Warriors get even 2-2 in series

With a tactical surprice, Warriors get even 2-2 in series

Kerr starts Iguodala over Bogut, and small ball cashed in a must victory

CLEVELAND — The Warriors’ splash and fast tempo in the NBA Finals is back.
The gambit paid off Thursday, and coach Steve Kerr surprised everybody. He put the Warriors on an even series with a 103-82 Game win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In need for a fast offense to reappear and a must win, the Warriors placed struggling center Andrew Bogut on the bench and showed up with a starting lineup that included Andre Iguodala for the first time this season.

“This entire series it’s been them as the enforcers, them as the aggressors and us on our heels. We needed to reverse that,” said the Warriors’ Draymond Green, who started at center.

“Boom, Coach Kerr goes to the small lineup, and the complete flow of the game changed.”

The Warriors placed Iguodala as a defender to lock down Lebron James, who had scored the most points in Finals history after three games and to speed up the tempo with the offense.

Iguodala and Stephen Curry scored 22 points apiece and each hit four 3-pointers, while a bloodied James was held to 20 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists and was 7 for 22 from the field.

Timofey Mozgov led all scorers with 28 points for the Cavaliers, but the Warriors didn’t mind, as it was their small lineup that turned the tide.

“When we have that lineup out there in parts of the game, we were able to turn defensive stops into transition and just pick the tempo and the pace of the game up,” Curry said of Kerr. “It made sense when he told us because we’ve been getting off to such slow starts.”

“And if we do that from the jump, we thought we’d put pressure on them and not let them be so comfortable with the lead like they’ve had the last couple games.”

The Cavaliers scored the first seven points of the game, with James tossing a no-look pass over his shoulder to Mozgov for a dunk and Iman Shumpert hitting a 3-pointer.

Iguodala came to play! He led all scorers in the first quarter with nine points as the Warriors took a 31-24 lead.

Draymond Green snapped out of his struggles on offense by scoring 13 of his 17 points in the first half, scoring on a 3-point play to tie the score at 20, and beating his chest in excitement after falling to the floor when he drew the foul on Mozgov.

Green celebrated similarly after hitting a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 44-32. “I’m back,” Green screamed.

David Lee, also used at center, became the Warriors’ sixth man due to his impactful Game 3 performance that earned him more playing time.

Bogut played for 3 minutes, committed three fouls and sent an airborne James sprawling out of bounds, where he cut his head on a camera with 4:43 left in the second quarter.

James, after wrapping a towel over the bloody gash, remained in the game. He later required stitches and complained of a slight headache.

The Cavaliers were held to 33 percent shooting, including 4 for 27 from 3point range. They won the rebounding battle 49-44 but not decisively enough against the Warriors’ small lineup that wreaked havoc.

“Every playoff game is like a precious moment,” Iguodala said. “Every possession, every timeout. You’ve got to be locked in.”

Iguodala started the second half as well, but the Warriors couldn’t keep the momentum.

The Cavaliers went on a 12-2 run capped by James completing an alley-oop from Matthew Dellavedova to cut the Warriors’ lead to 65-62.

The Warriors went into the fourth quarter leading 76-70 after Curry’s 3pointer closed out the third. Curry pushed the ball off a rebound and fed Thompson for a layup to make it 80-70. The MVP’s runner made it a 12-point lead.

Said Curry: “It was about effort and consistent effort every possession.”
Iguodala’s third 3-pointer of the game made it 88-74.

“He’s one of the X-factors, and he came to play,” James said.