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The Cleveland Cavaliers aren't dead yet. And once again, the Warriors hold a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals.

Behind a barrage of 3s, incredible performances by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, and even more 3s, the Cavaliers took Game 4 on Friday night, preventing the Warriors from becoming the first team to go 16-0 in the playoffs and ensuring Game 5 will be played in Oakland on Monday. 

Final score: 137-116. Yeah, it was that kind of game -- a game that involved seven technicals, Finals records for points scored in a half and 3-pointers made in a game, a revoked ejection (Draymond Green), a punch to the groin, umm, region (surprisingly not Green) and even a fan getting tossed.

Got all that?

Kyrie Irving was flawless

Cleveland's point guard disappointed at the beginning of the series, getting shut down by Klay Thompson and failing to help James and Kevin Love keep pace. That certainly wasn't the case Friday. 

Irving was flawless. He scored 40 points in 41 minutes on 15-of-27 shooting, including 7-of-12 from behind the arc. The degree of difficulty didn't matter. His shots fell. Tough shot after tough shot dropped. He was unguardable. 

This was redemption for a player under scrutiny. And if he can replicate his performance, the Cavaliers will absolutely have a chance to bring the series back to Cleveland for Game 6.

LeBron James was King James

This should shock no one, but James was incredible. He was outshined by Irving, yet still was his typical MVP-caliber self. James had 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting. He added 10 rebounds and 11 assists, which means he secured yet another triple-double. 

That's becoming a bit of a thing. James set a Finals record for the most triple-doubles, passing Magic Johnson.

James also moved past Michael Jordan on the all-time Finals scoring list.

This is how good the Cavs were

Let's run through their statistics, because they're nuts: 

  • Made a Finals record 24 3-pointers.
  • Put up a Finals record 49 points in the first quarter and would've hit the 50-point mark if not for (too many) missed free throws.
  • Scored 137 points with only eight (8!) fast break points.
  • Managed to render the Warriors' 68-point first half insignificant.

Nuts.

The Warriors aren't indestructible

So, Golden State is not unbeatable after all. 

Yes, the Cavaliers were amazing (see above). Yes, the Warriors still managed to score 116 and hung in there against a team that simply couldn't miss. But the Warriors' approach was flawed. 

As our Jared Dubin noted on Twitter, Green took more shots (16) than Stephen Curry (13) and Klay Thompson (11). That's unacceptable. Curry finished with 14 points and Thompson 13. Combined, they shot 6 of 19 from deep.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 35 points, but it's worth noting he shot 2 of 9 from 3. As a team, the Warriors went 11 of 39 from 3-point range. That's not ideal. It's partly why they lost for the first time since April 10.

The good news for the Warriors is that it's an easy approach to fix: Simply get Curry and Thompson more involved and hope their 3s fall. They usually do.

A night filled with controversy 

During the second half, Green was ejected for picking up his second technical.

Except he actually wasn't, because the officials then determined his first technical, which occurred in the first half, actually was not his technical. It was coach Steve Kerr's (or at least that's what the NBA said). So Green survived and played the remainder of the game.

But that was only the first controversy. The second involved Zaza Pachulia throwing a groin punch:

He was not ejected, but a fan was tossed for getting into a verbal altercation with the Warriors' bench.

At one point, even James and Durant got into a heated exchange.

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Seven technicals were called. Like I said, it was that kind of game.

It's 3-1 ... again

And so, the series shifts back to Oakland, which will host Game 5 on Monday night. And that means the Warriors are, once again, trying to close out a 3-1 series lead at Oracle Arena. 

What could possibly go wrong?