will attempt to avenge the loss to the Lakers earlier this season in LA. Luke Walton’s Lakers would love nothing more than to come to Oracle and send the Warriors down to defeat.

 

The Warriors win a thriller, beat the Bucks in Milwaukee

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks played a very fast-paced and very entertaining game Saturday night in Milwaukee. The contest was very close, but the Dubs were able to prevail as they won their seventh game in a row downing the Bucks 124-121.

Last year, The Dubs lost to Milwaukee after playing a double overtime win in Boston the previous night.  The Bucks then beat the Warriors the following night to snap the Warriors twenty-four game winning streak. This year, the schedule makers sent the Dubs to Boston on Friday night and then to Milwaukee on Saturday night. The Warriors did not have to go to overtime to beat the Celtics on Friday. However, the Bucks, coached by Jason Kidd, a great high school player at St.Joseph’s in Alameda and at Cal and an All-Star in the NBA, went tooth and nail against the Warriors and nearly came back from an eleven point deficit at the end of three-quarters to beat them. The Dubs defense held the Bucks to just one point in the last two minutes and thirty-three seconds to seal the win.

The first quarter was very close. The bigger Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, went on a 21-5 run at the end of the first quarter to lead by nine 37-28.The Bucks were on fire as they shot 66.7% from the field and made all three three-point shots. The Warriors shot 47.8% and were three for seven from behind the three-point arc. The Bucks led for most of the second quarter, but the Dubs clawed their way back and took the lead late in the period. The finished the first half leading by three 69-66. Kevin Durant was terrific as he led the Dubs with twenty-five points. Steph had eleven and Klay Thompson had just four. Zazu Pachulia played well as did Andre Iguodala, coming off the bench. The Bucks’ shooting percentage dropped to 59.6%, and the Dubs came in at 47.1%. The Warriors made six 3-point shots in the quarter and the Bucks connected on just one.

In the third quarter, Klay Thompson got hot. He made four three-point shots and eighteen points total in the period. JaVale MvGee scored a couple of key buckets as the Dubs increased the lead to eleven. Draymond Green made a great play when he stole the ball and made a slam dunk with 2:57 left. The Dubs had the lead 103-92 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Dubs increased the lead to thirteen, but Milwaukee refused to go down. The Bucks went on a 14-4 run to close the gap to four 114-110. The Warriors, behind a layup by Steph, owned a five-point lead 122-117. Milwaukee narrowed the deficit to two 122-120 with 2:33 left in the game. The Warriors defense, led by Draymond Green, stiffened and allowed Milwaukee just one point in the last two minutes and thirty-three seconds of play. Draymond Green mad the defensive play of the night when he tipped an inbound pass over to Klay Thompson. Thompson was fouled and made both free throws to increase the lead to four with just a few seconds left. The Bucks’ big man, Giannis Antetokounmpo was fouled. The only hope the Bucks had was that he make the first free throw, then miss the second shot and hope the ball would be tipped to another Buck player for a three-point shot. That strategy failed, and the Dubs recorded their seventh win in a row. Warriors win 124-121.

Game Notes- The Warriors are now 11-2 for the season. The Bucks fall to 5-7. The Warriors had thirty assists in the game for the seventh straight game. Kevin Durant led the Warriors with thirty-three points, five assists, and six rebounds. Klay knocked down twenty-nine, nd Steph had twenty. Steph also had five assists and five rebounds. Draymond Green played very well again. He scored ten points, to go along with five assists, two rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. The Dubs recorded a total of eight steals and five blocks in the game. Leading scorers for Milwaukee were Antetokopounmpo with thirty, Jabari Parker added twenty-eight and former Cleveland Cavalier, Matthew Dellavedova, contributed ten.

After the game, Durant, when asked about the play of Draymond Green, had this to say:”he was huge.” He also said this about how close the game was” no matter how you do it it, a win is a win.” Coach Steve Kerr also said this about the win:”any win on the road is a good win.” When asked about the defense, Kerr said we”made some stops down the stretch.” “It was the first close game in a while and it was good for us.” He also said  that “we wre kinda sitting on the lead” in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors finish the four game road trip Monday Night in Indianapolis playing the Indiana Pacers for the first time this season. Game Time will be at 4:00 PM.PT

The Warriors win their sixth in a row, beat the Boston Celtics

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston-The Golden State Warriors beat the Celtics Friday night by a score of 104-88. The Warriors, keeping in mind the tough time they had last year beating the Celtics in double overtime, won the game in the third quarter as the outscored the Celts 31-9 to put the game out of reach.

