OAKLAND: Stephen Curry scored 29 points and Kevin Durant added 26 to power defending champion Golden State over the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-114 in overtime Thursday in the NBA Finals opener.
LeBron James scored a playoff career-high 51 points in a losing cause as the Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series, which continues Sunday in Oakland.
Golden State’s Klay Thompson added 24 points and Draymond Green contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and three blocked shots.
Green taunted Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson to spark a shoving incident in the final seconds of overtime that figures to carry over in the emotional fourth consecutive finals between the Cavaliers and Warriors.
Golden State won the 2015 and 2017 crowns. The Cavs took the 2016 title.
Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James scored seven points in a 10-2 run that gave Cleveland a 104-102 lead with 50.8 seconds remaining — a layup, dunk and 3-point play by James plus a Love 3-pointer.
Durant was whistled for a charging call but it was overturned on video review into a blocking foul on James and Durant equalized with two free throws at 104-104.
James answered inside but Curry drove for a layup, got fouled by Love and sank the free throw for a 107-106 Golden State lead with 23.5 seconds in regulation time.
George Hill was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining but missed the second and the game went to overtime.
Golden State dominated the extra five minutes, starting it with a 9-0 run. Klay Thompson hit two 3-pointers and Durant another to seal Cleveland’s fate.
In the final seconds, Green waved bye to Tristan Thompson after a foul and had the ball shoved in his face as players gathered to keep the two apart as Thompson was ejected and tempers were tested.
The Warriors seek their third title in four seasons and sixth overall.
James is playing in his eighth consecutive finals and ninth overall seeking his fourth career title and the second for the Cavs.
Physical intensity was on display from the start, with Cleveland’s J.R. Smith slipping and falling into Klay Thompson, forcing the Warriors guard to the locker room for a spell in the first quarter with a bruised left leg.
James drove to the hoop in the second quarter only to have Green deliver a left hand to the face that sent James to the floor clutching his face. Green was whistled for a technical foul.
The Warriors closed the first half on a 16-5 run and began the third quarter with a 10-3 spurt for a 66-59 edge.
But James scored seven consecutive points, capping the run with a 3-pointer, to pull the Cavs level at 68-68 with 5:27 remaining in the third, James hitting 11 of his first 13 shots.
Golden State answered moments later with a 14-4 run, Curry and Thompson sinking 3-pointers and Durant’s six points including a slam dunk to cap the spurt as the Warriors led 84-78 entering the fourth quarter.
Curry sank a 38-foot running 3-pointer at the half-time buzzer to lift the Warriors level at 56-56 after Cleveland had led by as much as 49-40 in the second quarter.
James had 24 points in the first half while Curry led the Warriors with 18.
Warriors outlast Cavaliers in overtime to win NBA Finals opener
Warriors outlast Cavaliers in overtime to win NBA Finals opener
- Golden State won the 2015 and 2017 crowns while the Cavaliers took the 2016 title
- James is playing in his eighth consecutive finals and ninth overall seeking his fourth career title and the second for the Cavaliers
Ruthless Sinner subdues Fonseca to reach Indian Wells quarter-finals
- Sinner will face another fast-rising youngster in 20-year-old Learner Tien of the United States for a place in the semifinals
INDIAN WELLS, United States: Four-time major champion Jannik Sinner edged talented Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) in a scintillating Stadium Court clash on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.
The first meeting between the world number two Sinner and the big-hitting 19-year-old lived up to expectations, the fireworks sparking a raucous response from a crowd packed with enthusiastic Brazilian fans.
Sinner will face another fast-rising youngster in 20-year-old Learner Tien of the United States for a place in the semifinals.
Fonseca went toe-to-toe with the Italian in a tense first set but was unable to convert his lone break chance and Sinner failed to capitalize on two.
A couple of uncharacteristic Sinner errors helped Fonseca power to a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker, but the Italian responded, denying one set point with an ace to launch a run of five straight points that sealed the set.
Sinner looked headed to a comfortable victory with a break for 4-2 in the second, but Fonseca wasn’t about to go quietly.
He broke Sinner to love in the ninth game and held for 5-5 as they went to a second tiebreaker.
An ace gave Fonseca a 4-3 lead in the decider, but Sinner surged home with four straight points, polishing off the win with a masterful forehand service return.
“I felt like trying to be as aggressive as possible was the key,” said Sinner, who is chasing a first title in the prestigious Masters 1000 event in the California desert.
“Joao’s an incredible talent, very powerful from both sides. He was serving very well.
“Maybe he dropped a little bit at the end of the second set, but I’m very happy to get through,” Sinner added.
Tien saved two match points to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
“Honestly, after saving match points going into the tiebreak, just felt like I was playing with house money almost, really had nothing to lose,” said Tien, a Southern California native who has fond memories of attending the tournament as a child.
Arthur Fils’s injury comeback gathered pace as the Frenchman upset ninth-ranked Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-6 (11/9) to book a quarter-final meeting with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev.
Germany’s Zverev downed American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4.
Fils is in the Indian Wells last eight for the second straight year, but it’s been a twisting road to arrive there.
Tough competitor
Back trouble kept him off the courts for eight months, but since a return at Montpellier last month he has impressed with a run to the final in Doha.
The 21-year-old, now ranked 32nd in the world, appeared to be in control with a 4-2 lead in the second set. But he let that advantage slip away and trailed 0-5 in the tiebreaker before he steadied, saving five set points before wrapping up the straight-sets win.
“I was at 0-5 in the tie-break and I was going to my box and complaining and complaining,” he said, adding that the advice he got was to stop complaining and focus on the match.
“I tried to focus as best I could. Not too much emotion, celebration. Just tunnel vision and I am happy with it,” said Fils, who let the emotion emerge again with a mighty chest thump after putting away match point.
