With just 3.4 seconds left in the game, the Cleveland Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving took a shot that won a game the Warriors should have had in the bag, by one point. The Warriors blew a 14-point lead they had by the opening of the fourth quarter, but the Cavs rallied to win in dramatic fashion, as the AP points out, with the same man (Irving) taking the winning shot just like in Game 7 of the Finals back in June.
What used to be Steph Curry vs. LeBron James, a David vs. Goliath tale, has morphed into something else. It's now something more like a souped up 2012 Finals redux. It's James vs. Durant, a battle of prototypical wings. Both were amazing in their own rights, in different ways. James was a force on the glass, and at the rim. His four assists belied how often he made incisive passes after driving into the teeth of the defense.
Durant opened ablaze, but really helped Golden State gain ground at the start of the fourth quarter, when James customarily rests. The Warriors snagged a 14-point lead that Cleveland eroded with the help of a couple Irving 3-pointers.
Also, as ESPN puts it, "It's just one game, but a particularly painful one for a Golden State team eagerly looking to right the wrongs of last June."
Here's Draymond Green going on and on about the game without taking questions.
Draymond Green gives one long quote on the game, refuses to take ref questions, says he's going to rant about it on Uninterrupted pic.twitter.com/ibwVmExBd5
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 25, 2016
And here's LeBron dunking to take the Cavs to 105.
Merry Dunkmas from The King. https://t.co/hx6kMtMXLP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 25, 2016