OAKLAND, Calif. Chris Bassitt Jersey . -- Stephen Curry scored 24 points and dished out nine assists, and the Golden State Warriors forced a decisive Game 7 by outlasting the Los Angeles Clippers 100-99 Thursday night. Andre Iguodala added 15 points and Draymond Green had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors, handing Los Angeles one more obstacle to overcome in a week full of them after Clippers owner Donald Sterling earned a lifetime ban from the NBA for his racist remarks. The finale of the first-round series will conclude Saturday night in Los Angeles. The Warriors limited big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan even after centre Jermaine ONeal left with a sprained right knee in the second quarter. The Clippers simply ran out of time in the closing minute, missing three shots before Matt Barnes made a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play. Los Angeles fouled Curry, who missed both free throws. Green grabbed the rebound as time expired, touching off a confetti-filled celebration throughout the gold-shirt wearing sellout crowd of 19,596, which packed an unusually warm Oracle Arena that rocked and roared throughout. Barnes finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, Griffin had 17 points and nine rebounds before fouling out, and Jordan had 19 boards and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who are trying to win just their third playoff series since Sterling bought the franchise in 1981. Clippers point guard Chris Paul appeared hampered by the strained left hamstring that has bothered him all series. He crouched down and held his knees during stoppages, often wincing in pain. He had nine points, eight assists and five rebounds. With the stakes higher than theyve been all season, the teams traded blows in a fast and physical game that often featured more fouls than flamboyant plays. ONeal appeared to take the worst one, spraining his right knee when Glen "Big Baby" Davis lowered his shoulder and crashed into him while going for a rebound in the second quarter. ONeal lay in pain until limping to the locker with the help of teammates. He did not return. Green filled the void for a Warriors front line already missing two centres, including starter Andrew Bogut, who has sat out the series with a fractured right rib. Greens physical play inside highlighted a game that officials had to constantly control. The teams combined for 31 fouls in the first half and 52 for the game. Griffin and J.J. Redick, and Golden States David Lee all fouled out in the fourth quarter. The teams kept things just as close on the scoreboard as on the court. Los Angeles led 51-48 at the half, while the Warriors went up 70-67 through three quarters. The Warriors began to pull away when Iguodala hit a corner 3-pointer in front of the Clippers bench, falling to the floor after drawing Griffins sixth foul with 2:31 to play. Iguodala strutted down court and gave a low-hand slap to Green as the crowd roared to its feet with Golden State up 96-89, but the celebration would have to wait. The Clippers came back quickly, cutting Golden States lead to two on a 3-pointer by Jamal Crawford and a layup by Barnes. Both teams missed several shots in the final minute, especially Los Angeles. The Clippers missed three straight shots -- and corralled three rebounds -- before Barnes hit the 3 with 1.1 seconds remaining to trim Golden States lead to one. Los Angeles had no time left for one more shot, forcing a much-anticipated finale between rising Pacific Division rivals. The Clippers and Warriors have played 10 games this season. Each team has won five. NOTES: The Warriors had lost seven straight elimination games since Sleepy Floyd scored 51 points to lead Golden State past the Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on May 5, 1987. ... The Warriors have won 17 of their past 20 home games against Los Angeles. ... Clippers reserve F Hedo Turkoglu sat out with a lower back injury suffered in Game 5. He is day to day. Oakland Athletics Store .C. - Blair Jones scored the eventual winner in the third period as the Abbotsford Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Oil Barons 3-2 in American Hockey League action on Friday. Oakland Athletics Gear . Matt Carkner got back into the Ottawa lineup, and made his presence felt right away by settling his clubs score in a one-sided fight with Rangers forward Brian Boyle. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/ . That Ginette Reno can sing. DENVER -- Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers used a balanced offensive attack to close out a successful Western Conference road trip. Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Cleveland had five players score in double figures. C.J. Miles added 19 points, including four free throws down the stretch, and Luol Deng scored 18. "Everyone has to be guarded," Irving said. "Its a luxury right now." The Cavaliers finished their five-game trip with a 3-2 record after winning in Denver for the second time in three years. They led most of the way and held off a late rally by the Nuggets that cut a double-digit lead to three early in the fourth quarter. Cleveland went 28 for 35 at the free-throw line, including 12 of 15 in the fourth quarter. "We had each others back because on the road its us against the world," coach Mike Brown said. "We had a lot of guys step up. We were aggressive with 35 free-throw attempts." Wilson Chandler scored 23 points and Ty Lawson had 19 points and 11 assists for the Nuggets, who have dropped two of three. Denver had won its last four home games, but fell to 11-9 at Pepsi Center this season. It had a 38-3 home record last season. "These games should be in the win column," Lawson said. "We just keep letting easy games go. Our last month is tough, weve got to get these games right now." The Nuggets attempted a season-high 37 3-pointers, making 14, but struggled from long range down the stretch. "We were taking what the defence was giving us," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. "In the second half we threw up a lot because we were down and we were trying to get back in the game. But I dont think our offence was hurting us - it was defence." After Tyler Zellers free throw made it 94-86 with 9:33 remaining, Evan Fournier hit a floating jump shot in the lane and Nate Robinson made a 3-poointer to cut the deficit to three. Athletics Jerseys 2020. It was the closest Denver had been since the second quarter. "We still had the lead. The momentum was in their favour but that happens on the road, especially against a good home team," Irving said. "We had to remain aggressive and thats what we did." The Cavaliers responded with five straight points. Anderson Varejao hit a jumper and free throw and Irving also scored to make it 99-91. Denver made a couple more charges, but each rally fizzled when it got close. Chandler hit two 3-pointers to help the Nuggets get within three at 111-108. Denver had a chance to get within one or tie but an offensive rebound by Irving led to a dunk by Deng with 43.8 seconds left, and Cleveland closed it out from there. "We wanted it and we went out and took it," Irving said. "Couple of mistakes at the end but it didnt rattle us." The Cavaliers led by 14 in the third quarter but Denver made a push to close to 87-80 heading into the fourth. Chandler scored seven points in the period. Irving, Thompson and Miles all had 13 points in the first half for Cleveland, which used an 18-6 run to take a 68-57 lead at the break. Irving scored 10 points in the spurt and Miles hit a corner 3-pointer just before the end of the quarter to push the lead to 11. The Nuggets hit nine 3-pointers in the first 24 minutes to keep it close but allowed the Cavaliers to hit 56.5 per cent from the field in allowing 68 points in the first half for the second time this season. Randy Foye led Denver with 14 points at the break. "That second quarter we gave them 42 points," Foye said. "That just killed us. Every other quarter we held them down. That second quarter killed us." NOTES: Nuggets F Darrell Arthur (left groin strain) missed his third straight game. ... Deng is averaging 18 points since coming to the Cavaliers in a trade with Chicago on Jan. 7. ... Shaw missed shootaround with a sinus infection but was on the sideline for the game. ' ' '