OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors reserves contributed 13 points to a 15-point run bridging the third and fourth quarters Thursday night, propelling the defending champions to a convincing 104-89 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Sunday, also in Oakland.
Cleveland led the Finals rematch for just 2 minutes, 29 seconds, including 68-67 on a layup by LeBron James with 2:12 remaining in the third period.
However, the Cavaliers, with James sitting most of the time, didn’t score again for the next 4:10, during which the Warriors used their 15-0 flurry to break the game open.
Andre Iguodala had five points and fellow backups Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa four apiece in the run, which produced an 82-68 advantage before Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving scored on a drive with 10:02 to go.
James re-entered the game shortly thereafter, but Livingston added two more baskets and Harrison Barnes one, helping the Warriors go up 88-72 before coasting home.
The Golden State All-Star backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson wasn’t on the court for the fourth-quarter portion of the run, but it didn’t matter on a night when the Warriors enjoyed a 45-10 scoring advantage off the bench.
Seven Warriors, including reserves Livingston (team-high 20), Iguodala (12) and Barbosa (11), scored in double figures on a night when Curry was held to 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting and Thompson to nine points on 4-for-12 shooting.
Livingston hit eight of his 10 shots, Iguodala five of his nine and Barbosa all five of his, helping the Warriors overcome their stars’ shooting woes to finish at 49.4 percent from the field.
Draymond Green led the Warriors in rebounding with 11 and assists with seven to complement 16 points.
Irving had 26 points to lead Cleveland, but he did almost half his scoring from the free-throw line, where he went 11-for-12. He shot just 7-for-22 from the field, and the Cavaliers made just 38.1 percent as a team.
James had 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for Cleveland, which had lost just twice in its first 14 postseason games.
Kevin Love (17 points, game-high 13 rebounds) and Tristan Thompson (10 points, 12 rebounds) also recorded double-doubles for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland, which led playoff teams in 3-point field goal percentage through the first three series at 43.3 percent, made only seven of its 21 3-point attempts. The Warriors were 9-for-27.
The Warriors, just three days removed from a historic comeback in the Western Conference finals, responded to a Cavaliers burst in the third quarter with one of their own, retaking the lead after losing it for the first time since the second minute of the game.
Golden State led by as many as 11 early in the third period before Irving began a Cavaliers rally with two hoops, including a three-point play.
A seven-point burst featuring two baskets by Love propelled Cleveland into a 64-63 lead with 3:37 left in the quarter.
However, with Curry dropping in just his third basket of the game, a tough interior shot over James, the Warriors finished the quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 74-68 lead into the final period and begin the difference-making stretch.
Curry and Thompson had just eight and six points, respectively, through three quarters.
The Cavaliers managed to stay within striking distance at 52-43 at halftime despite shooting just 35.7 percent in the first 24 minutes. They did so by holding Curry (2-for-8, six points) and Thompson (2-for-5, four points) in check.
James (11 points) singlehandedly outscored the Golden State backcourt All-Stars in the half, but he didn’t get nearly the support.
Green and Andrew Bogut had 10 points apiece for the Warriors, who used an 11-1 burst early in the second quarter to build a 43-29 lead.
Thompson had both his first-half hoops in the run, but also drew his third foul at the 6:10 mark of the second quarter, leading to him sitting out the rest of the half.
NOTES: The defending champion is just 6-7 in NBA Finals rematches. … The matchup of top seeds in their respective conferences is the first in the Finals since the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers met in 2008. … Asked if the short turnaround following the dramatic comeback in the Western Conference finals might hurt his team, Warriors coach Steve Kerr insisted, “I don’t like to sit around and wait a week for playoff games, and we had to do that last year. So this is better.” … Warriors PG Stephen Curry is attempting to become just the fourth player in NBA history to win MVPs and championships in the same season two years in a row. Only C Bill Russell, SG Michael Jordan and SF LeBron James have accomplished the feat. … Warriors C Anderson Varejao is the first player in NBA history to have played for both finalists in the regular season.