LeBron James has triple-double as Cleveland Cavaliers level NBA Finals
Monday 8 June 2015 13:19, UK
LeBron James produced a masterful display with a triple-double to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to victory over the Golden State Warriors and level the NBA Finals at 1-1.
James finished with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists and Cleveland found a new hero in Matthew Dellavedova as they outlasted the Warriors 95-93 in overtime.
The Warriors were 47-3 this season at the Oracle Arena but now need to claim a win in Cleveland to regain home advantage after the league's MVP Stephen Curry had a rare night to forget.
Curry shot five-for-23 from the floor, missing 13 three-point shots, and had six turnovers but Klay Thompson kept the Warriors in the game with 34 points.
However it was James who made all the difference, playing more than 50 minutes as Cleveland struggled to keep players fresh in the absence of injured point guard Kyrie Irving. James spent a matter of seconds on the bench all night.
Irving had surgery on his knee in Cleveland on Saturday to join sidelined starters Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao, both of whom had already been lost for the season.
The Cavaliers led by 11 points with just over three minutes remaining in regulation time, but Curry broke an 18-minute scoring drought with a three-pointer and start a rally that saw them tie the game with seven seconds left.
James and Tristan Thompson missed chances to win the game and Cleveland fell 93-92 behind when Curry hit two free throws 29.5 seconds from the end of overtime.
Draymond Green blocked James on a layup attempt but the Cavs kept possession and Dellavedova was fouled as he grabbed the rebound and, with the home crowd almost deafening in their booing, made two free throws to put them back in front.
Curry air-balled a jump shot to try and win the game for the Warriors, and James made another free throw after he was fouled, extending the lead to two points and giving Iman Shumpert the chance to force a turnover and win the game.
"It's the grit squad right now," James said. "If you expect us to play sexy cute basketball, that's not us right now. Everything is tough and it has to be that for rest of series."
Curry added: "Shots I normally make I knew as soon as they left my hand that they were off. That doesn't usually happen. Mechanically, I don't know if there is an explanation for it, just didn't have a rhythm and didn't find one the whole game."
Game three in the best-of-seven series takes place in Cleveland on Tuesday.
