CLEVELAND _ Chaos reigned Friday night as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat back history.
Two former MVPs, one on the brink of his first NBA championship, one trying to avoid being swept out of the Finals, were hit with technical fouls. One Golden State Warrior, hated in this arena, was ejected at first glance, only to have the first technical foul rescinded. A fan was asked to leave after engaging with a rarely used Warriors' reserve.
Through all that ruckus rang out one simple truth:
LeBron James is one of the greatest to ever play this game and he was not about to let himself be on the losing end of another team's historic postseason.
Starting with a record 49-point first quarter, the Cavaliers beat the Warriors 137-116 at Quicken Loans Arena, earning their first win of the NBA Finals and avoiding crushing elimination. They haven't come back from a 3-0 deficit _ no team ever has. But Cleveland now faces a 3-1 deficit, the same one they overcame a year ago against a 73-win Warriors team.
The loss ensured the Warriors will not become the first team in NBA history to sweep the postseason. At best they can tie the 2000-01 Lakers, who went 15-1, when beating the Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the Finals.
The Cavaliers shot better than 50 percent from three-point range, making a record-busting 24 three-pointers while taking 45. Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 40 points on 15-of-27 shooting from the field, including seven of 12 from three-point range. James had a triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. It was his ninth Finals triple-double, making him the all-time leader in that category.
"We just kept our composure," James said. "We shared the ball, we moved the ball and defensively we were physical."
Durant led the Warriors with 35 points, but made only nine of 22 shots from the field, including two of nine from long range. He was the only Warriors player to eclipse 20 points. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 27 points on eight-of-24 shooting, making six of their 19 three-point shots.
No lead feels safe against the Warriors, but the Cavaliers did their best in the first quarter to build a margin they could sustain. It took an historic effort _ their 49 first-quarter points were the most ever scored in any quarter of any Finals game.
Three-point barrages are normally the Warriors' specialty, but the Cavaliers shot better than they did in the first quarter, making seven of 13 from long distance while the Warriors made only three of 10. At one point early in the second quarter, the Cavaliers were shooting 58.3 percent from the field and from three-point range, but only 61 percent of their free throws. To start the game, Cleveland shot 22 free throws to the Warriors' 11.
A J.R. Smith three-pointer from Curry range gave the Cavaliers a 60-45 lead early in the second quarter and the margin got bigger from there. The Cavaliers led by 20 points before long, with Irving leading the charge. He made 10 of his first 12 shots, while Curry made only one of seven.
After a record-setting first quarter, the Cavaliers scored 86 points by halftime, setting a new record for points in a half during the Finals.
Early in the third quarter, James leaped into the air and threw the ball off the backboard with his right hand before rising again to dunk it with both hands.
A few minutes later, with 7:26 left in the third quarter, Cavaliers forward Kevin Love committed a flagrant foul on Durant, and that's when disorder took over.
James and Durant argued near the Cavaliers bench after battling on the court all series long, and both got technical fouls. Draymond Green got a first-quarter technical foul, then he got a third-quarter technical that elicited perhaps the loudest cheer of the night from a sold-out crowd that hates him, only to have his first technical foul reassigned to Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
A fan was ejected after engaging with Warriors reserve Matt Barnes.
Then Warriors center Zaza Pachulia fought for a loose ball and swiped at Cleveland's Iman Shumpert. The video board replayed the incident in slow motion, with the implication that Pachulia might have swiped at Shumpert's groin area. A year ago, in Game 4 of the Finals, Green's swipe at James' groin led to a Game 5 suspension that began the Cavaliers' comeback.
Even the jump ball that followed Pachulia's swipe didn't occur without incident. James and Golden State's Andre Iguodala jostled for space, and the referee had to step in to reset them.
The arena was tense, but as the game continued the Cavaliers never let the Warriors get too close. They got within 11 points while James rested, but Cleveland's lead extended into the high teens quickly.
On Friday morning, a few blocks from the arena, an optimist painted his or her window with black letters that said: "Cavs in 7."
Nearby, another sign declared the same message. Around the corner, a restaurant posted a chalkboard with a hopeful, if slightly inaccurate, message: "We did it before, we can do it again!"
On Friday night their team answered their pleas, if only for one game.
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