Golden State's perfect postseason is over, the champagne corks still in their bottles.
The Warriors had planned to party, to pay back Cleveland.
Everything's on hold in the NBA Finals. The comeback Cavaliers are at it again.
The defending champions beat the Warriors 137-116 and snapped their 15-game playoffs winning streak.
LeBron James recorded a triple-double, Kyrie Irving scored 40 points and the Cavs, bothered by chatter from Golden State's players, broke scoring records while outperforming the NBA's most electrifying offence in a testy game four filled with technical fouls.
"We have championship DNA," said James, who broke Magic Johnson's record with his ninth triple-double in the Finals.
"We showed that tonight.
"We just kept our composure. We shared the ball, we moved the ball and defensively we were physical.
"It's one game."
But it's one they had to have, and a series that wasn't living up to its hype and seemed headed for a quick conclusion is California bound for game five on Monday night.
"Our mindset is to go out there and get one," James said.
The Cavs scored a Finals record 86 points in the first half - a record 49 of those in the first quarter - and then held on during a wild third and fourth quarter that included technical fouls, James jawing with fellow superstar Kevin Durant and Cleveland's crowd roaring like a jet engine.
"That first quarter, they came out and hit us with that amazing punch," Durant said.
"You got to give them credit, they played extremely well tonight."
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs.
Until the Cavs did it last year, no team had ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals.
As the final seconds ticked off at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland fans chanted "Cavs in seven."
"Believeland is not going to give up," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
"We're going to keep fighting. We're going to keep scrapping."
The Warriors had swept their first three postseason series, dominated the Cavs for much of the first three games and were 48 minutes away from a title they've coveted for a year. Now, Golden State fans are holding their breath.
James said his teammates were upset by comments made by fiery Warriors forward Draymond Green.
"I didn't hear it, but some of the other guys heard it and told me that they wanted to celebrate on our floor once again and they wanted to spray champagne in our locker rooms," James said.
"So I just told guys, I didn't stress anything besides just live in the moment."
Durant, still one win from the coveted championship he left Oklahoma City to get, scored 35 points but got little help from Stephen Curry, who scored 14 on 4-of-13 shooting.
"Just one of those games," Curry said.
"Not going to overreact to one. Obviously I can play better and want to play better and will play better."
James finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and on one trip threw the ball off the backboard to himself for a dunk.
Kevin Love made six three-pointers and added 23 points for Cleveland, who made 24 shots from beyond the arc - another Finals record.
If not for Cleveland's Kyle Korver missing a three-pointer in the final minute of game three, the series would be 2-2.
In any event, the Cavs are still breathing, and it's now the Warriors who may be feeling the pressure after blowing a 3-1 lead last June.
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