Cavaliers win 115-101 to force historic Game 7 with Warriors

Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors, 115-101, on Thursday and became only the third team to force a Game 7 after trailing in the NBA Finals, 3-1.

Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday night at Oracle Arena, where the league will crown a champion, if only because the series will have run out of games and exhausted its supply of drama.

If the Cavaliers win it all, they will become the first N.B.A. team to have claimed the championship after trailing in the finals by three games to one.

“I’ll take it,” James said. “Two of the greatest words in the world, and that’s Game 7.”

James, appearing in his sixth straight finals and his seventh over all, has made these games count. He collected 41 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Kyrie Irving added 23 points, and Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 16 rebounds. The Cavaliers ran out to a 22-point lead in the first quarter and then stifled every rally that the Warriors mustered.

Before fouling out — and earning a technical foul for good measure — Stephen Curry scored 30 points for the Warriors, and Klay Thompson finished with 25. But their teammates struggled. Harrison Barnes missed all eight of his field-goal attempts. Green returned from a one-game suspension to finish with 8 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

It got so wild that NBA most valuable player Stephen Curry was ejected for the first time ever.

He picked up his sixth foul and would have been done for the night anyway, but he threw his mouth guard in disgust and it hit a fan in the front row. His too-late apology came after he received two technical fouls. A fine from the NBA is almost certain to follow.

“I thought it was kind of hilarious the way the last two fouls and me blowing up kind of unfolded,” Curry said.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr probably will be lighter financially too after criticizing referees and saying he “was happy” Curry reacted that way.

Steve kerr said :“He gets six fouls called on him, three of them were absolutely ridiculous,” . “He steals the ball from Kyrie clean at one point. LeBron flops on the last one, [referee] Jason Phillips falls for that, for a flop. As the MVP of the league, we’re talking about these touch fouls in the NBA Finals.”

The Cavaliers have now avoided elimination twice. On Monday night, James and Irving combined for 82 points as the Cavaliers capitalized on Green’s suspension for collecting too many flagrant fouls in the postseason.

Green returned for Game 6, vowing to be a better teammate, smarter and more productive. From the moment Green stepped on the court, though, the crowd expressed its disapproval, booing him when he was introduced, when he touched the ball and when he breathed.

Kerr had no choice but to go small without starting center Andrew Bogut, who was lost for the series when he sustained a knee injury in Game 5. As a result, Kerr moved Green to center and started Andre Iguodala at power forward. Kerr was hoping his team could compensate for Bogut’s absence, but the Cavaliers exploited mismatches from the opening minute. Green picked up his first foul 50 seconds into the first quarter when he reached at James in transition.

The Warriors missed their first seven shots, and the Cavaliers kept applying pressure. James backed his way inside for a bucket. Irving drained a 3-pointer. Curry picked up his second foul, lobbying the officials as he meandered to the bench.

The first quarter was an all-consuming nightmare for the Warriors. They trailed, 31-11, after shooting 5 of 22 from the field. The Cavaliers outrebounded them by 16-7.

The Warriors surged behind Curry in the second quarter. After he sank a 3-pointer, Green followed with a layup in transition to trim Cleveland’s lead to 8.

But problems kept emerging for Golden State. Iguodala, one of James’s main defenders, came up limping but stayed in the game. Curry was whistled for his third foul. And James kept coming, prodding the Cavaliers to a 59-43 lead at halftime. The Warriors shot 29.5 percent from the field in the first half. They could not recover.

“I’ll sleep very well tonight,” James said.

The only other teams to force Game 7 after such a Finals deficit were the Lakers against Boston in 1966 and New York against Rochester in 1951.

Not since the Lakers Shaquille O Neal in 2000 had a player scored 40-plus points in consecutive Finals games.

There will be a  Game 7.