The first quarter was close. The biggest lead the Dubs owned was 25-16. The Celtics went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 27. James Michael McAdoo made a two-point bucket at the end of the quarter to give the Dubs the lead 29-27. The Warriors, behind the stellar play of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, increased the lead to eight 55-48 at the half. The Warriors played solid defense holding the Celtics to just twenty-one points in the second quarter. Draymond Green, Zazu Pachulia, and Andre Iguodala all did their jobs. Pachulia rebounded, Green rebounded, made assists, blocked shots and Andre Iguodala was terrific off the bench.

The third quarter belonged to Golden State. The Warriors went on a 24-3 run to start the third quarter.Klay was hot, and Green made two three-point shots early in the quarter. The Warriors held theCeltics to just nine points. It was the fewest points allowed in any quarter this season. The quarter ended with the Dubs ahead by twenty-nine 86-57. The Dubs went to sleep in the final period of the game. The Celtics outscored the Warriors 30-13 at one point to close the gap to eleven 99-88 but Steph Curry hit a three then a layup to put the game out of reach.

Game Notes- Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 28 points. Kevin Durant had a double-double. He was second in scoring with 23 and he pulled dow 10 boards and had 7 assists. Steph Curry didn’t score a lot. He had sixteen but had seven assists. Draymond contributed 11 points, eight assists ,and eight rebounds. Zaza Pachulia had 12 rebounds.The Dubs had ten steals and seven blocked shots as the defense was superb. They shot 48.9% from the floor and had thirty-three assists in the contest. It was the sixth straight game the Dubs had 30 or more assists and the eighth time this seasonIsiah Thomas had 18 for Boston. Avery Bradley chipped in with 17 and rookie Jaylen Brown had 11 as did Terry Rozier.

After the game, Durant said this about his teammates”they help me out a lot”. He also remarked this about his performance Friday night” I just want to contribute the best way I can.” He commented that”the defense was great.” Klay Thompson also said,”we just played great defense.” CVoach Steve Kerr said:”when we went to the smaller lineup,[there was]lots of switching, getting our hands up”. Kerr observed that the “guys are getting more comfortable with each other.” There was one downside as Kerr had this to say about the team’s performance:”we still haven’t put four quarters together but we are playing longer stretches of good basketball.”

The Warriors face the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night in Milwaukee. Last year, the Buck ended the Dubs twenty-four game winning streak the night after the Warriors beat the Celtics. The Warriors do not want to have history repeat. Game time ia at 5:30 PM.

 

 

The Warriors dominate the Nuggets in Denver

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Denver- The Golden State Warriors played well all four quarters of Thursday night’s game in Denver and defeated the young Denver Nuggets 125-101. The Warriors excelled on offense and defense.The Dubs put the pedal to the metal and they did not let up all night long. They Looked like the potent force that everyone expects them to be and they did it for all four quarters. Steph Curry did his work  in just three-quarters of play. Steph tallied thirty-three points. He had seven assists and five rebounds. Steph scored fifteen in the third quarter alone and made seven 3-point shots in the game. The Dubs led by twenty-four at the end of three and Steph sat out the rest of night. The Nuggets entered the game with a record of 3-4 under coach Mike Malone. The Warriors expected to have a tough night as the Nuggets had two 7-foot players, Jusuf Nurkic and Nikita Jokic, in their starting lineup. The Nuggets entered the game leading the league in rebounding. The Warriors’ centers met the challenge.

The Nuggets last lead occurred in the first quarter when they were ahead 6-3. The Warriors went on a 17-2 run to take the lead for good. They led 38-19 at the end of the first quarter. Steph had fourteen in the period. The big story was the play of JaVale Mcgee. McGee entered the game after Zaza Pachulia picked up two quick fouls. Draymond Green added eight points and had two assists and two rebounds in the first twelve minutes of the contest.

