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LeBron started the game incredibly aggressive tonight, knocking down his first four shots en route to 13 first quarter points as the Cavs and Warriors were exchanging baskets the whole way. Stephen Curry also got off to a good start for Golden State, putting up 12 first quarter points with three triples. Neither team’s lead exceeded four points, and after 12 minutes of play, Golden State led Cleveland 33-32. Kyrie Irving also had a solid start with nine points.
The second quarter started with the Cavs making their first run at 11-2 to take a 43-37 lead. The Warriors quickly answered back to tie the game. After some more baskets by both teams, Steve Kerr got his league-leading eighth technical foul as he felt his players were getting hacked and not getting the calls. That ignited the Cavalier crowd, helping them score 10 points in the final two minutes of the half and Cleveland would take a 61-56 lead at the half.
LeBron James and the Cavs came out firing in the third quarter with a 16-3 run to blow the game open with a 77-61 advantage. They held Golden State scoreless for a four minute stretch that allowed Cleveland to get the separation. That lead held until Klay Thompson his back-to-back three-pointers in a 40 second period to get the Warriors within 10. The Cavs led 90-78, and LeBron James had 38 of the Cavaliers’ 90 after three quarters of play. After Kyrie went to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury, Jason Lloyd reported on Irving’s status:
Word from #Cavs: Kyrie Irving will return. Shoulder just got bumped.
— Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) February 27, 2015
The Cavaliers and Warriors benches exchanged baskets to start the fourth until Cleveland went on a mini 9-4 run to take a 14-point lead. Golden State didn’t get any closer than 11 points the rest of the way, as LeBron James capped a great night with a left-hand floater in the post over Draymond Green to give him a season-high 42 points. It was the 55th time LeBron has scored 40+ points in a game. Kevin Love followed that up with his third three-pointer of the night as Cleveland defeated Golden State 110-99.
Cavs continue their dominant play:
• 10th straight win against Western Conference teams
• 11th straight win at home pic.twitter.com/OWuhFX07w3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 27, 2015
Along with his season-high 42 points, LeBron James had 11 rebounds, five assists, and 3 steals. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points despite briefly leaving the game with soreness in his shoulder. Kevin Love had 16 points and eight rebounds. Timofey Mozgov had 10 points and 10 rebounds. J.R. Smith struggled again shooting just 1-5 from the field for just four points. Tristan Thompson had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Cavaliers held Stephen Curry to 18 points on 5-17 shooting and Klay Thompson to 13 points on 5-13 shooting. Both hit three three-pointers apiece while Draymond Green had 16 points (no threes), Harrison Barnes had 11 points (three threes), and David Lee (no threes) had 19 points off the bench.
Cleveland outrebounded Golden State 51-44, but were more than doubled up in the assist column (32 for GSW to 15 for CLE).
Cleveland’s got a quick turnaround as they head to Indiana tomorrow night for a rematch with the Pacers. Last time they played Indiana, Cleveland lost 103-99 and their 12-game winning streak came to a halt. The game tips off at 4:30 PM EST.
Click “Next” for all of today’s top plays and highlights!
Here are the highlights from tonight’s game:
Here, we take a look at Kyrie Irving’s impressive two-handed slam!
Kyrie Irving throws it up to Tristan Thompson:
LeBron James caught fire in the third quarter: