End of 1st Quarter: Warriors Keeping Cavs at Arms Length

The Cavaliers once again got the game within four points thanks to some hustle plays from LeBron James and J.R. Smith and another 3-pointer from Kevin Love.

With Stephen Curry and Draymond Green sitting down for a rest at that point, and with Klay Thompson already on the bench with foul trouble, the hopes of a Cleveland run took a bit of a hit when Nick Young, perhaps Golden State’s worst player in these finals, hit a wide-open 3-pointer. A midrange jumper by Kevin Durant, some terrific defense by Shaun Livingston and another 3-pointer by Andre Iguodala and Golden State’s lead was back to 11.

In the final minute of the quarter, there was a flurry of activity on both ends, but the only score came on a tough layup from LeBron James, which left Cleveland down nine going into the second.

Cleveland didn’t let a few big runs from Golden State push them completely out of the game, but with the Warriors’ shooters appearing to have cured their woes, the early-going of this game heavily favors the series ending tonight. For that to not happen, James is going to need to show way more offense and he needs to do it quickly.

Marc Stein: The Warriors have won five consecutive playoff games despite falling short of their well-chronicled nightly goal of completing 300 passes. We won’t have the full passing picture until after the game, but they are surely on pace to get back into the 300s tonight given how crisply the ball is moving. Golden State had seven assists on 13 made baskets in the opening quarter. Six 3s for the visitors hasn’t hurt, either.

1st Quarter: Warriors Find Stroke From 3-Point Range

After the timeout, Andre Iguodala got the Warriors going again with a wide-open corner 3-pointer. Golden State then got 3-pointers from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green as well, taking advantage of any open shots they can find (Curry created his himself by just stopping in transition to shoot) and when a Kevin Durant dunk pushed the Warriors’ lead back to 24-13, Tyronn Lue again called a timeout.

Considering Golden State’s poor shooting in Game 3, they were no lock to focus on the deep ball in Game 4, but they appear to have retained their confidence in their shooters. And if Cleveland is going to leave Iguodala and Green open all game, those veterans will take advantage of the situation.