The Warriors continued to assert themselves and showed everyone ow good they could be. Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, David West and Shaun Livingston all contributed as the Warriors finished the half leading 65-51. The Nuggets closed the gap near the end of the half, but the Warriors were in complete control.

Steph took command in the third period as he netted fifteen points. He made four 3-pointers and seven for the game.  The Warriors led by thirty-one 97-66 late in the third quarter. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson played in the fourth quarter, but they came out when the issue was well in hand about halfway through the final stanza. The Warriors win 125-101.

Game Notes- Kevin Durant’s seventy-two consecutive game streak of scoring at least twenty points ended as Durant left with eighteen. Durant had five assists and nine rebounds. Draymond added thirteen, and he also had five assists and nine boards. The Big news was the combined play of Zazu Pachulia, David West, and Javale McGee. They put in a total of nineteen from the center position. McGee had ten, and the play of the big men negated the Nuggets’ Twin Towers. Five Nuggets scored double figures. Rookie Jamal Murray led them with fourteen. The Dubs shot 54.1% from the floor. They made fourteen 3-point shots in thirty attempts for a percentage of 46.7%. The Dubs had forty-four rebounds to tie the Nuggets in that department. The Warriors defense had fifteen steals and six blocked shots in the win. The Warriors improve to 7-2, and the Nuggets drop to 3-5. The Warriors played their ninety-fifth consecutive game without back-to-back losses.

The Warriors return home to face the Phoenix Suns Sunday afternoon at Oracle Arena.at 5 pm PT.

The Warriors roll over the depleted Mavericks 116-95

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-95 at the Oracle Arena Wednesday night. Former Warrior starters Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut returned to the Bay Area for the first time since they left the club after last season. Both players received a very warm welcome from the fans when they were introduced before the start of the game. Barnes played and scored twenty-five points for Dallas, but Bogut did not play at all. In fact, Dirk Nowitzki sat out the game as well as guards Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams.

The Warriors played a terrific first half. The only time the Dubs didn’t lead was early in the first quarter when the game was tied at seven. Klay Thompson, who had been in a shooting slump, was on fire. He scored eighteen points in the first twelve minutes of play. He had four three-point shots and two buckets for his eighteen. Kevin Durant hit two three-point shots as did Draymond Green. The Dubs led by nineteen 34-15 after one period of play.

The Warriors remained hot in the second stanza as their defense continued to shut down the Dallas attack. In the meantime, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green led the relentless Warrior offense, and the Dubs led at the half by thirty-three points 67-34.

The third quarter, however, was a different story. The Mavericks went on a 25-9 run while the Warriors went to sleep. Steph Curry twisted his right ankle early in the third quarter and went to the locker room for treatment. He would return later. The Dubs were three-for-eleven from the floor with eight minutes played. They got back on track when Steph returned and led by sixteen 84-68 at the end of three. Steph took over in the fourth period and the Dubs led by twenty-three 103-80. Kevin Durant also played very well in the win. Steve Kerr inserted his bench players Kevon Looney, Patrick McCaw, J’Vale McGee, and Ian Clark to play against the Mavs’ bench players.

Kevin Durant led Golden State with 28 points and ten rebounds. Steph had 24 and six assists. Draymond Green had sixteen points, four assists, and ten boards. The Warriors shot 58.1% from the floor and made 17 three-point shots. They shot  51.5% from behind the arc. The Warriors moved the ball well as they had thirty-three assists in the game. The Mavs leading scorers were Harrison Barnes(25), 7Justin Anderson(16, seven assists and 8 rebounds), Dwight Powell(14points,9 boards). The Mavs shot 39.5% from the floor and just 21.9% on three-point shots.

The Warriors improve to 6-2 for the season and Dallas falls to 2-6. Mavs’ owner, Mark Cuban was in attendance at the Arena Wednesday night.
The Warriors play a back-to-back game Thursday night against the Denver Nuggets in Denver. Game time will be at 6:30pm PT.

