NBA Finals: Warriors look to rebound in Game 4 against Cavs

CLEVELAND (Diya TV) — Game 4 of last year’s NBA Finals is when the Warriors turned the ship around, decisively winning the next three games to capture the team’s first championship in more than four decades. Andre Iguodala was inserted into the lineup for that game in place of Andrew Bogut, which proved to be the kryptonite for the Cavs offense.

After being blown out 120-90 in Game 3, one thing head coach Steve Kerr isn’t worried about is his lineup, specifically the absentee play of MVP Stephen Curry.

“Just think about the OKC series. We’re down 3-1, he hadn’t played well,” Kerr said Thursday.”Look what he did the last few games. So that’s Steph. That’s who he is. He always responds. He’s got a huge heart, competitive as hell, and extremely talented. I know how he will respond. He’ll play well. He always does.”

Curry led the league in scoring throughout the regular season with 30.4 points per game, but the MVP found himself in foul trouble during Game 3 on Wednesday. Additionally, he was missing his trademark swagger on the court for the third game in a row. The Cavaliers defense have been glued to Curry since the series began.

“We can definitely help Steph out and we will. We can put him in better position to catch the ball or to handle the ball and to come off screens and that kind of stuff with more space, and we’ll do that tomorrow. Then the other side of it is just him playing better, and that’s what the Playoffs are about.,” Kerr said.

“All this stuff about, ‘Oh, my God, what are we going to do?,” he added, “All we have to do is take stock. We’re up 2-1. We’re in pretty good shape. We haven’t played that well. Let’s play better.”

Golden State had emerged victorious against the Cavaliers in seven consecutive games, stretching back to Game 4 of last year’s Finals until Wednesday. Recognizing that Game 4 was the turning point of last year’s series, Cleveland star LeBron James spoke on the importance of coming out Friday night with the same effort.

“We can’t afford to go down 3-1 and go into their building and give them confidence going back. So it’s a do-or-die game for us still,” James said Thursday.

Kyrie Irving was an integral part of the Cavaliers victory on Wednesday, the 24-year-old had to sit out last year’s Finals after fracturing his knee during Game 1. The former No. 1 overall pick is viewed as James’ sidekick.

“As a maturing young player, young man, I had to really just remove myself emotionally and realize that the journey isn’t going to be easy in order to be a champion in this league, a great player or anything. And when you have the chance to learn from someone like that and you have a group of guys in our locker room like we do with veteran leadership, it makes my job a lot easier and a lot more fun to be a part of,” Irving said. “So I’m happy about the team that we’re part of and the teams that I’ve been part of. But being around him every single day has been great for my career.”

For Cleveland, the real question is whether Kevin Love will be a go for Game 4. Head coach Tyronn Lue said the team missed his rebounding and scoring prowess in Game 3.