By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Draymond Green had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists, Shaun Livingston scored a personal postseason best of 20 and Golden State’s bench came up big as the Warriors beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89 on Thursday night to move three wins from a repeat title.
The duo of Steph Curry and Clay Thompson scored just 20 points on 8-for-27 shooting, each knocking down a late 3-pointer.
Golden State’s bench outscored the Cavs’ reserves 45-10 in the opener of this Finals rematch, which the Warriors reached even with Curry missing six games with injuries this postseason.
“When you get outscored 45-10 on the bench and give up 25 points off 17 turnovers, no matter what someone does or doesn’t do, it’s going to be hard to win, especially on the road,” James said. “Don’t matter what you do with Steph and Klay, don’t matter what you do with Draymond.”
Leandro Barbosa returned from a minor back injury to shoot 5-for-5 on the way to 11 points, while 2015 Finals MVP Iguodala had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and played some stingy defense on James.
James kicked off his sixth straight Finals with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists, but cold-shooting Cleveland went 38.1 percent from the floor. Kyrie Irving, lost to a devastating knee injury in a Game 1 overtime defeat last year, scored 26 points, 11 on free throws.