CLEVELAND -- Steve Kerr called it the law of averages. Sooner or later, Stephen Curry was going to start making shots again.
Now the Golden State Warriors are one win away from their second consecutive championship.
Curry broke out of his funk with 38 points and Klay Thompson scored 25 to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 108-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The Warriors, who set an NBA Finals record with 17 3-pointers, took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. They can wrap up their second title in as many seasons against the Cavs on Monday night at Oracle Arena.
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Curry and Thompson combined for 11 of their 17 3s.
"I don't know that the shots were that much better than they've been, I just think they got going," Kerr said. "Sooner or later it's going to happen. With guys like that, you can't keep them down forever."
Curry failed to score even 20 points in any of the first three games in this series, but he and Thompson combined for 21 in the third quarter when the Warriors took control.
"I had to be assertive and decisive with what I was doing," Curry said. "I was in between in Game 3.
"When you have obviously Klay knocking down threes on the wing, H.B. (Harrison Barnes) the way he stepped up and made some timely buckets for us, it kind of softens the defense because they've got to be aware of everybody, and then lanes open up and that's when we're at our best."
While the Splash Brothers were stringing together their best joint performance of the series, the Cavs countered by dribbling their way to the brink of elimination.
Irving and James took turns dribbling through isolation sets in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, with little success. They went nearly seven minutes between baskets and the Warriors countered with Harrison Barnes' fourth 3-pointer of the game to stretch the lead to 93-84 -- their largest of the night -- with 5:56 left.
The Cavs were 9 of 21 from the field in the fourth quarter and suffered their first home loss this postseason after winning their first eight.
Irving finished with 34 points but was 3 of 10 in the fourth quarter. James had 25 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and seven turnovers, falling an assist shy of his 16th postseason triple-double and seventh in his Finals career. Irving and James combined to take 33 of the Cavs' 38 shots in the second half.
"We've got to be aggressive," James said. "(Cavs coach Tyronn) Lue told us to be aggressive. Obviously, we don't like to hear in that form. We want to get our guys involved and keep our guys in a good rhythm. I just think it was just the way the game played out."
Tempers flared in the final minutes when Golden State forward Draymond Green fell down and James tried stepping over his head as Green stood up. Green punched James in the groin as he stood up and the two players had to be separated. A double foul was called. The play could be reviewed by the league. Green is one flagrant foul away from a one-game suspension.
"I don't know what should happen. It's not my call," James said. "That's the league office. They'll take a look at it. We all saw it in the locker room."
James added that he didn't expect the league to do anything about it. He also didn't like some of the things Green had to say on the court, which is why they had to be separated.
"Draymond just said something that I don't agree with," James said. "I'm all cool with the competition. I'm all fine with that, but some of the words that came out of his mouth was a little bit overboard, and being a guy with pride, a guy with three kids and a family, some things just go overboard and that's where he took it."
Play was halted a few minutes later when a shirtless fan ran on the court and was apprehended by a slew of security guards.
Lue made the gutsy call to bench Love, his $110 million power forward, and stick with the starting lineup that worked so well together in a 120-90 win in Game 3 on Wednesday.
Love replaced Tristan Thompson seven minutes into the game and made his first shot off an offensive rebound -- a theme throughout the first half. The Cavs grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and turned them into 17 second-chance points.
Love had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench, J.R. Smith scored 10 points and Tristan Thompson finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
"I felt it was the right way. We had just won a game by 30 points. We played well. So I just decided to stick with RJ," Lue said. "Kevin came to me after the game and just said, whatever I felt was right, coming off the bench or starting, he was all in."
Barnes scored 14 points for the Warriors, Green had nine points and 12 rebounds and Andre Iguodala contributed 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds off the bench.
Now the Cavs face the daunting task of having to beat the Warriors three straight times. Golden State hasn't lost three straight all season.
"If you want to look to that side, then you put too much pressure on yourself," James said. "We've just got to get one. Let's get one. We've already got to take a flight home anyways, we might as well come home with a win and play on our home floor again."
NOTES: This marked Kevin Love's first game off the bench since April 14, 2010 -- the final game of his second season in the NBA. ... The 88 victories for the Warriors is most in NBA history for a regular season and postseason, surpassing the mark of 87 set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. ... LeBron James (1,723) is two rebounds shy of passing Elgin Baylor for ninth place on the NBA's career playoff rebound list.
