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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
DJ Gallo

NBA finals: Golden State Warriors win title against Cavaliers – as it happened

You can read a full game report from Oracle Arena here:

Thanks for following tonight’s liveblog. Check the Guardian tomorrow for more coverage of the Finals.

And see you back here next year for liveblogs of Warriors vs. Cavaliers IV.

Kevin Durant is named NBA Finals MVP

Deservingly so. He scored 38, 33, 31, 35 and 39 in the Finals.

Somewhere Russell Westbrook is very sad. Probably less sad than angry and motivated.

Kevin Durant joined a 73-9 team and now ...

Durant just said he has long felt that James is the only player in the NBA who is his equal (or better). Have to wonder how Steph Curry might take that comment.

Durant finishes tonight’s game with 39 points on 14-of-20 shooting. James had 41 points for Cleveland.

Finals MVP will be announced shortly. If it’s not Durant, then something has happened with the voting. Maybe it’s been hacked.

The Golden State Warriors have won the NBA Finals!

Final score: Warriors 129-120 Cavaliers.

Kevin Durant wins his first championship. LeBron James is still the best basketball player in the world, but Durant is a close second. And tonight he was the best player on the court.

Warriors 129-117 Cavaliers, 0:38 4th quarter

Steph Curry hits a three to set off the celebration in the stands at Oracle Arena.

Warriors 126-115 Cavaliers, 1:31 4th quarter

One LeBron bucket in the last three Cleveland possessions and this one looks like it is over. Goodbye, 3-1 jokes.

Warriors 126-113 Cavaliers, 2:45 4th quarter

J.R. Smith hits a three and is fouled -- but misses the free throw -- and then the Warriors follow with a quick bucket. Big opportunity missed by Cleveland.

Warriors 124-110 Cavaliers, 3:03 4th quarter

Klay Thompson pulls up and hits a jumper. The hill is getting ever-higher for Cleveland to climb.

Warriors 122-110 Cavaliers, 3:29 4th quarter

James scores again to cut it to 12. The Warriors have called timeout to talk about how they want to tackle the 209 seconds that stand between them and their second championship in three seasons.

Warriors 122-108 Cavaliers, 4:03 4th quarter

And now Curry is taking over the spotlight. Back-to-back buckets gets the lead to 14 and the Warriors almost have their 18-point lead of the first half back.

Updated

Warriors 118-106 Cavaliers, 5:01 4th quarter

Two more points for Durant. He’s got 39 and has scored at least 31 in every game of the series.

Warriors 116-106 Cavaliers, 5:45 4th quarter

Durant hits another contested shot to get it back to 10 points. He now has 37 points on the night and is 13-for-17 from the floor and 5-for-7 from three. He’s less than 6 minutes from his first ring AND and a Finals MVP award.

Warriors 112-102 Cavaliers, 7:42 4th quarter

A bucket by Durant is followed by a missed James jumper and that’s followed by Curry hitting Iguodala wide open underneath the bucket for two more points. That’s a 10-point lead with less than 8 minutes remaining.

Warriors 108-102 Cavaliers, 8:20 4th quarter

Kyle Korver hits his first three of the night to get it to 6 points. Oh, and the man named LeBron James is back in the game.

Here’s that Durant three that got the lead to 8 points ...

Warriors 108-98 Cavaliers, 9:00 4th quarter

Durant hits two free throws to get it to 10. And James is on the bench for a rest. It will probably be a quick rest because the Cavs season is very much in serious trouble at the moment.

Warriors 106-98 Cavaliers, 9:40 4th quarter

Huge three by Durant with Kevin Love all over him. That hurt the Cavs. Time is starting to tick and that was dagger-esque with Durant guarded very well.

Warriors 103-95 Cavaliers, 10:45 4th quarter

After the Cavs got it to three, Durant hit a jumper and Iguodala dropped a three. He now has 13 off the bench. Time for another Iguodala Finals MVP award??? (No. But he’s played very well tonight.)

In fairness, Williams had a good first half. Third quarter? Not so much.

End of the 3rd quarter: Warriors 98-93 Cavaliers

J.R. Smith is keeping the Cavs alive with his heroics at the end of the quarters. Another deep bomb drops on Cleveland’s last possession of the quarter and despite Patrick McCaw stepping up for the Warriors, the lead is just 5 points with 12 minutes left. The Cavs would have happily taken at the half.

Warriors 98-90 Cavaliers, 0:33 3rd quarter

Four points in a row by Warriors rookie Patrick McCaw. Because the Cavs don’t have enough veteran talent, right?

