NBA Finals Game 5: Golden State Warriors Win Championship Over Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship 129-120. The Warriors were up 3-1 and are looking to finish series Monday night for their second NBA Championship in three years. The Cavaliers had basically a near perfect game in Game 4 to force a Game 5. But, the Warriors were too strong down the stretch and despite a valiant effort by the Cavaliers, the Warriors overcame all of their efforts.
Cavaliers Led at the End of the First Quarter 37-33
LeBron James scored 16 points and had three rebounds. Kyrie Irving also had a good quarter as well scoring 12 points. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 11 points and 12 points respectively. The Cavaliers shot 61% in the first quarter.
Warriors Crushed in Second Quarter and Led 71-60 at Half-Time
In the second quarter James had an athletic dunk while being fouled in the head by Kevin Durant. The Warriors began to shoot better and took the lead. In addition, the Warriors defense stepped up and put more pressure on James and Irving.
With 3 minutes left in the half, David West shoved Irving, Tristan Thompson stepped in to protect his teammate. J.R. Smith and Thompson given technicals with West acting as bench player agitator also assessed technical.
The Warriors bench outscored the Cavaliers bench 19-2 in the first half. Kevin Love scored no points in the first half. The Warriors had a 17 point lead after being down eight points. They ended up leading by 11 at halftime.
At halftime, Durant scored 21 points, Curry had 20 points and Draymond Green had eight points. All three players had two fouls each. For the Cavaliers, James had 21 points, Irving had 16 points and Smith had 13 points. Thompson had only three rebounds reverting to the first three games production.
Second Half All Warriors Despite Strong Efforts by Smith and Cavaliers
James scored 41 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Irving added 26 points and Smith had 25 points. Love only had six points, but added 10 rebounds. Thompson only had eight rebounds. The game was won by the 39 points by Durant, 34 by Curry, 11 by Klay Thompson and 10 by Green.
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