All it took was 48 hours for the fortunes and the form of teams to change.
After being outclassed in Game 3, Golden State Warriors bounced back in style to overwhelm an upbeat Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 at a noisy Quicken Loans Arena here on Thursday and level the NBA Finals 2-2.
Warriors proved in ample measure why they were the best team in the league this season with superb team-work, fantastic breakaways, great defence and individual stand-out performances. Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala led the scoring chart for the visitors with 22 points each.
Iguodala, who made the start for the first time in the Finals, drilled in four three-pointers and, more importantly, kept the Cavaliers’ talismanic LeBron James in check.
The league MVP Curry was his usual composed self, marshalling his troops and hitting baskets with ease and assurance. Curry and Iguodala were well-supported by Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and David Lee.
After Grammy winner Usher had ushered in the game with the National Anthem, the Cavs, cheered on by 20,562 rambunctious fans at ‘The Qâ’, went into a 7-0 lead in no time in the first quarter. But that was the only period when they were ahead.
James, who had revealed before the game that he was pushing himself for the greater cause of winning the title, was unable to nail the points, being hemmed in by the Warriors’ defence. He even lost his footing a couple of times as he managed only 20 points, 21 under his average in the series.
“Make him work as hard as possible,” Iguodala said when asked about the strategy to deny James the space. “You try to take him out of his comfort zone. Sounds easier said than done, but we all have a lot of talent and when we go out there we want to make our stamp on the game.”
Overall, the home team did everything except get the ball in the basket. Fumbling was the flavour of the night for the host. Game 3 hero Matthew Dellavedova, playing after some severe cramping on Tuesday, was good but not good enough on this night.
Mozgov shinesTimofey Mozgov was the only Cavs player who played consistently well throughout the game and it was no surprise that the big Russian notched up the most points (28) for the local side. The reliable J.R. Smith was a flop with his three-pointers.
After taking the first quarter 31-24, Warriors steadily built up the lead before the change of ends saw them ahead by 12 points (54-42). The second quarter saw James taking a bad tumble and cutting his head after crashing into photographers behind the baseline.
The script was no different in the second half and midway into the last quarter, it was evident that the Cavs had resigned to their fate. The arena saw an exodus of fans well before Warriors completed their century and handed out a lesson in total basketball. Even James did not play till the end!
“Tonight we came in with the mentality that we had to win this game. So we gave ourselves a shot. And shots go in, everybody starts to feel good.
“You pick up some momentum, and you get a big road win,” summed up Curry at the post-game interaction.
“I mean, three games left possibly. You just go out and play hard. Coaching staff gives you a great game plan, you go out and execute it and live with the results at the end of the day,” mused James when queried about overcoming physical and mental exhaustion after four intense games.
Game 5 will tip-off at Oakland’s Oracle Arena on Sunday.
The result: Cleveland Cavaliers 82 (Mozgov 28, James 20, Thompson 12) lost to Golden State Warriors 103 (Curry 22, Iguodala 22, Green 17, Barnes 14).
Cleveland Cavaliers tied with Golden State Warriors 2-2
( V.V. Ramanan is covering the Finals at the invitation of NBA and its partners )
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