Cavaliers survive to extend finals

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving unleashed two of the greatest do-or-die performances in NBA Finals history on Monday to sustain the Cleveland Cavaliers’ title dreams and denying Golden State a home championship celebration.James and Irving each scored 41 points to power the Cavaliers over the defending NBA champions 112-97, pulling Cleveland within 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.Irving scored a career playoff high; making 17-of-24 shots from the floor, including 5-of-7 3-pointers, and ran off seven decisive points in a row late in the fourth quarter.“It’s probably one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen live, to put on the show that he did,” said James, who also called Irving’s effort “spectacular.”But it came while the Warriors were playing without suspended forward Draymond Green, out for accumulated playoff flagrant fouls, and when a left knee injury side lined Australian centre Andrew Bogut early in the third quarter.“It’s too simple to say that,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We didn’t play well enough to win. We weren’t very good defensively. We had to play better and we didn’t.” Golden State has another chance to claim the crown tomorrow in game six at Cleveland while a seventh game, if needed, would be Sunday back in California.No team has ever recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, and only the 1951 New York Knicks and 1966 Los Angeles Lakers even forced a seventh game. “It’s frustrating. But you just suck it up and move on,” Golden State’s Klay Thompson said. “We’re still in a great position. It stings real bad, but we’ll come back stronger.”Faced with a must-win contest, Cleveland’s star duo became the first teammates to crack 40 points in the same finals game, scoring more than any players facing NBA Finals elimination in 20 years.James added game highs of 16 rebounds and seven assists, while Irving had six assists and Tristan Thompson grabbed 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers.“To repeat a performance like this would definitely be tough, but whatever it takes to win,” Irving said. “I know myself and (LeBron) and our teammates are willing. We’ll be very well prepared for game six.”James, who became the ninth player with 1,000 career NBA Finals points, and Irving each scored 11 points in the third quarter. Irving netted 12 more in the fourth. James had 25 in the first half.“They had two great games, two breakout games,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. NAMPA/AFP

Cavaliers survive to extend finals

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-28

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Cavaliers survive to extend finals

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-28

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