 

Steph Curry sets a NBA record as the Dubs slip past the Pelicans

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- Steph Curry led the Dubs to victory over the New Orleans Pelicans 116-106 Monday night at Oracle Arena, As usual, the Dubs got off to a slow start. The Pelicans held the lead for most of the first period until Steph hit a three-pointer to tie the game at seventeen. Steph hit his third three-pointer to put Golden State ahead 22-19. The Dubs finished the quarter leading 28-24. Steph made three-threes.

The Warriors played extremely well in the second quarter. They ran, they shot, they scored, they played defense, and they rebounded. At one point, they went on a 26-5 run to take twenty-one point lead. However, the Pelicans refused to fold, and they cut the lead to fourteen as they trailed 63-49 at the half. Steph led the Dubs with twenty-three. Klay Thompson added fifteen, and Kevin Durant chipped in with thirteen. Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with fifteen. The Pelicans’ bench outscored the Warriors’ bench 22-8. The Dubs shot 53.2% from the floor, and they made eight three-point shots in nineteen attempts. They also scored nineteen fastbreak points in the half.

The third period was an entirely different story. The Dubs went to sleep for almost eight minutes in the third quarter. The Pelicans went on a 19-4 run to take the lead 73-72. The Pelicans, at this point, outshot, outran and outrebounded the Warriors. However, the two-time MVP took over and led the Dubs on a 12-5 run to give them a six-point lead 84-78 at the end of three. At his juncture in the contest, Steph had made ten three-point shots.

The Pelicans refused to quit, and the Dubs had to play well if they wanted to win. Kevin Durant, who did not score a lot in the first three periods of play, came to life and made a couple of key buckets. Steph made three more three-point shots leading Golden State to victory. Steph tied the record of twelve held by Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall when he hit a three to put the Dubs ahead 106-97. He broke the record on his next shot to increase the lead to twelve 109-97. The Pelicans could not catch up as the Dubs’s defense was strong in the final stanza of the game.

Game Notes- With the win, the Dubs are now 5-2 for the season. They are in second place just one game behind the LA Clippers. As mentioned earlier, Steph Curry set an NBA record with thirteen threes in the game. It was quite a turnaround as he failed to make a single three-point shot in ten attempts last Friday night in Los Angeles. Steph scored over forty points for the third time in his career against New Orleans. Steph finished the night with forty-six. Klay added 24 and Kevin Durant scored 22. Durant has now scored at least twenty points in 71 consecutive games. Draymond Green was outstanding on defense. He scored just two points but he had eleven assists and twelve rebounds. Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with thirty-three. E’Twaun Moore had fifteen and Tim Frazier knocked thirteen to go along with his ten assists. The Pelicans, under former Warrior assistant coach, Alvin Gentry fall to 0-7. The Pelicans are missing several key players and hope to get on the winning track when they return.

Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr had this to say about Steph. “Quite a show. Not at all surprising. He comes right back after a bad game and lights it up. I didn’t realize he set the record until I got into the locker room.” Kerr , when talking about the team, remarked ” I liked the effort off the bench. I liked 35 assists. It’s a good number.I thought it was a good win and we’ll get better from this. We’ve got to do a better job of putting it all together” Kerr, responding to a question about Draymond Green said” He’s playing as well as he has in past years. The box score is going to look a little different.” Green’s scoring is down and Draymond responded ” I still approach the game this way. If I’m open, I shoot. I attack, mke plays and rebound. Our offense is different. We got a lot of guys that score with the basketball.”

The Warriors entertain the Dallas Mavericks at the Oracle Arena Wednesday night at 7:30 pm. Former Warrior players Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut will make their first appearences against their former teammates since leaving the club at the end of last season.

 

 

The Warriors blow out the Thunder 122-96 at Oracle

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Oklahoma Thunder’s defense try to put the kibosh on the Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant (35) during the first half of Thursday night’s game at Oracle Arena

Oakland- The Warriors defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-96 Thursday night at the Oracle Arena. The game was hyped as a grudge match between the two teams. The Thunder organization and the fans in OKC were enraged when Kevin Durant opted to leave the Thunder and join the Dubs. Durant felt the Warriors would be the team to get him a championship ring. The Thunder came close to making the Finals last year as they led the Warriors 3 games to one, but they could not put the Warriors away. The Dubs rallied to eliminate them in seven. So, there was a lot of electricity in the air when the two teams faced each other in the first meeting of the year. The Thunder entered the game with a record of 4-0 and their star player, Russell Westbrook, averaged about 38 points a game in the first four outings. The Warriors, on the other hand, played poorly and lost by a wide margin to the San Antonio Spurs at home to open the season. The Dubs went on the road and won the next three games. They had a hard time with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns. They found their mojo against the Portland Trail Blazers and looked like the team that won the NBA Championship in 2014-2015.

