In a series pitting a team that last won an NBA Championship 40 years ago and the other one never having won at all, the previous winner prevailed in overtime, with the Golden State Warriors winning 108 to 100 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to a report from espn.go.com, NBA MVP Stephen Curry led the home team with 26 points and 8 assists as his team had to overcome Cavs' LeBron James' 44-point effort. The Warriors had to rally from 14 points down to eventually hold the Cavaliers scoreless in the extra five minutes of the game. Curry said in the post-game interview, "It was a classic five minutes that we needed to get that win."
Once the Warriors were able to catch up with the Cavaliers after a slow start, the game became tight with 13 lead changes and 11 ties in the game. The team's percentages were nearly identical, with the Warriors shooting at 44.3 percent and the Cavs at 41.5 percent. The rebounding was also close, with the Warriors edging the Cavs 48 to 45 and 24 to 19 in the assists department.
Other major contributors to the Warriors' win were the 21 points from Klay Thompson, 12 points form Draymond Green, and 11 points from Harrison Barnes. The bench was also a major factor with Mareese Speights, who was coming out of a calf injury and contributed 8 points. Andre Iguodala, who spent most of the night hounding James, put in 15 points. One highlight was Iguodala making a corner three with just one shoe on, according to a report from sports.yahoo.com.
One sore note to the game was the Cavs' all-star guard Kyrie Irving reinjuring his left knee after a brilliant game where he scored 23 points with 7 boards and 6 assists. His major contribution was blocking what seemed to be the go ahead basket from Curry as time expired in regulation, according to another report from sports.yahoo.com.