Warriors 94-88 Cavaliers, 1:24 3rd quarter

While Cleveland has been missing free throws, the Warriors aren’t flawless at the line either. Steph Curry has now missed three on the night.

Warriors 93-88 Cavaliers, 2:49 3rd quarter

Two free throws by Kyrie Irving whittles it all the way down to 5 points. A long way back from 18 before the end of the first half.

Updated

I’d go more with OH MY LEBRON here, but I don’t run the @Cavs account.

Warriors 93-86 Cavaliers, 3:14 3rd quarter

Kevin Durant answers a Lebron-to-Thompson alley-oop with a three-pointer. He has 28 points on the night now to Lebron’s 27. Media timeout.

Warriors 90-84 Cavaliers, 3:58 3rd quarter

James had a chance to cut the lead to five with a three-point play, but he missed the free throw. He’s now 1-for-5 from the line on the night and the Cavs are 9-for-15.

Warriors 90-80 Cavaliers, 4:25 3rd quarter

Two free throws for Durant gets the lead back to double-digits and KD inches closer to his Finals average of 34 ppg.

Warriors 88-78 Cavaliers, 4:46 3rd quarter

Iguodala gets a dunk off of a great feed by Durant. He now has 13 points on the night. The Golden State defense has outscored Cleveland’s 24-2 on the night.

Warriors 86-77 Cavaliers, 5:25 3rd quarter

Curry gets four points in a row -- two on a lay-up and two from the line -- to get to 24 points on the night. He leads the Warriors now. James is game-high at 25.

Warriors 82-75 Cavaliers, 6:10 3rd quarter

Tristan Thompson is now at 10 points with a tough basket over Kevin Durant. Great start to the quarter so far for the Cavs. And, really, it’s a continuation of the end of the first half.

Warriors 79-71 Cavaliers, 7:53 3rd quarter

J.R. Smith drops another three and then the Warriors turn the ball over with an offensive foul ... and that leads to a bucket for James. He has 25 points on the night. Game back on.

Updated

Warriors 79-66 Cavaliers, 8:46 3rd quarter

Zaza Pachulia just picked up fouls about 10 seconds apart. He now has three on the night. If he has to leave with foul trouble, look for the Warriors to really open up a huge lead.

Warriors 76-64 Cavaliers, 10:40 3rd quarter

Kevin Love gets his first points of the night on a little half-hook in the middle of the lane.

Warriors 74-60 Cavaliers, 11:40 3rd quarter

Klay Thompson opens the half with a three. That’s only his second field goal of the game. Keeping him quiet would really help the Cavs come back. Bad start in that department so far.

The Warriors run came with Zaza Pachulia mostly on the bench. Hard to think that was a coincidence.

Updated

Lebron James and Kevin Durant lead all scorers at the half with 21 points apiece, with Steph Curry at 20. Kyrie Irving has 16 and J.R. Smith has 13, the last six of which that will make the Cavs feel a lot better about their chances.

On the downside, Kevin Love has zero points. Ooof.

End of 1st half: Warriors 71-60 Cavaliers

All credit to the Cavs for going on a nice 8-2 flurry to close the half, including J.R. Smith hitting two threes. Eleven points is manageable. We still have a game. Stick around for the second half.

Warriors 69-52 Warriors, 1:01 2nd quarter

We’ve seen a 25-point turnaround in this quarter. The half can’t end soon enough for Cleveland. They’ll need a big turnaround in the third quarter or their season will end soon enough.

Updated

Warriors 65-49 Cavaliers, 2:00 2nd quarter

Draymond Green just hit Iguodala with an alley-oop. Golden State is winning this quarter 32-15 so far. Yikes.

Warriors 61-48 Cavaliers, 2:55 2nd quarter

After Steph Curry hits a technical free throw, Kyrie Irving wins a tip from West and LeBron drills a three. Timeout Warriors.

The officials rule technicals go to Tristan Thompson, David West and J.R. Smith.

Here is the altercation:

David West and Tristan Thompson just got in a shoving match after West took exception to Kyrie Irving grabb

Warriors 60-45 Cavaliers, 3:10 2nd quarter

Another three by Durant. This is getting ugly fast.

Warriors 57-45 Cavaliers, 3:35 2nd quarter

J.R. Smith hit a three to briefly stem the bleeding for Cleveland, but Draymond Green immediately answered with a three of his own.

Warriors 54-43 Cavaliers, 4:40 2nd quarter

Draymond Green dunks inside on a nice pass by Iguodala, then the Cavs turn it over and Curry hits a floater. That’s a 21-2 run. The Cavs are in some trouble on the road.

Warriors 50-43 Cavaliers, 5:20 2nd quarter

Durant hits two free throws. We now have a 17-2 run by the Warriors.