In the first period, the Thunder played well to start the game. The only lead the Dubs had in the early going was 3-2. Kevin Durant made the first of his seven 3-point shots to give Golden State the lead. The Thunder’s big man, Steve Adams from New Zealand, scored nine points in the early going to stake the Thunder to a 20-12 advantage. The Thunder increased the lead to 31-21, but the Dubs went on a 10-1 run to end the first period trailing by one 32-31. The Warriors were smoking hot to start the second stanza. They went on another 12-2 run behind Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry. The Warriors defense shut the Thunder down completely in the period as Golden State outscored them 37-11 to take a 25-point lead at the end of the first half. The score was 68-43. Kevin Durant led the Dubs with twenty-nine points. Steph had thirteen and Klay six. Klay, who could not hit a 3-point shot in the prior games, nailed two in the half. The Dubs tried 16 3-pointers and made eight. OKC shot just 33.3% from the floor and was four for fifteen from 3-point range. Leading scorers for OKC in the half were Westbrook with twelve, Victor Oladipo added eight and Adams had nine. The Dubs outrebounded the Thunder 36-31.

The second half became a highlight reel for Durant. He continued to make three-point shots. He made a couple of spectacular dunks and blocked a couple of shots. Steph and Klay each made a pair of three-pointers, and the Dubs increased the lead to 28 at the end of 3 periods of play. Coach Steve Kerr kept his regulars in for just a short time in the fourth period, and it allowed Kerr to use his bench as did Thunder coach Billy Donovan. The Dubs blew out the Thunder by a final of 122-91.

Kevin Durant had a monster game. He scored thirty-nine points. He was 16 for 24 from the floor and made seven 3-point shots. After the game, he said in an interview that he “wanted to come out and play good basketball.” He did not want to talk about the chatter that went on between him and his former teammates during the game. He said that stuff stays within the lines. Durant tied an NBA record held by Michael Jordan Thursday night. He scored at least twenty points in his sixty-ninth consecutive game. Steph Curry scored twenty-one and had seven assists. Klay ended the night with eighteen points and he made four three-point shots.Draymond Green added nine to go along with five assists and ten rebounds. Zaza Pachulia pitched in with 8 points, five assists and pulled down ten boards.

Russell Westbrook scored twenty with ten assists and six rebounds. Victor Odalipo led the Thunder with twenty-one. The OKC bench led the Dubs bench 29-27, but they picked up most of those points in garbage time. The Dubs won their fourth in a row and are 4-1 for the season while the Thunder lost for the first time this year, and they are also 4-1.

The Dubs travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers at the Staples Center Friday night. The Lakers are coached by former Warrior assistant coach Luke Walton. Should be an intriguing game as the pupil faces off against his mentor. Game time is at 7:30 pm PT.

 

Warriors second half struggles lead to Game 6 loss

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

At the half, the score was tied at 61. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James each had a tremendous first half, but Klay Thompson kept the Warriors right in it.

Out of the half, James and Irving continued playing great on the offensive end of the court while the Warriors began to struggle. The Cavs shot over 60 percent from the field in the third quarter while the Warriors shot 29 percent.

And then in the fourth quarter, Cleveland only shot 42.1 percent but Golden State shot an abysmal 23.8 percent. After things had been close and both teams played tough, James and Irving kept playing like great players do in elimination games.

As Draymond Green was suspended from game 5, it seems as if James took advantage of facing anyone else but Green. Andrew Bogut also came out early in the third quarter with a knee injury, which effected the Warriors defensive presence.

In place of Green, Andre Iguodala had a solid game finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Thompson finished with a team high of 37 points as the forward was 11 for 20 from the field with six threes. Thompson was nine of nine from the charity stripe.

