While the Warriors didn't surpass their National Basketball Association record of 73 regular-season from 2016 (they settled for 67 this year), they still had the NBA's best regular-season record.
They better be after their Game 4 flop in Cleveland.
However, the Cavaliers had other plans.
The Cavaliers won Saturday's game 137-116 and cut the series deficit to 3-1. After scoring 49 points in the first quarter of Game 4, the Cavs are out to a 22-18 lead midway through the first quarter Monday night.
The Warriors dominated their two previous home games in the series, winning 113-91 and 132-113. J.R. Smith was arguably the only player to arrive before Game 4, and he repeated his solid showing in Game 3 on the offensive end while holding Klay Thompson to just 13 points after he exploded for 30 the night before. "Talking trash or knocking guys on the floor, whatever you got to do, you got to do it".
"There's not one possession where I come down where I'm not getting hit or hitting somebody, and that's just the physicality of the finals", he said. "I thought the first two games [we] were being too nice". Against a team as stout as Golden State, with all that firepower, that seems unlikely.
The Warriors captured the 2015 title in Cleveland with a 105-97 victory in Game 6. And then he gets an open shot and he just shoots all day. "You can do a lot of different things", said Ron Adams, the Warriors' defensive guru on coach Steve Kerr's staff.
Kevin Durant (right) in the Nike KD10.
After leading from start to finish in game four, the Cavaliers began aggressively Monday as well.
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Andy Blankenbuehler won his second choreography Tony in as many years - last year for " Hamilton " and this time for "Bandstand". In the highly competitive drama category, " Oslo ", a three-hour play about the 1993 Middle East peace accords by J.
Curry, who laced up a mostly white pair of the Under Armour Curry 4 on Monday, scored 34 points on 10-of-20 shooting. He had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in the clincher.
Speaking on ESPN and BT Sport, he added: "I've got the best job in the world, these guys are so gifted, so committed to each other and so unselfish". Game 4 was one of those nights where his mediocre defense slipped to liability status. If Golden State closes out the series Monday, Durant will be the overwhelming favorite to take home the Finals MVP award.
Durant is the odds-on favorite to win the series MVP award should the Warriors prevail. "We can't worry about what happens after the game", Durant said.
Last season it was the Cleveland Cavaliers who took the crown, digging out of a 3-1 Finals lead before claiming the throne. Golden State won the championship in 2015 and Cleveland took the title past year.
That present will include Draymond Green, certainly the most vocal addition to Game 5 from a year ago. West shoved Irving to pick up a technical foul, then went chest-to-chest with Tristan Thompson. Steph Curry followed with a deep 3 of his own to get the Warriors rolling on a 21-2 run. Before that, Irving had never made even six in a playoff game.
Go back and trace his Finals past year. But would they ever go so far as to try to influence the outcome in order to generate that result?
LeBron James is probably on his way to losing his fifth Finals in eight tries.
Not since 1996 had a team up 3-0 failed to sweep in the final. But the Warriors bench has been the difference through three quarters. "He's attacking early. Not messing around with it too much". However, it would be beyond ignorant to count his presumptive loss in the 2017 Finals as a black mark on his record.
LeBron is now averaging a triple-double in the NBA Finals against arguably the most stacked team in the history of basketball. They will be able to hoist a trophy that can, at least in part, make up for their disappointing defeat last season. LeBron James has 27 points, but has played 35 of the 36 minutes. The Warriors have three of the 17, trailing the San Francisco 49ers (five) and Oakland Athletics (four).
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