Warriors 48-43 Cavaliers, 6:00 2nd quarter

After the game clock in the arena had magically added about 4 minutes, causing a delay in the game, Curry hits a three when the action picks up again. Cleveland’s recent 8-point lead is now long gone.

Updated

Warriors 45-43 Cavaliers, 6:48 2nd quarter

The Warriors have their first lead of the 2nd quarter after Kevin Durant hits deep three at the top of the key after Kevin Love missed two free throws. The Cavs now have nine turnovers, as well.

Cavaliers 43-42 Warriors, 7:15 2nd quarter

Kevin Durant hits his first three of the night, ending a streak of five missed threes in a row for Golden State, to cut the lead to one.

Cavaliers 41-39 Warriors, 7:58 2nd quarter

Cavs now call timeout after Andre Iguodala throws down a monster dunk driving the lane in transition.

Cavaliers 41-37 Warriors, 8:25 2nd quarter

Warriors cut the lead in half thanks to four points from David West, of all people.

The Warriors took a timeout after the LeBron dunk.

Here’s that play:

Cavaliers 41-33 Warriors, 10:13 1st quarter

Oh, my. LeBron just dunked over Kevin Durant after getting a pass from Deron Williams in transition. Durant was lucky to not get his third foul of the night on the play.

Cavaliers 39-33 Warriors, 11:33 2nd quarter

James steals the ball from Durant and takes it in for a dunk to open the second quarter. We very much have a competitive series now. Game 4 was no fluke.

Updated

Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry all have 12 points through the 1st quarter.

The two teams are on pace to put up 280 points in the game. So much for the 231.5 points total that handicappers set.

End of the 1st quarter: Cavaliers 37-33 Warriors

J.R. Smith hit a transition three with a few second left in the quarter to give the Cavs a four-point lead. At the start of the liveblog I said that Cleveland’s effort would still be there, but it would be almost impossible for them to shoot like they did in Game 4. So far, I’m very wrong. The Cavs shot 61% in the first quarter.

Updated

Cavaliers 32-31 Warriors, 0:47 1st quarter

Kyrie Irving hits two free throws to give Cleveland the lead back. The game is being officiated tightly so far. Probably not great for Draymond Green.

Cavaliers 30-29 Warriors, 1:20 1st quarter

Steph Curry now has 10 first quarter points for the Warriors. A quiet 10 first quarter points, if that’s possible.

Cavaliers 30-25 Warriors, 2:09 1st quarter

The effort is definitely there again for the Cavaliers. They’re hitting the boards hard. Richard Jefferson just went up high to tip back a short Lebron James miss.

Cavaliers 28-22 Warriors, 3:14 1st quarter

The difference in the game so far is that Golden State is missing shots (42% from the floor so far), while the Cavs are hitting at 66%.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is at the game tonight.

#zaza #

A post shared by Aaron Rodgers (@aaronrodgers12) on

Cavaliers 22-18 Warriors, 5:03 1st quarter

Durant hits a nice jumper over Richard Jefferson, but then commits a foul on the other end going for a rebound. He has two fouls on the night now, but will remain in the game. Risky decision by Kerr ... or maybe not when he has multiple All-Star-caliber players at his disposal should Durant get a third.

Cavaliers 20-16 Warriors, 5:40 1st quarter

Steph Curry hits a layup down the left side of the lane to give Golden State back-to-back buckets. He’s got 4 points on the night.

Cavaliers 20-12 Warriors, 6:21 1st quarter

Lebron hits a jumper to extend the lead to eight. He’s 5-of-6 on the night so far. The Oracle Arena crowd is already getting quiet and worried.

Cavaliers 15-11 Warriors, 7:23 1st quarter

Tristan Thompson puts back a Lebron miss to keep Cleveland’s lead at four. Then Golden State turns the ball over on a Zaza Pachulia charge. Sometimes Pachulia looks so out of place in this series. All the athletic, artistic players all over the court and then ... Zaza Pachulia.

Cavaliers 13-9 Warriors, 8:42 1st quarter

Wow. Very quick flurry by the Cavs stars. Kyrie Irving scores in transition and then LeBron steals the inbounds pass and goes to the basket for two more. Steve Kerr calls timeout. He’s probably not going to do any 3-1 jokes during the timeout.

Warriors 9-9 Cavaliers, 8:59 1st quarter

Kevin Love is sitting already for the Cavaliers with two quick fouls. Love has been playing some of the best basketball of his life in this series, so Cleveland obviously needs him on the floor as much as possible.