MVP Steph Curry scored 25, but the James and Irving were simply too much.

James and Irving became the first pair of teammates to score 40 or more points in a Finals game. With Kevin Love playing poorly, the duo was the reason Cleveland is sending the series to a game 6.

James and Irving scored 41 points apiece. James grabbed 16 rebounds and tallied seven assists shooting 16-30 from the field. James’ jumper looked smooth and the Warriors had no answer on the defensive end.

Irving also had six assists and incredibly knocked down  17 of 24 shots from the field.

As the final horn sounded, the Cavs defeated Golden State 112-97. Cleveland shot 53 percent from the field for the game and the Warriors just shot over 36 percent.

Tonight, the Warriors struggled to find their shot from beyond the arc, which is usually how they take the lead and maintain it.

Heading back to Cleveland, the Warriors should be excited to get after it in hopes of grabbing their second championship in as many years. Golden State will have Green back and more news is to come regarding Bogut.

The Warriors are going to need to find an answer to stop either James or Irving because if both play as well as they did it’s going to make difficult to finish off the series.

Tune in to ABC on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT and be prepared to watch a game full of offensive flurry. Golden State will look to try and finish off their historic season with the greatest prize the NBA has to offer.

Splash Brothers return: Warriors win 108-97

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Finals-Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Fans, sports reporters and even other players were asking where had the Splash Brothers gone? Without the dominate play of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, it does not seem possible that the Golden State Warriors could find success on the basketball court. Yet despite the relatively quiet NBA Finals that Curry and Thompson have experienced, the Warriors went into game four on Friday night up 2-1 in the best of seven series.

On Friday night, something happened that made every fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers very unhappy. The Splash Brothers – Curry and Thompson – showed back up in Cleveland in a very big way. Curry and Thompson combined to score 63 of Golden State’s 108 points and they led the Warriors to a 108-97 win to take 3-1 lead in the series as it heads back to the Bay Area.

Stephen Curry – the NBA’s Most Valuable Player – led all scorers with 38 points. He connected on 7-of-13 3-point attempts and shot 11-for-25 overall. Curry converted 9-of-10 free throw opportunities. He also dished out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.

Klay Thompson – the other half of the Splash Brothers – put up 25 points against Cleveland on Friday night. Thompson shot 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point line while going 7-for-14 from the floor. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

LeBron James scored 25 points but did not lead the Cavaliers in scoring. He shot 11-for-21 from the floor but went just 1-for-5 from long distance. James went to the free throw line just four times and converted just two of those opportunities. He hauled in 13 rebounds, distributed nine assists, had three blocked shots and two steals. James also became a little testy with Draymond Green late in the game that resulted in off-setting fouls. The Cavs could have used some of that fire earlier in the game.

Golden State

The Warriors shot 47.2-percent (17-for-36) from beyond the 3-point line. Those 17 3-point baskets set a new NBA Playoff single game record for conversions from downtown. Harrison Barnes hit four 3-pointers while Andre Iguodala added two of his own.

Golden State outrebounded the Cavaliers 43-40. Draymond Green led the Warriors with 12 rebounds.

The Warriors had six blocked shots in the game and Draymond Green had three of those.

Golden State posted 23 assists and turned the ball over just nine times to exceed the magic 2:1 ratio. The Warriors gave up just nine points off those nine turnovers.

The Warriors defense was in lock down mode especially in the second half on Friday night. They held the Cavs to just 24.0-percent (6-for-25) from 3-point range. Golden State forced Cleveland to turn the ball over 11 times and scored 18 points off those turnovers. The Cavaliers were held to just 20 points in the fourth quarter of the game.

Cleveland

Kyrie Irving led the Cavs scoring attack on Friday night with 34 points. He shot 14-for-28 from the floor and 2-for-6 from long distance. Irving had four rebounds and four assists in the game.

Kevin Love returned to the series after missing game three with concussion symptoms. Love did not start the game but he did play 25 minutes. He scored 11 points shooting 3-for-6 from the floor including one 3-point basket. Love also had five rebounds.

