2017 NBA Finals: Cavaliers drop 49 points in the first quarter

The Cavaliers need a big performance in Game 4 to avoid a sweep on their home court in the NBA Finals, and started off strong in the first quarter.

The Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves fighting for survival against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, as they’ll need to win out to come back from their 3-0 deficit in the series.

They’ll need some strong performances and hot starts in each game to get anything going, and Game 4 began with the exact spark the Cavaliers needed in front of the hometown crowd.

The Cavaliers definitely got into the Warriors’ head, as they went up big quickly off of some nice shooting from the perimeter by Kyrie Irving. The Cavaliers scored 26 points in just the first five minutes, and found themselves up 29-13 with five minutes left in the quarter. They ended the first frame up 49-33, as the Cavaliers put up the most points in a quarter in the history of the NBA Finals.

The Cavs also found themselves on pace to score almost 200 points, but surely the crazy amount of free throws they were taking contributed to that point total. The craziest thing is that LeBron James only had eight of his team’s 49 points.

All five starters had scored by the time the first quarter had hit five minutes remaining, and everything was just running perfectly for the Cavaliers. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were clicking and the team was performing well both offensively and defensively.

Tristan Thompson also provided a spark on the boards for the Cavaliers, hitting the glass with authority and getting into Draymond Green’s head in a productive first quarter that surpassed his previous three games.

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The Cavaliers will need to keep up the pace if they want to give the Warriors their second loss since the month of March, and their first in the postseason. They had the chance in Game 3 with a big lead after three quarters, and fell apart late to fall behind 3-0 in the series.