CLEVELAND — It was impossible. It was inconceivable. There was no way the Cavaliers could escape from the wreckage of this series and slow the Golden State Warriors’ march to immortality.
The Cavaliers heard all the doubts ahead of Friday’s Game 4 of the N.B.A. finals. The noise was impossible to ignore. But with every dazzling layup by Kyrie Irving and each impassioned fist pump from LeBron James, the Cavaliers and their fans at Quicken Loans Arena found hope, a commodity that had been in short supply.
In a game played at a breakneck pace, and one that seemed to have more physical contact than a taekwondo tournament, the Cavaliers stunned the Warriors, 137-116, to stay alive in the finals.