Tristan Thompson and JR Smith had 10 points each in the game.

The Cavaliers shot just 57.7-percent (15-for-26) from the free throw line. That statistic will haunt the Cavs over the weekend.

Up next

No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals. Teams are 0-32 when trying to make that happen. Now those are some bad odds.

The Cavaliers and Warriors will meet for game five on Monday night in Oakland at Oracle Arena. The Warriors will be trying to win the Larry O’Brien trophy in front of the hometown fans Monday night.

Cavs explode in Game 3, romp Warriors by 30

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

AFP photo: Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James drives on Golden State Warriors Draymond Green during game three at Quicken Loans Arena Friday

CLEVELAND, OH — It wasn’t a must win game for Cleveland.

It was the game to be had.

After dropping the first two games in Oakland by a total of 48 points, Cleveland drummed the defending NBA champions in Game 3, 120-90, Wednesday night to trim Golden State’s lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series, 2-1.

Cleveland, who improved to 8-0 at home in the postseason, responded in a huge way with big games by both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

James, who called Game 3 a “do or die” game, finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists to pace the Cavs, who never trailed in the game. James shot 14-for-26 from the floor  in 40 minutes of action, after shooting just 7-for-17 from the floor in Golden State’s 33-point win in Game 2.

Cleveland outscored Golden State in the first quarter, 33-16, thanks in large part to Irving.

Irving got Cleveland rolling early with 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter on 7-for-9 shooting. Irving shot 12-for-25 from the floor for the game and added eight assists.

“We’ve got to give the same effort Friday night,” James said postgame. “It started defensively and trickled down to the offensive side.”

J.R. Smith scored 20 points, and Tristan Thompson finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds (7 offensive). Cleveland controlled the boards, outrebounding Golden State 52-32.

Richard Jefferson, who started in place of Kevin Love, finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Love sat out Game 3 due to symptoms from a concussion he suffered in Game 2 after taking an inadvertent elbow in the back of the head. Love didn’t pass the NBA concussion protocol and his status is unclear for Game 4 Friday night.

If Love is ready to go for Game 4, Cleveland could be reluctant to put him back into the starting lineup as the starting five of James, Irving, Smith, Jefferson and Thompson meshed well together and played faster against Golden State. The Cavs dominated the paint by outscoring the Warriors 54-32.

“Coaching staff gave us an excellent game plan and we executed it for 48 minutes,” added James. Cleveland shot 15-for-20 in the third quarter en route to finishing 52 percent from the field as a team for the game.

Golden State was hit in the mouth early and couldn’t recover from the punch that Cleveland landed to their chin.

Stephen Curry scored 19 points, mostly in the second quarter, after he and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson (10 points) combined to shoot 0-for-8 in the first quarter. Thompson left the game briefly after taking a Timofey Mozgov knee to the left thigh while fighting through a screen chasing Irving.

Curry and Thompson, who haven’t had the games fans have been accustomed of seeing from the preeminent backcourt in the league, finished the game 10-for-26 from the floor.

“We were soft,” said coach Steve Kerr. “When you’re soft, you get beat on the glass and turn the ball over.”

Cleveland treated Game 3 like it was a street fight, resorting to Eastern Conference basketball by being physical with Golden State and pressing them into tough shots. The Warriors were 1-for-11 on catch and shoot 3s, before finishing 9-for-33 from behind the 3-point line.

Harrison Barnes had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Andre Iguodala finished with 11 points.

Draymond Green was off with just six points on just 2-for-8 shooting. Green added seven rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, who dropped their fifth straight Game 3 dating back to last year’s NBA Finals, where Cleveland took a 2-1 lead before Golden State rallied to capture the title by taking three of the last four games.

Golden State did show some fight late in the second quarter, outscoring Cleveland 27-18 before trailing 51-43 at halftime.

“We’re in good shape,” Curry said. “”Not the way we wanted tonight to go … We have a great opportunity on Friday to keep control of the series.”

This was an embarrassing loss for the Warriors, who still are in the driver seat but know that if they have any chance of taking a 3-1 lead, it must limit the turnovers (18 for Golden State compared to 13 for Cleveland) and get better performances from Curry and Thompson.