Warriors look to keep heat on Cavaliers

CLEVELAND – Weaving his way toward Golden State’s locker room, where the Warriors were packing for home, Stephen Curry had to handle one last double-team.

Two Cavaliers fans wanted a photo with him.

“Gotta be quick,” Curry said, pausing and smiling for the group selfie.

Curry was happy to please, and happier the NBA Finals were tied again.

With Curry’s shooting touch back to normal, Andre Iguodala playing like a younger version of himself, and coach Steve Kerr’s gamble to tweak his starting lineup – even if he had to lie about it – the Warriors knotted the Finals Thursday night with a 103-82 win over the gassed Cavaliers, who are desperate for rest and help for LeBron James.

Facing the prospect of falling behind 3-1, the Warriors came out to play. They were energized from the start, and they finished off the understaffed Cavs with a dominant fourth quarter, a 12-minute bombardment of big shots to seize momentum going into today’s Game 5 at noisy Oracle Arena.

These were the Warriors closer to full volume, nine out of 10.

“We really picked up our intensity level,” said forward Draymond Green, who moved to center in Kerr’s smaller lineup. “We contested shots. We got on loose balls, and we rebounded. We battled.”

Questioned by some critics for being too laid back, the Warriors were more physical, more focused and more urgent than previously in this series.

They outran the frazzled Cavs, pushing the ball up the floor after made baskets and imposing their will for 48 minutes.

Curry was Curry again. After missing 20 of 26 3-pointers in the first three games, he knocked down four 3s and scored 22. He’s made 9 of his last 15 3-pointers.

Iguodala, though, was Golden State’s best player. He scored 22 points, made James work for every shot while making his first start of the season.