Cavaliers defeatet Warriors as Irving hits winning shot

CLEVELAND – With another clutch shot, Kyrie Irving took the Warriors on a trip down memory lane.

Irving dropped a short, turnaround jumper over Klay Thompson with 3.4 seconds left and the Cleveland Cavaliers — just as they did in June's NBA Finals — rallied to defeat Golden State 109-108 on Sunday in a marquee Christmas matchup.

Down by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers chipped away and then put the ball in the hands of Irving, whose step-back three-pointer over Stephen Curry on June 19 helped seal Game 7 and gave Cleveland its first major pro sports championship since 1964.

This time, Irving went deep in the lane before spinning and scoring over Thompson, one of the league's best defenders.

"That's a really hard shot," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought Klay played tremendous defense. You don't do anything different."

Said LeBron James of Irving: "The kid is special. It was never in doubt."

Golden State had one last chance but Kevin Durant, who led all scorers with 36 points in his first game in the league's hottest rivalry, stumbled coming off a screen and couldn't get off a shot as time expired.

"I was trying to make a move," he said. "I didn't fall on my own."

James scored 31 points with a season-high 13 rebounds, Irving added 25 points and Kevin Love 20 for the Cavs, who were down 3-1 in the Finals before storming back to stun a Warriors team that won 73 games during the regular season.

Thompson added 24, Draymond Green 16 and Curry 15 — on 4-for-11 shooting — for the Warriors, who had their winning streak stopped at seven and fell to 9-1 against Eastern Conference teams.

The game was filled with drama, intensity and more than a few moments that sparked reminders of last season's Finals.

"'It lived up to what everyone wanted it to," James said.

If there was any doubt that this game meant more than the other 81 to both squads and fan bases, Green took care of that in the opening minutes.