Warriors Take 3-0 Series Lead vs Spurs with Dominant Win; Kevin Durant Scores 33

The Golden State Warriors took a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals following a 120-108 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night on the road in AT&T Center.

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 33 points, finishing with a double-double (10 rebounds). Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson chipped in with 21 and 17 points apiece, and Draymond Green filled the box score with 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal and two blocks.

As a team, Golden State shot 54.8 percent from the field and made 11 of its 27 attempts from beyond the arc.

The Spurs looked effectively out of the series when they lost Kawhi Leonard to an ankle injury in Game 1. Following Leonard's exit, San Antonio surrendered a 25-point lead to lose 113-111. Leonard missed Game 2 as well, which was a 136-100 victory for the Warriors.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich confirmed Saturday afternoon Leonard would be out for Game 3, per the team's official Twitter account, which put San Antonio's back against a wall even with the Western Conference Finals shifting to AT&T Center.

Compounding the absence of Leonard, the Spurs also lost David Lee in the first quarter. The Spurs announced he suffered a left knee injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the game.

ESPN.com's Bill Barnwell wondered if San Antonio's injury problems would ever end:

Despite their bad luck, the Spurs led 33-29 after the first quarter. Golden State, however, outscored San Antonio 35-22 in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead into halftime. The Warriors' advantage grew to 12 points, 100-88 by the end of the third quarter.

Durant accounted for 19 of Golden State's 36 third-quarter points. NBA TV shared a highlight reel of his hot quarter:

Considering the gulf between the two teams, a 12-point Warriors lead left little sense of drama in the final frame.

For many, Saturday's defeat will be another indictment of LaMarcus Aldridge. Although Aldridge scored 18 points, the Spurs had a minus-27 net rating when he was on the court.

ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne highlighted how Aldridge has suffered without Leonard on the floor to attract the defense's attention:

Social media wasn't kind to Aldridge's performance:

"

Seriously. JaVale taking it to LMA.

Pop flew to LA for you, man.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 21, 2017"

When the Spurs signed Aldridge in 2015, the expectation was that he and Leonard would help the franchise bridge the gap to the next generation following the inevitable end of the Big Three era. Rather than bottoming out and collecting lottery picks, San Antonio could remain relatively competitive while building another title contender.

Instead, Aldridge is looking like an albatross on the team's payroll. According to Spotrac, he has one more guaranteed year left on his deal worth $21.4 million and then a $22.3 million player option for 2018-19.

Last year, Kevin Love was in essentially the same position with the Cleveland Cavaliers before his heroics in the NBA Finals turned his Cavs career around. It's looking increasingly likely Aldridge won't have the same luxury.

Game 4 is scheduled for Monday night at 9 p.m. ET. The Spurs could potentially push the series to five games, but their exit from the postseason appears to be a matter of time. Even if Leonard is back to 100 percent by Monday, there's almost no way in which one can envision San Antonio reeling off four straight wins over Golden State.

With the Cavaliers dominating the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals so far, all signs point to a Finals rubber match between Cleveland and Golden State.