Warriors beat Cavaliers to seal NBA title

The Golden State Warriors capped a brilliant season with a 105-97 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday to win the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years.

The Warriors, the top-seeded team in the playoffs after compiling the best record in the regular season, won the best-of-seven championship series 4-2.

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Andre Iguodala, who had not started all season until Game Four of the Finals, and Stephen Curry each had 25 points for Golden State, while James again led the way for the injury-hit Cavaliers with a game-high 32 points.

For James, who averaged 35.8 points per game, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the Finals despite playing with an injury-hit team, the loss dropped the greatest player of his generation to 2-4 all-time in the NBA’s championship series.

Having trailed by 13 points late, the Cavaliers pulled to within four in the final minute, reigniting a home crowd that had been silenced moments earlier, but the Warriors held firm to clinch the title.

In the end, injuries to All Star point guard Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Love were too much for the Cavs to overcome.

Cleveland opened the game with a 7-2 run to whip an anxious home crowd into a frenzy but Golden State weathered the storm with a solid finish to the opening quarter to build a 28-15 lead.

After a quiet start to the game, James helped Cleveland narrow the gap with a three-pointer from the corner as part of his team’s 11-4 run to open the second quarter.

Cleveland, despite a slew of turnovers, battled mightily throughout the second before finally cutting the deficit to two points when Tristan Thompson slammed down a put-back dunk as time expired in the first half.

The Cavaliers carried momentum into the early moments of the second half where they moved in front for the first time since early in the game but the Warriors responded brilliantly with an 8-0 run that forced the Cavaliers to call a timeout.

Golden State, powered by Iguodala, then built a game-high 15-point lead with a minute left in the third.

The Cavaliers came out hard in the fourth quarter and showed they were ready for a fight when James forced a turnover before racing down the court for a dunk. His basket capped an 8-0 run that put Cleveland within seven points with 10 minutes to play.

But from there the Warriors used a barrage of three-pointers to hold the Cavaliers, who were largely undone by 19 turnovers in the game.

© Reuters