CLEVELAND — When Stephen Curry drained a stepback 3-pointer with five seconds left in the first half, completing yet another Golden State long-distance flurry, LeBron James pushed the ball down the floor, drew three defenders, and, as usual, made a picturesque pass to Jeff Green for an open three that would have shifted the momentum.

Green missed.

That play typified the 2018 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Cavaliers. The Warriors were still stellar enough to make eye-popping plays, even though their concentration level may have tailed off a bit. The Cavaliers were led by LeBron, the freight train with handles who made all the right plays — except his teammates couldn’t produce, even in the lowest of pressure moments.

In the second half Friday night, realizing his team’s fate after the Warriors put together another run, James began to slow down. He picked up silly reach-in fouls and suddenly Game 4 turned into a pickup game, a showcase for the Warriors’ dynasty and a depressing conclusion for those Cavs fans holding out hope that LeBron won’t depart.

The Warriors won their third NBA title in four years with a 108-85 victory at Quicken Loans Arena. It was a whitewashing, even after the Cavaliers took a brief lead midway through the second quarter.

Golden State swept the series, capitalizing on J.R. Smith’s crushing mistake in Game 1 and then dominating the remaining three games, proving the Cavaliers had little chance to compete, little chance because of a flawed roster and a megastar unable to lift his bumbling teammates.

In the end, LeBron admitted he was playing with a badly bruised right hand, courtesy of punching a blackboard at Oracle Arena following Game 1.

“What happened? Self-inflicted, postgame after Game 1,’’ he said. “Very emotional. For a lot of different reasons, understanding how important Game 1 is on the road for our ball club, what would that have done for us, the way we played, the calls that were made throughout the course of that game.

“I had emotions on the game was taken away from us. I had emotions of you just don’t get an opportunity like this on the road versus Golden State to be able to get a Game 1, and I let the emotions get the best of me. Pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand, so that’s what it is.’’

James refused to say whether this was his final game as a Cavalier. He has the right to opt out of his contract and sign somewhere else or opt in and facilitate a trade with another club, in the same manner Chris Paul did with the Rockets last summer.

Either way, it will definitely be the last of this Cavaliers team as currently constructed. The primary rival of the Celtics for the past four years has run out of petrol, unable to keep up with the more energetic Warriors, who were led Friday by Curry’s very entertaining 37 points, which came on an array of creative 3-pointers, and a workmanlike triple-double from series­ MVP Kevin Durant.

The Warriors stacked their roster to prevail in situations such as these, and there are a handful of teams that will be gunning for them, including the Celtics. But for now, it’s Golden State’s world. The center of the basketball universe remains in Oakland and there are no hints the Warriors are going to relent their reign easily. It will have to be taken away by a superior opponent.

“That’s how you know we’re a great team is when everybody’s coming after us,’’ said Durant, who took heavy criticism after signing with the Warriors. “Whether it’s opponents, whether it’s different coaches panning for us, whether it’s the fans, the media that hate us, it feels good when you’re the team that everybody’s gunning for. It makes us better. It makes us come to work and try to play at that championship level every single day, and that’s the hardest part.

“But, you know, I’m glad we were able to lock in, especially in the playoffs, and do what we were supposed to do to win this thing.’’

The atmosphere at Quicken Loans Arena was surreal in the late stages of the game. The fans chanted “MVP’’ when James attempted free throws in the fourth quarter. When he exited the game with 4:03 left, he was given a standing ovation.

The consensus among the Cavaliers faithful was that they will understand if he departs. They don’t blame him for leaving because he fulfilled his promise of a championship. Several times throughout the night, the crowd groaned at a botched defensive assignment or a missed open shot by one of James’s teammates.

In the second half, even James appeared to lose hope. The end was inevitable.

The Cavaliers’ run as Eastern Conference powers is likely over unless James decides to return and the roster is overhauled. That opens an opportunity for the Celtics to take over next season. But that’s months from now after another training camp and another 82-game season.

The Warriors returned to the Bay Area on Saturday as champions, as if there were any doubt when this series began. There was a slight belief, however, that the greatness of James would be enough to keep this series compelling and beyond the minimum.

But not even he could make this suspenseful.

He began freely admitting as much in the past few days, and Game 4 merely cemented the fact that the Cavaliers’ time as the Warriors’ primary challengers has likely ended.

“I wondered if we could hit a switch someway, somehow, just because the course of the regular season it was just like, I don’t know,’’ James said. “You guys ask me a lot, our beat writers kind of ask us throughout the whole season, and then we made the trades. And right before the playoffs, a couple weeks before the playoffs: ‘Do you feel like your team is ready for the postseason?’ I didn’t know. It was just the unknown.’’

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.