The Golden State Warriors (GSW) stunned the Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs) defeating them 118 – 113 in Cleveland. The Cavs led for much of the second half then, fell apart in the closing seconds of Game 3 of the NBA finals and lost to the Golden State Warriors in the third game of the best of seven series.
Golden State, which finished the game with an 11-0 run, now has a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. The Warriors are one win away from the NBA title.
The Warriors, despite 18 turnovers, despite 77 points from James and Irving, and despite trailing in the fourth quarter, were simply too much. GSW survived a fourth quarter onslaught from the Cavs but it was not enough to put a dent on Golden State Warriors.
This is the first Game 3 win in three tries for the Warriors, who extended their postseason win record to a never-done-before 15-0. After an exciting game loaded with highlights, here are a few:
Klay Thompson heeded the call, and showed up early for work. Thompson had been mostly anonymous this postseason, as Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry took center stage. In Game 3, he made 4-of-5 3-pointers in the first quarter, and scored a game-high 16 points in the first period as the Warriors went on a trey binge.
The total of seven 3-pointers Golden State sank was the first time any team scored as many in a quarter in the Finals since Michael Jordan and the Bulls did it in 1992. Klay finished with 30 points, the most he’s scored in a game in the 2017 playoffs. How important was Klay to the Warriors? Cavaliers duo LeBron and Kyrie scored 77 points, the Warriors got 57 from Durant and Curry … the 30 from Klay gave them a huge boost.
Kevin Durant remains dominant, even in game like this. The postgame talk will revolve around Klay Thompson’s treys and Kyrie Irving’s play and ball handling, but Durant led the Warriors, again, with 31 points (10-of-18 FG) and added eight rebounds and four assists. His play continues to be key for the Warriors. He also sank the 3-point shot that both silenced the crowd at Quicken Loans, and took the wind out of the Cavaliers’ sails with less than 46 seconds left in the game.
LeBron was 0-1 when KD was his primary defender in Game 2, and generally found the rangy forward a tough nut to crack in the first two games in Oakland. Back on his home court, LeBron needed to make a statement. It came midway into the first quarter and LBJ took it, slamming a dunk over a persistent KD after initially shrugging him off at the top of the key, as he attacked the basket. LeBron finished with a game-high 39 points, and was just one assist short of a triple-double. Sadly, it wasn’t enough.
Stephen Curry treys kept Warriors in the game. Steph missed his first two long-range shots, but ended up making the important ones. His first field goals were the back-to-back 3-pointers he made at the end of the first quarter to give Warriors the lead; then he and Klay sank another pair at the end of the second quarter to keep the Warriors in front.
When Kyrie Irving started making plays in the third quarter and the Cavs nosed ahead, Steph sank another midway into the quarter to restore the Warriors’ lead. He ended up with 5-of-9 treys and scored 26 points, but every one of the five was crucial.
Tristan Thompson continues to be a non-factor in this series. Thompson has now gone 45 minutes of basketball over two games in the Finals without scoring a point. The Canadian was tipped to be the X factor for the Cavaliers following what looked like a breakout season defensively. It just isn’t happening for him.
And the stats do tell the story. The Cavs still forced shots and missed most of them: 44.4 percent from field-goal range including 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. They were again out rebounded by the Warriors at 44-37, and the Dubs moved the ball more, recording 29 assists to Cavaliers’ 17.
And although the Warriors committed more turnovers (18-12), they scored more points off turnovers than the hosts (22-20) and had more fastbreak points (24-13). The Cavaliers had more points in the paint (46-38) mainly because of Irving, who scored most of his points off drives and mid-range shots.
It’s now on to Game 4.
