Warriors 89, Cavaliers 83
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry converted a pair of driving hoops in the final 1:20 of the game, lifting the Golden State Warriors to an 89-83 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a Christmas Day rematch of the NBA Finals on Friday.
Power forward Draymond Green had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and backup guard Shaun Livingston saved eight of his season-best 16 points for a tight fourth quarter, leading the Warriors (28-1) to their 14th straight home win this season and 32nd in a row at home in the regular season dating back to last year.
The Cavaliers (19-8) were the last team to beat the Warriors at home, in Game 2 of June's NBA Finals. The Warriors rebounded to capture that best-of-7 series 4-2 to capture the championship.
The Warriors' 32-game home winning streak tied the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for the seventh-longest of all time.
Golden State, which owns the best record in the league, won despite a 6-for-15 shooting effort from star guard Stephen Curry, who finished with 19 points.
The Warriors shot just 41.0 percent as a team and failed to score 100 points for the first time in 48 games.
Small forward LeBron James had 25 points on 10-for-26 shooting for Cleveland, which had its streak of 31 in a row when holding an opponent to 96 points or fewer broken.
The Cavaliers brought the best record in the Eastern Conference into the game.
Forward Kevin Love contributed 10 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were playing the opener of a four-game Western swing. Cleveland moves on to play Saturday night at Portland.
Curry's two late baskets came after James led a charge that got the Cavaliers, down by 10 with 3:45 to go, back within 81-77 with 2:15 left.
After Curry pushed the lead back to 85-80 with 51.6 seconds left, the Warriors iced the win with two free throws apiece by Green and defensive ace Andre Iguodala.
A driving hoop by Green gave Golden State its largest lead of the game, 81-71, with 3:45 to play.
James then slammed home dunks on consecutive possessions, then had a driving miss tipped in by Love, rallying the Cavaliers within 81-77 with 2:15 to go.
But then James, with a chance to cut the gap to two, missed a pair of free throws with 1:33 to go, after which Curry connected on back-to-back hoops to put the game away.
Livingston provided all of Golden State's offense for the first four-plus minutes of the final period, hitting three consecutive jumpers. It was enough to enough to keep the Cavaliers, down by five at period's start, at arm's length, still trailing 70-65 into the fifth minute of the quarter.
Livingston's fourth hoop, a fast-break dunk, pushed the lead to 77-69 with 5:18 left.
Another transition hoop, this one by Green, gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the game at 81-71 with 3:45 to play before James spearheaded the Cleveland comeback.
NOTES: The NBA Finals rematch on Christmas Day was the seventh in league history. The reigning champs had lost four of the first six. ... The Cavaliers and Warriors had never previously met on Christmas Day. ... Asked before the game why he wasn't promoting Finals Most Valuable Player SF Andre Iguodala to the starting lineup as the Warriors had last June, interim coach Luke Walton noted, "Well, we are 27-1. As fun as today should be, it's not about making drastic changes for one game and then going back to something else the next game." ... Likewise, Cavaliers coach David Blatt assured PG Kyrie Irving, who had played 17 and 19 minutes in two games since returning from a broken kneecap, would be kept on a schedule rather than accelerated into heavier duty against the Warriors. ... "Gradually we will push that up," Blatt said, "but we are not treating his minutes as a function of game situation. Walton also said injured SF Harrison Barnes (ankle) is running at near full speed at practice. He's likely to return to game action next week.