The Golden State Warriors somehow withstood LeBron James‘ latest brilliance on the NBA Finals stage.
A costly blunder by J.R. Smith and a disputed foul call involving James himself sure helped.
Stephen Curry scored 29 points and the Warriors capitalized on Smith’s mistake that sent the game into overtime
Nathan Shepherd Color Rush Jersey , overcoming a 51-point performance by James to beat Cleveland 124-114 in Game 1 on Thursday night.
The game nearly over, James jawed with both Curry and Klay Thompson, then Tristan Thompson and Draymond Green tangled moments later and made contact. After replay review, Tristan Thompson received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection with 2.6 seconds left.
James was in utter disbelief as regulation ended stunningly: George Hill made the first of two free throws with 4.7 seconds left after being fouled by Klay Thompson, but when Smith secured the rebound of the second, he dribbled back toward halfcourt instead of shooting, apparently thinking the Cavs had a lead.
”He thought it was over. He thought we were up one,” coach Tyronn Lue said.
Yet Smith insisted he knew the score. Green figured Smith was simply looking for James, saying, ”I would have looked for LeBron, too.”
”I just thought we were going to call a timeout. Because I got the rebound, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t shoot it over KD
http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-saquon-barkley-jersey ,” Smith said of Kevin Durant. ”If I thought we were ahead, I would have just held on to the ball so they could foul me. Clearly that wasn’t the case.”
Instead, OT.
And why not? Both these teams were pushed to their limits in seven-game conference finals they each had to win on the road.
”I can’t talk about a situation that way because I do some dumb stuff on the court,” Durant said of how the fourth quarter finished. ”I don’t know what was going through J.R.’s head. He made a great rebound and gave them an opportunity to win the basketball game.”
Game 2 is Sunday night back at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors have won 18 of their last 19 postseason games. In 2015, when the Golden State beat the Cavs to capture the franchise’s first title in 40 years, the first two games of the series went to OT – Golden State winning the opener and Cleveland Game 2.
James shot 19 for 32 to go with eight assists and eight rebounds in the opener of his eighth straight NBA Finals and ninth overall, as well as Cavs-Warriors Take IV. James notched his eighth 40-point game during this playoff run to tie Hall of Famer Jerry West’s feat in 1965 for most in a single postseason.
”We’ve got to move on,” James said. ”This game is over and done with. We had opportunities.”
James drove past Curry for a three-point play with 50 seconds remaining in the fourth. But James was given a foul following a review with 36.4 seconds left and Durant converted a pair of free throws to tie it at 104.
The call had initially been a charge on 2017 finals MVP Durant and James protested the change – while KD said afterward he thought it was the right decision because ”I knew he was late on the drive and I knew I had my man beat and he came over a little late.”
James called it a ”huge play” and said ”I knew I was outside the charge line.”
”I read that play as well as I’ve read any play in my career, maybe in my life,” James said.
Rules allow officials to go to replay in the final 2 minutes of regulation or in overtime to determine if a defender attempting to draw a charge was in the restricted area. When doing so, they can view if the defender was in a legal guarding position. They decided James wasn’t and changed their original call.
Lue was disgusted to lose this way
http://www.coltsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-nyheim-hines-jersey , saying of the overturned call: ”It’s never been done, ever in the history of the game. And then tonight in the finals on the biggest stage, when our team played well, played our (butt) off, man, it ain’t right.”
Lue added that the way James played, ”to come up robbed, it’s just not right.”
Durant struggled to find his stroke but wound up with 26 points on 8-for-22 shooting and nine rebounds.
Golden State got a serious scare when Thompson went down after Smith slid hard into the Splash Brother’s left leg at the 6:17 mark of the first quarter. Thompson lay grimacing in pain then went to the locker room with what was called a bruised left leg that needed re-taping. He returned for the start of the second quarter to huge roars from the yellow-clad sellout crowd and scored 24 points. He and Curry each connected on five 3s.
Curry drained one of those way-out-there 3-pointers that have been hard to come by this postseason to beat the halftime buzzer and Golden State shot 13 for 36 from deep.
Kevin Love returned from a concussion to provide a big boost for Cleveland with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
The Warriors missed the defensive presence of 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, who was out for a fifth straight postseason game dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated ahead of Game 2.
Everybody expects another wild one with so much talent on both sides.
”It was a crazy game,” Curry said. ”… The finals, man, anything is liable to happen.”
