Stephen Curry and LeBron James had each just made clutch drives to the basket. Curry, who ended with 29 points, zipped by J.R. Smith and was fouled on his penetration and nailed the free throw give Golden State a one point lead, 107-106, with 23.5 seconds remaining.
LeBron, who notched a career playoff high 51 points, dribbled the ball until he found a cutting George Hill. Klay Thompson grabbed him and a foul was called with 4.7 seconds left. Hill stepped up to the line and tied the game on his first attempt. He then missed the go-ahead free throw.
J.R. Smith improbably grabbed the offensive rebound as Kevin Durant inexplicably found himself under the basket. Wide open for an easy putback, Smith dribbled out to center court. LeBron implored Smith to pass towards the basket and even tried to call timeout. Belatedly, Smith passed to Hill, who didn't have to time to release a proper shot. The game went into overtime where Golden State blitzed Cleveland, winning 124-114 to take Game 1.
Cleveland and Golden State are meeting for the fourth straight NBA Finals. Both teams needed Game 7 wins on the road after each trailed the conference finals 3-2. Cleveland traded away several key players for mostly untested talent in return in the middle of the regular season. Head Coach Ty Lue then decided not to trust the new acquisitions. Only LeBron's greatness pushed the Cavs past Indiana in 7, Toronto in 4, and Boston in 7 to return to the Finals.
Golden State limped through the regular year, finishing second behind the Houston Rockets in the West. Their bench proved weaker than in years past and the Warriors often looked disinterested and beatable. They trailed by double digits in both Games 6 and 7 against Houston only to win both and try for their third title in four years.
Cleveland was surprisingly competitive early in Game 1. The Cavs took a one point lead heading into the second quarter and Klay Thompson, Game 6 hero against Houston, sustained a leg injury in the first quarter when J.R. Smith rolled onto him.Thompson would come back and scored 24 points while making half his shots.
Only a deep Curry three at the buzzer sent the game into a halftime tied. Golden State had its customary explosive third quarter to take a six point lead into the fourth. The fourth went back and forth when Smith made his crushing mistake.
Thirty four years earlier, Derek Harper dribbled out the clock in Game 4 of the Western Conference semis with the scored tied. The Lakers beat Harper's Mavs in overtime. Golden State's Shaun Livingston made sure history would repeat itself. The reserve scored 6 of his 10 points in the extra period.
Kevin Durant struggled shooting, scoring 26 points while making just 36.4% of his field goals. Jeff Green defended him especially well. Draymond Green was one assist shy of a triple double. For Cleveland, the only non-LeBron players to score in double figures were Kevin Love (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Smith (10 points). Larry Nance Jr. added 9 points and 11 boards in his first Finals game.
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