Warriors overcome LeBron James' 44, breeze in overtime to go up 1-0
OAKLAND, Calif. -- After an eight-day break, the NBA's top teams and biggest stars put on quite a show.Only one kept it up for 53 minutes.And only one survived without a serious injury.Stephen Curry had 26 points and eight assists, and the Golden State Warriors withstood a 44-point effort by LeBron James for a thrilling 108-100 overtime victory over Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.EDITOR'S PICKSStats & Info: Warriors big in the clutchStephen Curry and the Warriors overcame a huge game from LeBron to take the first game in the series.Stats & Info: A painful loss for CavsLeBron James and the Cavaliers couldn't finish off the Warriors. Kyrie Irving couldn't finish the game. Our best notes from the Warriors Game 1 win."It was just a classic five minutes that we needed to get that win," Curry said of the overtime.In the Finals for the first time in 40 years, the Warriors gave their long-suffering fans quite a treat. They rallied from an early 14-point deficit, absorbed a personal Finals best point total from James and shut down Cleveland in the extra session.James shot 18 of 38 from the field and had eight rebounds and six assists in 46 minutes. But the four-time MVP missed a long jumper at the end of regulation, and Cleveland missed its first eight shots of overtime -- and 12 straight going back to the fourth quarter."We got to do more around him," Cavs coach David Blatt said.Adding to the Cavs' frustration, point guard Kyrie Irving limped to the locker room after aggravating his troublesome left knee in overtime. He did not return.With Kevin Love already out, the Cavs obviously need Irving. He missed two games in the Eastern Conference finals because of knee and foot injuries and sounded unsure of his status for Game 2 on Sunday in Oakland."Obviously you can see in the tone of my voice I'm a little worried," said Irving, who buried his head in his hands at his locker and left on crutches.Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he hopes Irving is able to play the remainder of the series."I mean that," Kerr said. "You probably don't believe me, but I mean that."There were 13 lead changes and 11 ties in a game tightly contested across the board. There was little edge in shooting (Warriors 44.3 percent, Cavaliers 41.5 percent), rebounding (Warriors 48, Cavaliers 45) or assists (Warriors 24, Cavaliers 19).The biggest difference might have been the benches. The Warriors' reserves outscored the Cavs' 34-9, with J.R. Smith the only Cleveland reserve to score -- and he was 3 of 13 from the field.In the end, it came down to the biggest stars making plays -- or not.James and Curry carried their clubs through the fourth quarter, trading scores and assists in a back-and-forth duel in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596 -- most wearing those blinding, golden yellow shirts. Both also had a chance to win the game in regulation. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400796845
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It was a good game, a fun game to watch. I gotta disagree that the Cavs controlled the entire game until the end. Even when the warriors were down, it was quite evident that there was no way that they were out...they actually looked like the more determined team imo. I mean just look at the it; James scores 44 andthe Cavsstill lose?!
It's too bad that we couldn't see both teams healthy goin' at it, as I would have liked to see Love in the thick of this battle.
The game plan going into 2 must include some relief for James; cause yeah, they woulda won that game if he wouldn't have been used up already...it wouldn't have even went into OT probably.
GS's big two (Curry and Thompson) scored 47 points (43% of the team's total)while Cleveland's Big 2 (James and Irving) scored 67 points (67% of the team's total).
James played a lot because of the ineffectiveness of the scoring of teammates, but GS may be onto a strategy (especially if Irving is out or at diminished capacity) - concede that James will get his points and shut down the supporting cast.
James took 38 shots to score his 44 points, the Cavs have a good chance to lose any game in which he takes 38 shots.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda time
Kyrie is likely out or at least greatly diminished so Lebron will need to play more minutes and will more tired at the end of the game ......
I am liking the GS chances in this series
And being from Ohio that is to takenot a popular position
As an interesting aside along those same lines... Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers: A Battle Between Two Very Different Americas
Why didn't you mention the Browns or the Indians?
Oh yeah cause they are not likely to win a title, even though I root for them.
I am being realistic....I think James is the best player in the league, but I also think that GS is the best team in the NBA finals this year and now with the injury to Kyrie I think that is even more true.
I am not rooting for either team, not much of an NBS fan really, but I watch the games and think GS will win.