Warriors 108-81, 1:40, 4th quarter
The Warriors are already celebrating on the sidelines. The b-squads get their final licks in here. Kevon Looney scores for Golden State. Cedi Osman, in for LeBron, digs in a Jose Calderon assist. Zaza Pachulia makes some free throws….
Warriors 104-79, 2:47, 4th quarter
Rodney Hood makes a layup assisted by Kyle Korver, mostly invisible for most of this series. Durant finishes up his scoring with a final layup. Korver misses one more time for the road. Klay Thompson has the ball and Steve Kerr is going to pull his starters here, it looks like.
Exit LeBron
Warriors 102-77, 4:03, 4th quarter
And LeBron is out. Everyone here stands up to applaud as they should. He gets “MVP” chants,” and he’s definitely been the best player in this postseason if not, sadly for Cleveland, these Finals.
Warriors 102-77, 5:06, 4th quarter
Even more unfair? Curry hits another three-pointer. That might seal things up, MVP-wise. LeBron finally scores here again.
Warriors 99-74, 6:19, 4th quarter
Warriors take a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Draymond Green comes in with a layup. This is just unfair.
Email from Nicholas Bonnell:
Dubs fan here. Hope LeBron plays for Pop next year with Kawhi. Multiple games vs Warriors and Tickets would be fun.
Seems doubtful but who knows where he’s going next at this point.
Warriors 97-74 Cavaliers, 7:04, 4th quarter
Nance makes a free throw. On the other end, Andre Iguodala makes an emphatic dunk. The Warriors are not putting the breaks on.
On the other end, Durant blocks Hood. Just domination.
Warriors 95-73 Cavaliers, 8:58, 4th quarter
Steph Curry gets fouled in the act of shooting a three. He makes all three on the line. LeBron comes back into the game, maybe for the last time as a Cavalier
Rodney Hood’s still playing here, he completes an old fashioned three-point play.
Warriors 92-70 Cavaliers, 9:45, 4th quarter
George Hill hits a three pointer, which is then answered by Steph Curry, aiming for that Finals MVP trophy.f
Warriors 89-67 Cavaliers, 11:11, 4th quarter
Rodney Hood starts the 4th with a layup. Curry hits a three pointer in the next Warriors possession, though.
Warriors 86-65 Cavaliers, 12:00, 4th quarter
“I see Cleveland checked out by the third quarter.” Well I’d like to say I was surprised here, but these Finals felt over before Game 4 began and despite the Cavaliers’ impressive second quarter, the Warriors adjusted and completely stifled them in the third. And we’re basically done here.
Warriors 86-65 Cavaliers, end of the 3rd quarter
Shaun Livingston adds to the Golden State third quarter total by making two free throws. Holy heck.
Warriors 84-65 Cavaliers, 2:12, 3rd quarter
LeBron is automatic on the line, at least, making the two free throws he’s given. It feels like he’s not entirely present here. The Warriors get the ball, and three straight rebounds, before Klay Thompson hits one from three.
There’s really no reason to play this upcoming quarter, is there?
Warriors 81-63 Cavaliers, 3:00, 3rd quarter
Durant goes to the line, makes both of his free fhrows. The Warriors bring in some of their bench players.
Warriors 79-63 Cavaliers, 3:39, 3rd quarter
The Third Quartering has begun, and the Warriors may not even need it. Thompson makes a long two and Ty Lue calls a timeout for Cleveland.
Warriors 77-63 Cavaliers, 4:58, 3rd quarter
LeBron finds Jeff Green for a layup, but Curry responds by making a shot of his own (assisted by Green).
Rodney Hood makes a three-pointer for Cleveland, but we might already be in “too late” territory here.
Warriors 75-58 Cavaliers, 5:52, 3rd quarter
There’s a foul on Durant… but J.R. Smith manages to get a technical foul here. Yeah this isn’t happening. Curry makes the tech. Klay Thompson buries a three. Yeah it’s damn quiet right now in Cleveland.
