In a must-game win for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team had to bounce back from two back-to-back losses and set the tone in Game 3 in front of their home crowd.
That’s exactly what they did.
Kyrie Irving came out aggressive and didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter, as the whole team played with a chip on their shoulder and came out swinging against the Golden State Warriors. From their 9-0 start, they kept the foot on the gas and never looked back.
It didn’t hurt that Tristan Thompson was beasting down low, grabbing every rebound and helping the team with second chance opportunities. LeBron James was extra physical, JR Smith was hitting shots from downtown and there was absolutely no signs of them missing Kevin Love.
The Warriors picked things up in the second quarter and cut the 20-point lead down to eight points, but it wasn’t enough at the end of the day. Steph Curry seemed to have more turnovers than points in the first half and the Splash Brothers weren’t making a difference in the game early, especially after Klay Thompson left the game for a bit with a knee bruise.
Between Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green, the trio only scored 35 points in the game, the lowest total score between all three of them in the past two years.
The Splash Brothers haven’t really shown up in these NBA Finals so far and that should be credit to the Cavs, who have been able to contain them in the backcourt and letting the bench and role players beat them. Obviously, the latter didn’t show up in Game 3.
King James finished the game with 32 points and 11 rebounds, while Kyrie spazzed with 30 points and 8 assists of his own. JR also showed up with 20 points after going quiet the first two games.
On the other side of the ball, Curry mustered up 19 points, Thompson only scored 10 points and Harrison Barnes 18 points. Andre Iguodala also added 10 points off the bench.
It will be interesting to see whether or not Love will start next game if he’s cleared to play and/or how much game time he even gets. He’s still undergoing concussion protocol, so he has not yet been cleared by doctors.
FINAL: CLE 120 | GS 90
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