Warriors 9-4 Cavaliers, 9:52 1st quarter

Now Klay Thompson hits a three and then Golden State gets the ball right back. Cleveland needs to keep it tight in the first quarter so the game -- and the series -- doesn’t get away from them.

Warriors 6-4 Cavaliers, 10:40 1st quarter

Draymond Green gives the Cavs the lead with a three. He was shooting just 25% from deep in the series entering Game 5.

Warriors 3-2 Cavaliers, 11:20 1st quarter

A Tristan Thompson lay-up on Cleveland’s first possession is answered by a Steph Curry free throw and a Kevin Durant drive to the basket.

Tip-off!

Here we go. We’ll soon find out if “3-1” will remain an NBA punchline.

A few cast members from Hamilton just sang the national anthem. Mike Pence must be conflicted.

An e-mail from a reader ...

I am a UK citizen, a 30 year reader of the Guardian, now living in Cleveland, having lived in London, Paris, and Vienna. To be honest, I am shocked at the tone of the Guardian’s coverage of this contest - for game 3 I noticed that all the live commentary was about how great Golden State were, even though the Cavaliers were dominating them, but I am disappointed to see exactly the same kind of thing going on for game 4 already. Headline - “Warriors will clinch NBA championship with victory in Oakland” - true, but not exactly an impartial observation. And now “here’s a video of Steph Curry being brilliant” - also true, but they lost the championship last year, so do not have a claim to be perfect.

Cleveland is not a provincial backwater - culturally, we outshine the Bay Area in many ways - so please do not treat the Cavaliers and their fans in the same way that Draymond Green did, unless you want to be considered in the same way as he is.

Thank you

Peter Bennett, MA, MMus, PHD, Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.

Okay.

As we get close to tip, the cheapest ticket to get into the arena for Game 5 is $500. That’s pocket change for a titan of Silicon Valley.

The Snoop Dogg and Jeff Van Gundy photo the world demanded to see.

Agreed. An amazing part of Game 4 was that while the Cavs shot an absurd 53% from three ... men in their face on every shot ... they managed only 67% from the free throw line, a shot taken from almost half the distance and with zero defense.

Maybe the Cavs should start shooting free throws from behind the arc.

The intensity will be there. They know that’s how they have to play to have a chance. The bigger question, in my opinion, is if the shot-making will still be there. The Cavs set a Finals record with 24 made threes in Game 4 and shot 53% from deep. And it still fel the entire game that the Warriors were just one run away from making up the whole margin, as they did at the end of Game 3. It’s hard to expect Cleveland to put up an historic performance again tonight to stay alive.

Latest odds for tonight, if you’re into that sort of thing: Warriors are minus-9 and the total points are set at 231.5.

Flashback to last year’s Game 5: the Cavaliers won 112-97 in Oracle behind LeBron James and Kyrie Irving both scoring 41 points apiece. Performances like that could easily happen again.

What won’t happen again is this: Harrison Barnes won’t shoot 2-for-14. Because he’s not on the team anymore, of course. Kevin Durant is. That’s why the Warriors are still the heavy favorites.

And here’s your obligatory pregame post of Steph Curry sinking shots from just inside halfcourt with great ease.

If the enjoyment of watching the two best basketball teams in the world continue to play isn’t enough, root for a Game 6 to see the reception Draymond Green gets back in Cleveland after saying this:

Updated

Welcome to the liveblog of Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The somewhat unexpected liveblog of Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Thanks to the Cavaliers playing a nearly flawless Game 4 in Cleveland, what was a presumed sweep at 3-0 is now at a somewhat familiar sounding 3-1.

Please feel free to participate in tonight’s liveblog by e-mailing me at the address above or tweeting to me at @DJGalloEtc.

DJ will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Les Carpenter on the Cavaliers impressive victory in Game 4:

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still the NBA’s current champion with essentially the same team from last year’s title and it was particularly cruel they had to spend three days at home enduring a debate about whether these Golden State Warriors are the greatest team ever. What happened Friday night with Cleveland’s 137-116 Game 4 trampling of the Warriors shouldn’t be a surprise.

Did everyone really think Golden State – as good as they have played – are that much better than the Cavs?

The Warriors might have two of the game’s three top players, but LeBron James is still the best of his generation. And though he tried to pretend late Friday night that he missed all the chatter of about Golden State’s historical brilliance, he certainly picked up enough to carry a grudge as big as the arena into Game 4.

“Some of the other guys heard it and told me that they wanted to celebrate on our floor once again and they wanted to spray champagne in our locker room,” said James, who seemed specific on details despite his protests that he wasn’t listening to the talk about Golden State’s dominance.

You can read the full story here:

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