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: James has 109 career 30-point games in the playoffs
Kareem Martin Color Rush Jersey , tying Michael Jordan for most ever. … Cleveland held a 19-4 advantage on the offensive glass, getting seven offensive rebounds in the first half to the Warriors’ none. … James’ first quarter: 4 for 4 with a 3-pointer, 12 points, three assists, a steal an Denard Span came to the plate in the eighth inning, knowing the situation was why the Seattle Mariners traded for him three weeks ago.
The veteran outfielder kept his cool and stroked a pinch-hit double that scored two runs, leading the Mariners to a 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Span, batting for Guillermo Heredia with one out, hit a liner to the right-field corner off Matt Barnes (0-2) after Ryon Healy walked and Ben Gamel singled to left.
”I just tried to stay calm as possible,” Span said. ”Kind of a calm angry. This is huge for me. I’m the new guy around here and I just want to help these guys as much as I can and feel like I’m one of them.”
The Mariners acquired Span and reliever Alex Colome from Tampa Bay on May 25.
”He’s a huge addition to our club,” said Seattle manager Scott Servais. ”He has so much experience in those situations, so he understands how to slow things down. We’re going to have a lot more situations like that this season.”
Ryan Cook (1-0) got the win with a scoreless eighth inning and Edwin Diaz earned his major league-leading 26th save by working the ninth.
But Rob Whalen
http://www.raidersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kolton-miller-jersey , who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday, was the difference, pitching four scoreless innings of relief.
”This team is unbelievable,” Whalen said. ”It felt like a World Series game out there tonight. I just wanted to do whatever I could to keep us in the game.”
It was the 20th time this season the Mariners have come from behind to win. Seattle is 22-10 in one-run games.
Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer as part of a six-run third inning that gave Boston a 6-3 lead, but a spectacular defensive play by Seattle second baseman Dee Gordon on a hard-hit ball up the middle by Bogaerts that ended the sixth inning kept the Red Sox from adding another run.
The Mariners led 3-0 when Boston sent 11 men to the plate and had six hits and walk to chase starter James Paxton. The Mariners also committed two errors in the inning.
record in three previous starts against the Red Sox. Five of the six runs against Paxton were earned. He also threw two wild pitches.
”Pax had good stuff tonight, we just didn’t help him,” Servais said. ”The defense was shaky early. Paxton has carried us this year, so it was nice to get him off the hook.”
Boston tied the game at 3 on four singles and an error by third basemen Kyle Seager, before Bogaerts hit his 11th home run.
”We had a good inning and got a lot of runs,” Bogaerts said. ”But that one big hit, seems like Span always does that against us. I remember when he did it at Tampa early on in the year. Same thing down the same line.”
Jean Segura gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he launched Rick Porcello’s fastball over the scoreboard in left field, a 420-foot shot. Seattle made it 3-0 in the second.
Mike Zunino knocked in two runs
Guillermo Heredia Seattle Mariners Jersey , including his 11th home run of the season to start the bottom of the seventh and cut it to 6-5 before Span came through one inning later.
”With him, you have to attack,” Boston manager Alex Cora said of Span. ”He keeps working the count. He’s a veteran guy. If you’re ahead, you have to bury him and we didn’t.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: LHP Drew Pomeranz (left biceps tendinitis) made some throws in the outfield Friday for the first time since going on the 10-day DL on June 5, retroactive to June 2.
Mariners: RHP Juan Nicasio (knee swelling) threw in the bullpen Friday and is expected to throw live batting practice Saturday. Servais said it’s possible Nicasio could come off the 10-day DL on Tuesday in New York when the Mariners start a three-game series with the Yankees. ”He just needs to get that inflammation out of his knee,” Servais said. … RHP Nick Vincent (groin strain) will throw in the bullpen Saturday.
FILIA RETURNS: The Red Sox returned minor league OF Eric Filia to the Mariners Friday after Filia failed his physical. Filia was the player to be named in the deal that sent LHP Roenis Elias to the Mariners on April 23. The Mariners completed the trade with cash considerations.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Steven Wright (2-0, 1.21) will take the longest active scoreless streak in baseball into Saturday’s game against the Mariners. Wright has thrown 22 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, including back-to-back scoreless starts when he went seven innings in a win against Detroit and 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision at Baltimore.
Mariners: Wade Leblanc (7-3, 4.26) will make his ninth start of the season Saturday. Leblanc has allowed only 11 earned runs in his previous eight starts for a 2.45 ERA. The Mariners are 6-2 in those games.
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