Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving prevented the Golden State Warriors from claiming a Game 1 win in regulation after this block on Stephen Curry.
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With the teams locked at 98-98 apiece, Curry was handed the ball and attacked the basket after believing that he had gotten free of his defender.
However, Irving had other plans as he made up the ground and denied him at the basket to slam the door shut and force Game 1 into overtime after both LeBron James and Iman Shumpert missed chances to get the win.
While that was undoubtedly a huge play for his team, the Cavs point guard suffered a huge setback in the additional period as he was forced to head to the locker room early after re-injuring his knee.
Irving had been a doubt for the NBA Finals opener after struggling with knee tendinitis throughout the playoffs, and after cameras picked up on him walking down the tunnel in real pain, it remains to be seen if he will be able to feature in Game 2 on Sunday.
Nevertheless, he reminded everyone just how important he can be for his team as he proved to be influential on both ends of the court with LeBron scoring 44 points in the 108-100 loss at the Oracle Arena on Thursday night.
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