CLEVELAND – The first true Splash Brothers sighting of the NBA Finals came in the third quarter of Game 4.
Steph Curry made his first two three-pointers of the quarter, Klay Thompson and Curry combined for back-to-back-to-back three-pointers and Curry sank another three.
Down eight early in the third and up two headed into the fourth, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-97 on Friday.
"We were threatened, and we responded well," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
The question that had been asked often through the first three games of the Finals: when would Curry and Thompson have one of those shooting games the opponent couldn’t overcome?
The answer was Game 4 in the best contest of the series that had been defined by blowouts.
Curry made seven three-pointers and scored 38 points, and Thompson finished with 25 points and made 4-of-9 three-pointers.
"Sooner or later it's going to happen," Kerr said. "With guys like that, you can't keep them down forever. Sometimes our best offense is our defense, and we were making stops and we were able to get out and run and kind of flow into our offense. So maybe they got a few extra looks from that, but mainly it was just law of averages took over."
Curry scored 24 points in the second half, including 13 in the fourth quarter.
"Again, he's Steph Curry. He's the MVP for a reason," Kerr said. "He doesn't have the size and the strength to dominate a game physically, so he has to dominate with his skill, and that's not an easy thing to do because your shot sometimes isn't going to go in. But he has a lot of faith in himself, and he trusts his shot and he just kept firing, and tonight they went in."
Golden State also set a Finals single-game record with 17 three-pointers.
The Warriors had a historic regular-season with an NBA-record 73 victories, and now – up 3-1 in the Finals – are one Finals victory from their second consecutive championship.
They can complete their masterpiece in Game 5 on Monday (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
The Cavaliers face a daunting task. Just 10 teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win, and the Warriors know how difficult that is. They trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-1 in the Western Conference finals and won the final three games of the series.
"I've already told our guys Game 5 will be the hardest game of the series," Kerr said. "Every closeout game is difficult, but when you're at home, for a strange reason it's even more difficult. You've got everybody in your ear, you've got friends, you've got family who want to come to the game and want to discuss everything.
"We have to understand that this series is not over. We came in and did what we wanted to do getting the split, but Game 5 will be extremely difficult."
Coming back from 3-1 can be done. But the Cavaliers will have to do it against a team that is trying to become one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
""If you don't think we can win, don't get
on the plane," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
Curry and Thompson had a strong third quarter, and the Warriors' defense took over in the fourth.
Trailing 83-81 with 10:21 remaining, the Warriors went on a 15-3 run and took a 96-86 lead. The Cavs were 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 on three-pointers, and the Warriors were 6-of-13 and made three threes. Cleveland couldn't make it up at the foul throw line, going 15-of-26.
Cavs guard Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 38 points, and LeBron James had 25. But it wasn't James best game, or the type of game the Cavs need from him to even the series. He was 9-fo-13 from the field but just 1-of-5 on threes. He had 13 rebounds and nine assists.
Cavs forward Kevin Love, who sustained a concussion in Game 2 and missed Game 3, was cleared to play in Game 4. After Cleveland’s impressive 120-90 victory in Game 3, would Love start or would Cavs coach Tyronn Lue bring him off the bench and start Richard Jefferson?
Love made the decision simple by telling Lue to do whatever is necessary. It was a great team-first response.
"I felt it was the right way. We had just won a game by 30 points. We played well. So I just decided to stick with RJ. Kevin came to me after the game and just said, whatever I felt was right, coming off the bench or starting, he was all in. So after winning the game by 30 points, I thought it was the right thing to do."
