As Kyrie Irving waded through a sea of reporters and made his way to his locker on Sunday, teammate LeBron James saw him coming and shook his head.
“He’s special,” James said.
Irving certainly seems to have a special gift — torturing the Golden State Warriors.
Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA Today
His turnaround jumper with 3.4 seconds left over Klay Thompson gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a stunning 109-108 home victory in an NBA Finals rematch after Cleveland trailed by 14 earlier in the fourth quarter.
“He’s just a killer on the court,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said.
Irving’s jumper over Thompson was reminiscent of his dagger three-pointer in the final minute of Game 7, when he completed the Cavs’ rally from a 3-1 deficit and delivered Cleveland their first championship in 52 years.
That was an off-balance three-pointer over Stephen Curry off his wrong foot and exhausted legs. This one was over Thompson’s superior defense.
“I’m pretty sure Klay wanted to be on me and I’m pretty sure I wanted Klay to be on me as well,” Irving said. “It was just a great play that ended up happening, but it was toughly defended.”
The Warriors led most of the game and extended their lead to 94-80 while James rested on the bench early in the fourth quarter, but James’ rim-rattling dunk with 1 minute, 43 seconds left gave the Cavs a 105-103 lead — their first since early in the first quarter — and the Warriors managed just 13 points over the final nine minutes.
“We had a chance to put them away,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “We had several bad possessions in a row. We had too many turnovers. We had control of the game and we did not execute at all in the fourth quarter.”
Irving scored 25 points, while James had 31 points and 13 rebounds. Kevin Love added 20 points and six rebounds.
Kevin Durant was sensational in his first chapter of the best rivalry in the NBA.
Durant scored 36 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but could not get off a chance at a winner following Irving’s basket.
Golden State inbounded to Durant, who got tangled up with Richard Jefferson and lost his balance. He fell to the floor on a no-call as time ran out again on the Warriors.
“I was trying to make a move,” Durant said. “I didn’t fall on my own.”
Curry scored 15 points on four-of-11 shooting, although his three-pointer with 1:14 left put the Warriors ahead 108-105.
Curry turned to the booing crowd with three fingers raised in celebration, but much like in June, the Cavs were not finished.
“Obviously, emotions come out for not only the players, but for [the media] and for the fans,” James said. “It’s the last two Finals matchups so everyone just starts thinking back to what’s happened between last year’s Finals and previous Finals, so emotions, that’s just human nature for all of us.”
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS