NBA roundup: Warriors win Finals rematch against Cavaliers

Draymond Green had 22 points and 15 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors got defensive in their NBA Finals rematch against Cleveland, beating the Cavaliers 89-83 on Friday.

Stephen Curry added 19 points and Klay Thompson had 18 for the Warriors, who improved to 28-1 by winning their 32nd straight regular-season home game. Instead of doing it with three-pointers, defending champion Golden State maintained its edge over Cleveland by limiting the Cavaliers to 32 percent shooting.

LeBron James scored 25 points to lead the Cavaliers. They had their six-game winning streak snapped.

The Cavaliers were short-handed when they lost the final to the Warriors in six games, missing power forward Kevin Love the entire series with a shoulder injury and losing point guard Kyrie Irving to a knee injury late in the first game.

Having both those players healthy for the rematch did little to help Cleveland. Love scored just 10 points on five-for-16 shooting, and Irving missed 11 of 15 shots in a 13-point game.

With those two struggling, the Warriors built a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter following a jumper by Thompson and a layup from Green.

But James responded with a pair of dunks and a blocked shot on Thompson before Love’s tip-in made it 81-77 with just over two minutes to play.

James missed two free throws after Cleveland got another stop and Curry responded with a pair of layups around J.R. Smith’s three-pointer to make it 85-80 with 57.6 seconds to play.

James shot an air ball from long range with 12.7 seconds to play to end Cleveland’s comeback attempt.

There was an increased intensity at the start of the seventh Christmas Day rematch of the previous season’s finals with fans on edge far more than for most regular season games.

The officials let both teams play through contact early and the Warriors built a 28-19 lead after one quarter behind 10 points and six rebounds from Green.

But the Cavaliers picked up the defense in the second quarter against Golden State’s reserves, taking advantage of an extended absence from Curry who get his strained right calf re-taped in the locker room. The Warriors led 45-42 at the half.

Chicago 105, at Oklahoma City 96

Jimmy Butler scored 23 points and Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Chicago to the win.

Derrick Rose had 19 points, and Taj Gibson had 13 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bulls end a skid at three games.

Bulls guard Derrick Rose tries to hold his defensive position against Thunder guard Russell Westbrook during their game Friday.

(J Pat Carter / Getty Images)

Kevin Durant had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Oklahoma City, and Russell Westbrook added 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. The Thunder had won three consecutive games and nine of 10.

The Bulls led by 18 points at the end of the third quarter. Oklahoma City got no closer than six points in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder shot 38.5% from the field, its third-worst showing this season.

at Houston 88, San Antonio 84: James Harden had 20 points and the Rockets held the Spurs, who had won seven games in a row, to a season low in points.

The Spurs resorted to the Hack-A-Howard tactic soon after that, intentionally fouling Dwight Howard on two consecutive possessions. He missed all four free throws and a basket by LaMarcus Aldridge got the Spurs to 86-81.

Kawhi Leonard made a three-point basket after two free throws by Houston to allow San Antonio to cut the lead to four points, but he missed a shot a few seconds later and Houston held on. Leonard had 20 points.

at Miami 94, New Orleans 88 (OT): Chris Bosh had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 19 points to move into No. 3 on the all-time Christmas Day list, and Hassan Whiteside had 17 rebounds for the Heat, which improved to an NBA-best 10-2 on the holiday.

Wade’s basket with 1 minute 45 seconds to play in overtime gave him 273 points on Christmas, one more than Shaquille O’Neal.

Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Ryan Anderson scored 18 points and Eric Gordon finished with 16.