Warriors 71-58 Cavaliers, 7:00, 3rd quarter
Out of the timeout, Kevin Durant hits a jumper. LeBron attempts a three in response, and it’s no good. That feels like the game.
Warriors 69-58 Cavaliers, 7:50, 3rd quarter
Welp. Durant easily scores a long jumper, like it’s nothing. The Warriors miss their next two shots though and after LeBron finds Love near the basket for an easy score, the Warriors take a timeout.
Warriors 67-56 Cavaliers, 9:18, 3rd quarter
It could take just one Warriors run to effectively end the Cavaliers season. We talked about getting to the basket, well that was three straight rebounds there for Golden State.
Bad news for the Warriors: they get two straight fouls. LeBron gets to the line and makes both free throws. Hill tries to get one of those three pointers…. not a great decision, but Love tips it in.
Warriors 67-52 Cavaliers, 10:16, 3rd quarter
McGee somehow manages to finagle a Curry miss into a basket and Cleveland take a desperation timeout.
Warriors 65-52 Cavaliers, 10;54, 3rd quarter
Klay hits the first basket of the second half and Steph Curry adds one of his own.
Second half starts!
Warriors 61-52 Cavaliers, 12:00, 3rd quarter
And we’re back. Warriors are two quarters away from another championship.
And back! One of the key things for the Cavaliers has been scoring around the rim. They’ve been doing great there. The problem, of course, is that those shots aren’t worth as much as those long-distance shots the Warriors are making. It might just be a simple math problem here.
Halftime thoughts
The Cavaliers are pulling every rabbit out of their hat here, but at the end of the first half, the Warriors have a pretty solid lead. It feels like Cleveland is going to need to pull off a trick or two to steal this one but it’s still within reach. Considering how they looked the first few minutes, it felt like this one could have been over awhile ago.
We’ll be back here shortly to prepare for the second half.
End of the first half
Warriors 61-52 Cavaliers, end of the 1st half
Disaster for Cleveland. Steph Curry unleashes a three pointer to end the first half.
Warriors 58-52 Cavaliers, 15.5 seconds, 2nd quarter
Durant adds to the Warriors lead on the free throw line, making two of them. Oh wow, McGee gets his 9th block of the half by coming out of nowhere to reject Smith’s shot. Golden State takes a timeout.
Warriors 56-52 Cavaliers, 1:20, 2nd quarter
JaVale is the Wild Card this series, it seems. He immediately answers Cleveland’s shot but J.R. Smith, who is just a Wild Card in general, hits a three pointer.
Warriors 54-49 Cavaliers, 1:50, 2nd quarter
Out of the timeout, Durant misses a three pointer. The Cavs get the ball back, Love tries a three… that’s all air. Green scores for the Warriors.
On the other end, Tristan Thompson responds.
Warriors 52-47 Cavaliers, 2:50, 2nd quarter
LeBron gets to the line, where he hits one of two free throws. And, oh hey, Steph Curry hits another three pointer. That’s not great for Cleveland. Speaking of not great for Cleveland: George Hill. He misses two straight free throws and gets called for a foul. Warriors take a timeout.
Warriors 49-46 Cavaliers, 3:54, 2nd quarter
Warriors get the ball back on a questionable call (well LeBron is questioning it, at least) and Andre Iguodala hits a three pointer. Love misses on the Cavs end. Curry gets to the hoop on the Warrirors end and you can tell that momentum has shifted.
Or not. J.R. Smith cares not for your narratives, hitting a three pointer to make it a one poses sin game.
Warriors 44-43 Cavaliers, 5:32, 2nd quarter
Cavs’ defense completely falters, allowing a Bell layup on the other end. LeBron responds with a jumper. Warriors’ ball, Durant gets fouled by Nance. He makes both free throws. One point game, Golden State with the advantage.
Warriors 40-41 Cavaliers, 6:27, 2nd quarter
Well the lead was fun while it lasted. Green finds Jordan Bell, who makes a layup for the Warriors after the timeout.
BUT Nance, having the game of his life, responds with a dunk
