OAKLAND, Calif. — Supersub J.R. Smith buried a 3-pointer with seven-tenths of a second remaining in the second quarter Thursday night, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a 51-48 halftime lead over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
The teams alternated big runs in the first 24 minutes, which featured 10 lead changes and six ties.
Smith’s 3-pointer capped a 15-7 finish to the half for the Cavaliers, who trailed 41-36 with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Cavs shooting guard Iman Shumpert made two late 3-pointers and forward LeBron James added consecutive hoops in the quarter-ending run that came in immediate response to a 26-7 Warriors flurry that helped them overcome an early 14-point deficit.
Star guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson came alive in the second quarter after making a combined 2 of 9 shots from the field in the first quarter when Golden State trailed by as much as 29-15. Curry capped the 26-7 run with eight consecutive points, including two 3-pointers.
Curry finished the half with 14 points.
Backup center Marreese Speights, who hadn’t played since May 9 because of a calf strain, ignited the Golden State comeback with three hoops early in the second quarter.
James led all scorers in the half with 19 points. Smith had nine points off the bench, all on 3-pointers.
The Cavaliers took advantage of a cold-shooting Warriors team to go up by as many as 14 in the first quarter. James, hitting 4 of 9 shots from the floor, including a 3-pointer, had 12 points in the quarter, which ended with Cleveland up 29-19.
While the Warriors were missing 15 of their first 19 shots from the field, the Cavaliers used a 17-2 run to build their 14-point lead.
Curry (2-for-6) and Thompson (0-for-3) combined to miss seven of their first nine shots from the field.
NOTES: The Warriors are the first team since the 1996-97 Utah Jazz to appear in the NBA Finals with no player having previous experience in the Finals. … Cleveland’s David Blatt and Golden State’s Steve Kerr both made the Finals as rookie coaches, the first time that occurred since the inaugural NBA season in 1946-47. … The Cavaliers and Warriors combined to score 29.3 percent of their points in the regular season on 3-pointers, the highest percentage ever for NBA Finals participants. … Warriors PG Stephen Curry (73) and SG Klay Thompson (45) began the Finals already having broken the record for 3-pointers made in the playoffs by a pair of teammates with 118. … Asked before the game if the FIFA scandal in soccer could have any impact on FIBA in basketball, NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted, “I’m sure that because of the investigation that’s now going on with FIFA that the other federations, not just FIBA, will all take a fresh look at how they do business.”