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 Soon, the rest of the country might be chanting with the
Cleveland fans.
Already a four-time winner of the league's most prestigious
individual award, James perhaps announced his candidacy for a fifth
trophy by scoring a season-high 42 points in the Cleveland
Cavaliers' impressive 110-99 takedown of Steph Curry and the Golden
State Warriors.
James went largely unnoticed this season while Curry and Houston
guard James Harden commanded most of the attention, but Cleveland's
star forward played with a purpose Thursday despite yet again
refusing to dive into the politics of the debate.
"That's not about me," James said. "I've got to be the MVP for these
guys, 14 guys in this locker room."
He was, despite battling a stiff back. James outscored and outplayed
Curry on Thursday, scoring more points than both Splash Brothers
combined. Curry scored 18 points and guard Klay Thompson had 13 for
the Warriors, who lost for the second time in three games. Golden
State hadn't dropped two games this close together since Christmas.
 "We're not going to win every game," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
"This is the NBA. I don't look at this like a plague or anything.
It's just part of the grind of the season."
Curry managed just six points after the first quarter and shot
1-for-9 in the second half while missing his last six shots. Curry's
final shot was indicative of his evening: an airball in the final
minute when the outcome already was decided. With the entire country
watching, Curry's MVP candidacy took at least a little ding.
"I hope it's not handed out on this one game," said Curry, who
finished 5-for-17 from the floor. "I hope it's about the body of
work. Tonight just wasn't my best game. Shots that I normally make
didn't fall tonight."
Cavs guard Kyrie Irving scored 24 points, but left the game briefly
in the third quarter with a left shoulder injury. He returned for
the fourth, but he did not travel with the team to Indiana for
Friday's game against the Pacers. He instead will have an MRI exam
on the shoulder Friday morning and is listed as doubtful for Friday
night's game.
"It's a little sore right now," Irving said. "Obviously, it's
uncomfortable. We'll see how it feels tomorrow."
The Cavs opened a 16-point lead in the third quarter, the Warriors'
deepest deficit in more than three weeks. The Dallas Mavericks led
by 22 against them, but in another sign of the Warriors' might,
Curry scored 51 points and Golden State still won that night by 14.
Not this time.
Forward Kevin Love had 16 points and eight rebounds, and center
Timofey Mozgov had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs (37-22).
Center Tristan Thompson had 12 points and eight rebounds off the
bench.
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Forward David Lee scored 19 points off the bench for the Warriors
(44-11), while forward Draymond Green had 16 points, eight rebounds
and five steals.
The teams also met in early January, but it was Mozgov's first game
with the Cavs and guard J.R. Smith's second. James and guard Iman
Shumpert were both injured, yet the Cavs still remained competitive
until the final minutes, when the Warriors finally blew it open.
The Cavs are so far improved from that version, however, Kerr said
he didn't even bother watching the film from that game in
preparation for Thursday.
Cleveland commanded this game essentially from start to finish and
had a chance in the final minute to match the Warriors' biggest loss
of the season (14 points). Still, none of the players in the home
locker room sounded much interested in a larger meaning of the win.
"We really don't want to send a message to anybody, we just want to
keep impressing ourselves," Smith said. "I'm sure the rest of the
league is looking at it like, 'Oh my God, they just beat arguably
the best team in the league.' But we feel as though we're the best
team."
NOTES: Warriors G Klay Thompson and Cavs F Kevin Love were childhood
friends because their families were close. They even played on the
same Little League All-Star teams. Both of their fathers are also
former NBA players. ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked if he
ever misses sitting on the sideline and calling games like this one
for television as he used to do. "I had a cup of coffee with Marv
Albert today and 30 minutes with Marv is plenty," Kerr joked. "Two
hours on a telecast was way too much. I hope somebody sends that to
TNT." ... Cavs F LeBron James did not want to get back into comments
he made previously about his 10-year-old son, LeBron James Jr.,
already getting the attention of college scouts. "My son is going to
be a kid as long as he can be. That's all he needs to worry about,"
James said.
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