James had 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists and Kyrie Irving added 26 points but the Cavs never could dig out of a hole created by a second-quarter barrage and ended their season with a 129-120 loss to the Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.
Cleveland has won four straight Finals elimination games, rallying from a 3-1 series deficit to win the championship past year and then winning 137-116 in Game 4 on Friday night to extend this series.
The Golden State Warriors lead the Cleveland Cavaliers 71-60 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, fueled by high energy, scoring runs and defensive intensity.
Watch the Cavs early in the 3rd quarter and see if they can re-capture that energy that they started the game with.
"He's the only person that I was looking at since 2012". A James three boosted the Cavs to a 18-11 lead at the 6:48 mark.
Durant tipped his hat to Cleveland, especially guard Kyrie Irving and forward LeBron James.
Stephen Curry added 34 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals as Golden State closed out its second title in three years after squandering a 3-1 lead a year ago to the Cavs to miss a repeat.
"The way that he embraced the opportunity in the Finals, it was unbelievable", Curry said.
Harry Kane describes his feelings after first match as England captain
England's eight-year unbeaten run in qualifying was kept intact by captain-for the-day Harry Kane's stoppage-time equaliser. Former Scotland global Steve Nicol laments England's last-gasp equaliser as "unprofessional" defending by Scotland .
"To have teammates that encourage you, that lift you up, that's what we all need in life", he said. "They beat us, but I'm pretty sure we'll be back and we'll be ready to battle again".
Durant led the Warriors to their 2nd title in the last three years with his MVP performance.
The Cavaliers like to play a more rugged game using the size and strength of James, Love and Tristan Thompson to their advantage. With James more than capable of initiating the offense, Cleveland let him bring the ball down the floor and then use off-ball screens and cuts to get Irving separation from Thompson.
3-Point Goals-Cleveland 11-24 (Smith 7-8, James 2-5, Korver 1-2, Irving 1-2, Jefferson 0-1, Shumpert 0-1, Dero.Williams 0-2, Love 0-3), Golden State 14-38 (Durant 5-8, K.Thompson 3-7, Green 2-5, Iguodala 2-7, Curry 2-9, McCaw 0-2). "Like I said, teams and franchises are going to be trying to figure out ways that they can put personnel together, the right group of guys together to be able to hopefully compete against this team".
"I'm just happy for him".
"I left everything on the floor every game, all five games", he said.
A coach responsible for revitalizing the Warriors' franchise and changing the dynamics of the National Basketball Association won his second title in three seasons on Monday, but for Kerr, just being able to handle the rigors of coaching again was a reward in and of itself.
But the Warriors are brimming with confidence, knowing they didn't have Kevin Durant to help them a year ago.
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