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 The banged-up Cavaliers, already down two starting players and
dealing with health issues to a few others, looked sluggish in
Thursday's loss to the Golden States Warriors that knotted the
best-of-seven NBA Finals at 2-2.
"The one thing we've been preaching the whole series is that we
wanted to wear them down," Warriors forward Draymond Green said
after Thursday's 103-83 win.
The Warriors did just that on Thursday as they played with a much
higher intensity level, contested shots, pounced on loose balls and
battled for rebounds en route to posting their highest regulation
point total of the NBA's championship series.
Feisty Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova went to hospital to be
treated for dehydration following Tuesday's Game Three and Iman
Shumpert is battling a painful shoulder bruise.
That is on top of losing All-Star guard Kyrie Irving in the opening
game of the Finals and Kevin Love early in the playoffs.
And on Thursday, Cleveland nearly lost the heart and soul of their
team when James crashed into a camera along the baseline, leaving
him with a headache and a bloody gash on his head that required
stitches.
Even James, one of the most competitive players in the NBA, needed
rest during key moments on Thursday's pivotal game.
After cutting a 12-point halftime deficit to six points in the
third, James needed a rest in the fourth. With Cleveland's best
player sitting, the Warriors restored their double-digit lead and
cruised to the most lopsided victory of the series.
"I was just hoping our team could just buy me a couple minutes,"
said James. "We weren't able to do that tonight in the fourth
quarter, and, I mean, it's difficult.
"You want to be out there, but also you don't want to be -- you want
to be effective while you're out there too. So they made a huge run,
and we just couldn't regather after that."
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During Thursday's game, the Cavaliers trainer was massaging the
cramped legs of both James and Dellavedova.
"(It) was the third game in five days, including the trip back from
the West Coast, and it seemed to have an impact on us," said
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt.
After playing three games in five days, players will enjoy a two-day
break before the series resumes on Sunday in Oakland where one team
will move one win away from snapping a decades-long title drought.
The Warriors are seeking their first NBA title in 40 years while the
Cavaliers are shooting for a maiden championship and the city of
Cleveland's first since the 1964 Browns of the National Football
League.
Now that the Warriors have seemed to solve the offensive woes that
dogged them in Game Two and Game Three losses, coupled with the
obvious fatigue plaguing the Cavaliers, the momentum has shifted
back in Golden State's favor.
"Maybe because it's our first trip to the Finals, we thought we can
just play hard -- but it's not just about playing hard," said
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said.
"It's about playing every single possession like it's your last. I
thought (last night) our effort took a step up. And that's why we
were able to win."
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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