OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors somehow withstood LeBron James' latest brilliance on the NBA Finals stage.

A costly blunder by J.R. Smith and a disputed foul call involving James himself sure helped.

Stephen Curry scored 29 points and the Warriors capitalized on Smith's mistake that sent the game into overtime, overcoming a 51-point performance by James to beat Cleveland 124-114 in Game 1 on Thursday night.

The game nearly over, James jawed with both Curry and Klay Thompson, then Tristan Thompson and Draymond Green tangled moments later and made contact. After replay review, Tristan Thompson received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection with 2.6 seconds left.

James was in utter disbelief as regulation ended stunningly: George Hill made the first of two free throws with 4.7 seconds left after beingin seven-game conference finals they each had to win on the road.

"I can't talk about a situation that way because I do some dumb stuff on the court," Durant said of how the fourth quarter finished. "I don't know what was going through J.R.'s head. He made a great rebound and gave them an opportunity to win the basketball game."

Game 2 is Sunday night back at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors have won 18 of their last 19 postseason games. In 2015, when the Golden State beat the Cavs to capture the franchise's first title in 40 years, the first two games of the series went to OT -- Golden State winning the opener and Cleveland Game 2.

James shot 19 for 32 to go with eight assists and