Warriors, Cavaliers Prepare To Battle In Game 4

(AP) - His eyes were slits, barely open. LeBron James looked as if he could nod off at any second, drop his head on the table and take a much-deserved nap.

Carrying a team, along with the hopes of a city desperate for a championship, is exhausting.

"Obviously, I'm not getting much sleep," he said.

Or a lot of help.

Through sheer force and will, James is not only pushing the banged-up Cavaliers forward in these NBA Finals, he's piecing together an historic personal performance.

Playing the way he has to, but not how he prefers, James has his team within two wins of a title that even he didn't think was likely when the season began.

Yet here are the Cavs, down two All-Stars, their fill-in point guard trying to recover after being hospitalized for dehydration and their best perimeter defender barely able to lift his left arm, leading the Golden State Warriors 2-1 entering Thursday night's Game 4.

After scoring 40 points in Game 3, James didn't watch highlights of Cleveland's 96-91 win. Instead, he popped on an episode of the Food Network show "Chopped" at 2:30 a.m. He claims to be unaware that he's doing something special.

"I know we're up 2-1. I know our team is fighting for our lives. We're undermanned. We're under-matched and we're fighting," he said. "That's all I know."

In three games, including two that went to overtime, James has scored 123 points, breaking Rick Barry's previous finals record of 122 set in 1967. He's scoring more because he's shooting more, forced to pick up the slack with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love recovering from surgeries.

"He's playing inside, outside, trying to get to the line, mixing it up a little bit," said Warriors guard Andre Iguodala, who has matched up against James. "He's trying to work it to his advantage."

James has had the upper hand so far, but the Warriors left the floor after Game 3 feeling encouraged. They rallied from a 20-point deficit and were within one before the Cavs closed them out.

League MVP Stephen Curry made five 3-pointers and scored 17 in the fourth, but had three costly turnovers that hindered the comeback.

The Cavs need to keep Curry corralled, and that job has belonged to guard Matthew Dellavedova. He scored 20 points but pushed himself too hard in Game 3 and wound up in the Cleveland Clinic being treated for severe cramping. Dellavedova was released Wednesday in time to join his teammates for a film session and light workout at Quicken Loans Arena.

He is set to play in Game 4 and will not have his minutes restricted.

"I told him I was going to limit his minutes," coach David Blatt said. "And he said, 'No, you're not.' Delly's tank is low, but we're doing everything we can to fill it back up."

The Cavs also got positive news on guard Iman Shumpert, who bruised his left shoulder in Game 3 but didn't sustain any structural damage.

Just as they did against Memphis in the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors believe they will overcome another 2-1 deficit.

"We'll figure out our game and the adjustments we need to make as we watch film later today, and we'll be ready tomorrow to give our best effort," Curry said. "I feel like we're pretty confident we can turn this around."

They've accomplished it before, against a team that did some of the same things the Cavaliers are doing now.

The Grizzlies, with big bodies inside, play a rugged style reminiscent of Eastern Conference basketball. They won Game 2 at Oracle Arena and came home to win Game 3 in that series, sending Golden State to the video room.

The Warriors didn't even go to the gym before Game 4 in Memphis, instead watching two hours of film in a hotel ballroom. Coach Steve Kerr said they might've done the same thing Wednesday if they didn't have to report to Quicken Loans Arena for media sessions, but planned to watch tape at some point.

"We will watch significant parts of it, but the similarity is there," Kerr said. "Physical team that slows it down, like Memphis did. Our frustration with our pace and tempo is there. So it's very similar and it's very helpful that we've been through this process. Obviously, the personnel is different; the teams are different. But it's something we've been through, and that is a positive that we can draw on that experience."

Golden State has averaged just 97.3 points in this series, even with two games going to overtime, after leading the NBA with 110 per game during the regular season. The Warriors were held to 90 and 89 in their back-to-back losses to the Grizzlies, then bounced back with 102.3 per game in running off three straight victories.

"We're down 2-1 on the road. Same sequence of games, win-loss-loss, so very similar situations," Curry said. "Obviously a different team, so you've got to adjust accordingly. But the mission is we've got to win Game 4. Go home with an even series and take it from there."

Updated June 11, 2015