NBA Finals 2015: Cavs vs. Warriors Game 1 Result, Quotes and Updated Schedule

The series everyone had been clamoring for since the midway point of the NBA season lived up to all the hype, producing an epic overtime battle Thursday night in Oakland, California.

Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers opening up a big lead early in the game, and looking comfortable midway through the fourth quarter, the Golden State Warriors refused to go away quietly and battled back to claim a Game 1 overtime victory.

The 108-100 extra-time win gives the Warriors a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 Sunday, but it might have even graver implications for the Cavaliers moving forward in the series with point guard Kyrie Irving limping to the locker room.

Game	Matchup	Date	Time	Series Standing/TV
1	Golden State 108, Cleveland 100	Thur., June 4	-	GS up 1-0
2	Cleveland at Golden State	Sun., June 7	8 p.m.	ABC
3	Golden State at Cleveland	Tue., June 9	9 p.m.	ABC
4	Golden State at Cleveland	Thur., June 11	9 p.m.	ABC
5*	Cleveland at Golden State	Sun., June 14	9 p.m.	ABC
6*	Golden State at Cleveland	Tue., June 16	9 p.m.	ABC
7*	Cleveland at Golden State	Fri., June 19	9 p.m.	ABC

Overtime wasn’t a performance to remember for Cleveland, who didn’t score in the extra period until LeBron James found the bottom of the net with eight seconds left in the game, and by that point it was too late.

After the game Warriors point guard Stephen Curry was pleased with how the Warriors played in the overtime, telling Slam Magazine, "We just forced them into tough shots that whole overtime. It was a classic five minutes that we needed."

But the biggest loss of the night for the Cavaliers might not have been the game, but an injury suffered by Irving that forced him to limp off the court in obvious pain midway through the overtime period. The point guard recorded 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists on the night, and while information on the injury remains scarce, any missed time would be a significant blow to Cleveland’s chances of victory.

As Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal noted, Irving was significantly hobbled after the game and was a part of serious discussions:

Irving—who will undergo an MRI on his left knee, according to Lloyd—has been dealing with injuries throughout the postseason, but said after the game he didn't like the feel of this particular incident.

"I don't know exactly hat happened," Irving said, per RealGM. "It's a little different than the other time...I'm a little worried."

Although the finish wasn’t in the Cavaliers' favor, you wouldn’t have predicted the result based on the start to the game. The teams traded buckets in the first quarter until Cleveland used a 17-2 run to open up a 14-point lead in the first that would shrink to 10 by the first intermission.

To the surprise of no one in attendance though, the Warriors battled back in front of a raucous home crowd and cut the lead to just three by halftime, before tying the game at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth Cleveland kept making moves to put the game away, but the Warriors never let things get out of hand, as neither team led by more than four in the final period of regulation.

Both James—who finished the game with 44 points—and Iman Shumpert had chances to win the game in regulation and give Cleveland the advantage in the series, but neither shot found its mark. The proceedings were sent to overtime, which was controlled by the Warriors from the start.

If Irving is out for a significant chunk of the series, it could be a detriment to any hopes James and the Cavaliers had to ending Cleveland’s championship drought. Already without power forward Kevin Love, the loss of a their second-best player might be too much of a mountain to climb, even for the league’s best player.

Sunday will provide a better insight into what the rest of the series holds, but for now the advantage is with the Warriors. Cleveland needs to be careful or this series could get out of hand quickly.