Stephen Curry put his stamp on the NBA Finals with 17 fourth quarter points in a 104-91 win over the Cavaliers that left the Golden State Warriors one victory away from the team’s first NBA Championship in 40 years.
GAME LEADERS
Stephen Curry put his stamp on the NBA Finals with 17 fourth quarter points in a 104-91 win over the Cavaliers that left the Golden State Warriors one victory away from the team’s first NBA Championship in 40 years.
Curry’s heroics were part of a classic fourth quarter showdown with LeBron James. Cleveland played through their star on seemingly every possession, and James responded with a 16-point fourth quarter of his own, but it was Curry with the last laugh on this beautiful Sunday evening at Oracle Arena. The 2014-15 NBA MVP closed the game on a tear, scoring 12 of the Warriors’ final 13 points to finish up a 37-point, seven-rebound performance.
A back-and-forth battle all night, Curry put the Warriors in front for good with one of his seven 3-pointers with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter. That shot, which was the 20th lead change of the game, immediately followed a deep 3-pointer from James that had temporarily put the Cavs in front. In addition, that Curry trey ignited a 12-4 Warriors run that had the Warriors up by seven, their largest lead of the game up to that point.
But the signature play of the game – and perhaps the series – was a step-back Curry 3-pointer that followed a flashy dribbling display while being guarded by Cleveland’s Matthew Dellavedova. That shot, with 2:44 left in the game, sent the Oracle Arena crowd into an absolute frenzy, and the Warriors cruised to the victory from there.