CLEVELAND, Ohio – The NBA Finals return to Oakland tied at two games apiece after the Golden State Warriors finally slowed LeBron James in beating the Cavaliers 103-82 in Thursday night’s Game 4.
It was a rough night for James, who finished two assists shy of a triple-double for the second straight game but shot 7-of-22, suffered a cut on his head late in the second quarter, and a pre-game “wardrobe malfunction.” He was scoreless in the fourth quarter as Golden State pulled away and finished with less than half the 41 points he had been averaging during the series.
Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry scored 22 points apiece. Draymond Green rebounded from his poor play with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Warriors avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.
They will host Game 5 on Sunday night (8:00 p.m./ABC6).
Timofey Mozgov finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds against the Warriors’ small lineup, but the Cavaliers couldn’t overcome miserable shooting by Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, who combined to score just 19 points on 7-of-35 shooting.
The Warriors enjoyed a 12-point halftime lead before the Cavaliers cut the margin to 73-70 by the final minute of the third quarter. Curry drained a 3-pointer in the waning moments of the third period, igniting a 9-0 run that gave Golden State a comfortable 12-point advantage. The Warriors led by double-digits the rest of the way.