Jefferson says Cavs season a failure without National Basketball Association championship

The comeback Cavaliers are at it again.

Down 0-3 in the 2017 NBA Finals, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers steamrolled Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors, 137-116, behind an epic offensive performance in Game 4 on Friday. "We showed that tonight".

A series that appeared to be headed for a quick conclusion is California bound for Game 5 on Monday night. "I didn't talk to these guys when I made my decision and say we better make it to the Finals and be up in the series around this time, this exact date, or I'm not coming".

Two of the three games in this series have gone over the total, and the over is 7-1 in Golden State's last eight games.

Kyrie Irving and LeBron James unleashed one of the NBA's greatest scoring onslaughts Friday, powering Cleveland over Golden State 137-116 to doom the Warriors' bid for a flawless playoff run.

"It's going to be even tougher in game five", James said. "But if you give them some open ones, like we did early on, they will knock them in at some point".

The Mercury News' Tim Kawakami called it an imperfect game for everybody involved, except for the Cavs: "The Warriors played terribly at the start, they gathered themselves to make it competitive into the third quarter, and then that third quarter was some of the oddest stuff in recent playoff history". James and Golden State's Andre Iguodala jostled for space, and the referee had to step in to reset them.

"I was quoted in saying that there was no other option, and that was completely true, and that still stands", Irving said. "So I just told guys, I didn't stress anything besides just live in the moment".

"It was just an incredibly physical game", Kerr said. "Not going to overreact to one".

But as good as Smith was on Wednesday night, his opposite number has taken huge leaps since struggling in the series opener.

"Can't be afraid of failure", Curry said.

"The game gets worse as time goes on". Kevin Love hit three 3-pointers and led all scorers with 14 points in the first quarter.

LeBron James also set a record with his ninth career triple-double in an NBA Finals games, delivering 31 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. In the end, there were seven technical fouls in the game and a flagrant foul. Pachulia could have been tossed, but was only given a technical, as was Shumpert.

The 2017 Golden State Warriors likely will go down as one of the best teams in NBA history, and head coach Steve Kerr isn't about to let the basketball greats forget that.

When James finally won his first ring, beating Durant and the Thunder in 2012, most of the criticism went away. "They would all kill us".

Warriors: Were trying to become the first team to complete a postseason unbeaten.

Klay Thompson added 30 points and Stephen Curry had 26 for the Warriors, who are one win from their second title in three years. Comedian Kevin Hart and National Football League star Odell Beckham Jr. were among the courtside celebrities.

It's getting chippy: Now this felt like a Finals game. And that was my barometer. The Warriors previously swept Portland, Utah and San Antonio. "I don't stink anymore.".

The Cavs were aided by 22 free throw attempts in the opening 15 minutes, the most by any team in any quarter this postseason. General manager David Griffin's contract expires after the season, and it's not clear if he will be re-signed by owner Dan Gilbert. There were technical fouls.