The Golden State Warriors held on to take victory in the opening NBA Finals game against Cleveland Cavaliers. But LeBron James put in a dominant performance with a 51 points haul for his side out in Oakland, James now has a 109 career 30-point games in the playoffs, tying legendary Michael Jordan for most ever. The Cavs talisman was left angered by team-mate J.R. Smith who misread the scoreline and forced overtime, but the Warriors stood firm and were helped to victory by a 29 points total from talisman Steph Curry.
The Golden State Warriors somehow withstood LeBron James' latest brilliance on the NBA Finals stage to secure an important win in Game 1.
A costly blunder by J.R. Smith left LeBron James fuming in the dying moments of the game, and a disputed foul call involving James himself further helped the Warriors on their way to an opening victory.
Stephen Curry scored 29 points and the Warriors capitalized on Smith's mistake that sent the game into overtime, withstanding a 51-point performance by James to beat Cleveland 124-114 in on Thursday night in Oakland.
LeBron James was left angered by team-mate J.R. Smith who misread the scoreline and ended up forcing overtime
James urged his team-mate up court after Smith appeared to be running down the clock in the latter stages
James stood with his arms outstretched and palms open, quizzing his vacant team-mate following the late blunder
The Golden State Warriors somehow withstood LeBron James' latest brilliance on the NBA Finals stage to take an opening win
The party got in full swing as the Warriors took first blood with a 124-114 victory over rivals Cleveland Cavaliers
Star man for the Cavaliers James (centre) was in fine form and almost single-handedly guided his side to victory
The Ohio-born superstar put in an inspired 51 points performance, but it wasn't enough for the Cavs in Oakland
A focused James had no issue with the bread and butter work of getting the ball into the basket, time and time again
The 33-year-old was visibly dismayed to finish the evening on the losing side after a stellar performance on court
Images of James' face of anguish as Smith attempted to run down the clock soon spread rapidly over social media, with NBA fans around the world quickly making the shot into a comical meme.
With his arms outstretched before him and palms open, James could be seen visibly quizzing Smith with his expression as his vacant team-mate simply stared back, realising what had happened.
With the game nearly over, James jawed with both Curry and Klay Thompson, then Tristan Thompson and Draymond Green tangled moments later and made contact. After replay review, Tristan Thompson received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection with 2.6 seconds left.
James was in utter disbelief as regulation ended in stunning fashion: George Hill made the first of two free throws with 4.7 seconds left after being fouled by Klay Thompson, but when Smith secured the rebound of the second, he dribbled back toward halfcourt instead of shooting, apparently thinking the Cavs had a lead.
'He thought it was over. He thought we were up one,' coach Tyronn Lue said.
Instead, overtime came into play.
And why not? Both these teams were pushed to their limits in seven-game conference finals they each had to win on the road.
'I can't talk about a situation that way because I do some dumb stuff on the court,' Golden State's Kevin Durant said of how the fourth quarter finished. 'I don't know what was going through J.R.'s head. He made a great rebound and gave them an opportunity to win the basketball game.'
Game 2 is Sunday night back at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors have won 18 of their last 19 postseason games. In 2015, when the Golden State beat the Cavs to capture the franchise's first title in 40 years, the first two games of the series went to OT - Golden State winning the opener and Cleveland Game 2.
James shot 19 for 32 to go with eight assists and eight rebounds in the opener of his eighth straight NBA Finals and ninth overall, as well as Cavs-Warriors Take IV. James notched his eighth 40-point game during this playoff run to tie Hall of Famer Jerry West's feat in 1965 for most in a single postseason.
The Warriors held on in resilient fashion to overcome the might of James and take victory in the opening game
A smug looking Steph Curry watched on after victory was confirmed, following his 29 points performance for his side
Celebratory scenes soon erupted in the arena as players and fans realised the Warriors had wrapped up Game One
Kevin Durant was full of appreciation for the home crowd while heading to the locker room following the contest
JaVale McGee of the Golden State Warriors was quick to hit the ice packs after the game to bring down any swelling
James drove past Curry for a three-point play with 50 seconds remaining in the fourth. But James was given a foul following a review with 36.4 seconds left and Durant converted a pair of free throws to tie it at 104.
The call had initially been a charge on 2017 finals MVP Durant and James protested the change - while KD said afterward he thought it was the right decision because 'I knew he was late on the drive and I knew I had my man beat and he came over a little late.'
Rules allow officials to go to replay in the final 2 minutes of regulation or in overtime to determine if a defender draw a charge was in the restricted area. When doing so, they can view if the defender was in a legal guarding position, and they decided James wasn't and changed their original call.
Lue was disgusted, saying of the overturned call: 'It's never been done, ever in the history of the game.'
'It was great, it was epic and he did enough to carry this team to a victory,' Lue said. '...To do what he did tonight and to come up robbed, it's just not right.'
In full flow James could hardly be stopped in the contest, looming over his opponents with power and finesse
The Cavs star man was sent crashing to the court at one point, causing concern for his coaches and team-mates
But James was soon back up and going toe to toe with Warriors' powerhouse Kevin Durant
Supporters watched on with bated breath as the match unfolded beneath them on court
Tristan Thompson, #13 of the Cleveland Cavaliers, shoots the ball in hope of getting his side back into the contest
Durant struggled with his shot but wound up with 26 points on 8-for-22 shooting and nine rebounds.
Golden State got a serious scare when Thompson went down after Smith slid hard into the Splash Brother's left leg at the 6:17 mark of the first quarter.
Thompson lay grimacing in pain then went to the locker room with what was called a bruised left leg that needed re-taping. He returned for the start of the second quarter to huge roars from the yellow-clad sellout crowd and scored 24 points. He and Curry each connected on five 3s.
Curry drained one of those way-out-there 3-pointers that have been hard to come by this postseason to beat the halftime buzzer and Golden State shot 13 for 36 from deep.
Kevin Love returned from a concussion to provide a big boost for Cleveland with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
The Warriors missed the defensive presence of 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, who missed his fifth straight postseason game dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee.
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