CLEVELAND: As Kyrie Irving waded through a sea of reporters and made his way to his locker Sunday, 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. His turnaround jumper with 3.4 seconds left over Klay Thompson gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a stunning 109-108 victory in an NBA Finals rematch after Cleveland trailed by 14 earlier in the fourth quarter.
"He's just a killer on the court," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
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Irving's jumper over Thompson was reminiscent of his dagger 3-pointer in the final minute of Game 7, when he completed the Cavs' rally from a 3-1 deficit and delivered Cleveland its first championship in 52 years. That was an off-balance 3-pointer over Steph Curry off his wrong foot and exhausted legs. This one was over Thompson's superior defense.
Irving was supposed to use a screen from Iman Shumpert to switch Shaun Livingston onto him for the final play. But Irving slowed down and essentially refused the screen, preferring to take on Thompson.
"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. But James' rim-rattling dunk with 1:43 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 game's final nine minutes.
Given a second chance, they still haven't found a way to close out James and the Cavaliers.
"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. It's a great tape to look at. It will be quite valuable for us to look at that tape because we know we let it slip away."
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 couldn't get off a chance at a game 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."
Jefferson didn't believe he fouled him.
"We all think we're fouled on every play in every single game," Jefferson said. "It looked like he lost his balance. He was trying to regain his balance and as soon as I saw him start to stumble, I ran off so it wasn't like I was trying to pressure him more."
Thompson scored 24 points and Draymond Green had 16 points while fighting foul trouble all day. Curry scored 15 points on 4 of 11 shooting, although his 3-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 weren't finished.
James scored 15 points in the third quarter to keep Cleveland close and Irving scored 14 in the fourth to finish off the comeback.
"They've got out-of-this-world talent," James said. "Obviously, emotions come out for not only the players but for (the media) and for the fans. 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."
It was the 18th meeting in the last 24 months between these two heavyweights. They'll do it all again on Martin Luther King day next month at Oracle Arena.
NOTES: Warriors coach Steve Kerr believes one of the biggest differences between the Cavaliers compared to last season is the absence of G Matthew Dellavedova. "Dellavedova's absence jumps out," he said. "I think he's been a big part of their team in the last couple years, so it's a different look." ... Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said F Kevin Durant's move to Golden State makes it tougher to double team him because of the Warriors' shooting. "Kevin is doing a better job of moving without the basketball, knowing he's going to get it," Lue said. "As far as (Oklahoma City), you were able to double team him more because they didn't have the potent 3-point shooting Golden State has." ... Cleveland F Kevin Love surpassed 10,000 career points in the first quarter Sunday. ... The Cavaliers visit the Detroit Pistons on Monday. The Warriors host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
