10 Takeaways from Warriors vs. Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 3
On the 10th anniversary of LeBron James' NBA Finals debut, the King positioned his Cleveland Cavaliers to defend home court and spring back into this series.
Then, the Golden State Warriors reclaimed their spot as the league's reigning two-way terror. An 11-0 run over the contest's final three minutes helped the Dubs flip a 113-107 deficit into a gut-punching 118-113 victory.
At least Cleveland made it interesting. This was only Golden State's third playoff game decided by single digits in 15 tries—all of them wins. Before the series shifted to Northeast Ohio, the Cavs had suffered a pair of defeats by 22 and 19 points.
No one will know until Friday whether this causes the Cavs to rally or wilt, or the Warriors to let off the gas or bury the pedal into the floor. But after Wednesday's contest, we did collect these 10 bits of intel.
Kevin Durant Is Cold-Blooded
1 of 10Some might paint the night as a Cavs' collapse, since they went scoreless after JR Smith's triple gave them a 113-107 lead with 3:09 remaining. But really, this was robbery, and Durant was the central figure in pulling off the heist.
While he wasn't the high scorer for the first time this series, he was responsible for sucking every ounce of air out of Quicken Loans Arena. After collecting a Kyle Korver miss in the final minute, Durant calmly and confidently jogged across half court, found his target and fired over LeBron James from the left wing. Durant's dagger put the Warriors ahead for good—in this contest and almost certainly the series as well.
"All I was looking at was the bottom of the net," Durant told ESPN's Doris Burke after the game. "... I've been working on that shot my whole life."
This Is Historical Greatness
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Even after Wednesday's thriller, fans can and will bemoan the lack of competitiveness in this postseason. But that's just another way of framing Golden State's unprecedented dominance.
The Dubs do things we never thought we'd see—67-plus wins three straight seasons, 73 victories in a single campaign and now a 15-0 playoff start. If they make it 16 straight and collect their second world title in three years, they'll cement themselves as the greatest winners in league history—no matter what all the ex-player curmudgeons want to say.
But even if they go 16-1 or 16-2, this could easily be the best team the sport has ever witnessed. The offense proved historically explosive, and the defense outperformed all but one contemporary. The roster reads like an embarrassment of riches, simultaneously as top-heavy and deep as any around the league. Appreciate what we're witnessing, even if it means closing the book on this season earlier than we would've liked.
Warriors Solved the Game 3 Puzzle
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Because of all the personnel changes, parallels haven't been easy to draw between past Finals collisions and this one. Still, the easiest link to make was the situation after two games—Cleveland going home after a pair of double-digit losses. The Cavs roared back with a 30-point win last time around, which is an often overlooked part of their eventual comeback.
"It wasn't close," Steve Kerr said, per Bay Area News Group's Anthony Slater. "And I thought that gave them confidence, gave their crowd confidence."
The Warriors, who hadn't won Game 3 in either of the last two Finals, were determined not to let history repeat itself. They found the requisite energy to grab an early lead in a hostile environment against a full-throttle opponent. That cushion didn't last, but it provided the platform on which the Warriors mounted their late-game larceny.
LeBron May Never Sit in Game 4
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Anyone who has witnessed LeBron James' career knows he's not bound to the same physical laws as the rest of us. Still, watching him attempt to balance carrying Cleveland's offense and guarding a four-time scoring champion in Durant begged the question—aren't you a little tired?
"Do I look tired?" James told reporters at Wednesday's shootaround. "I'm averaging a triple-double in the Finals. I'm pretty good, I think."
James fell one assist shy of a second triple-double (39 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists) in the series, so it seems the fuel tank is fine. But that could lead Cleveland to raise its own inquiry—can he still give more? He sat two minutes in Game 3, during which the Cavs were outscored by a dozen. If Game 4 is another nail-biter, he may not rest at all.
Klay's Slump Is Officially Busted
5 of 10
Streakiness is a part of Klay Thompson's game. Two outings after his 60-point outburst, he laid a 10-point egg. That makes it tricky to tell when he's actually lost it and conversely when he's rediscovered it.
But a competent showing in Game 2—22 points on 8-of-12 shooting—set the stage for his real return Wednesday. The 6'7" sniper took a flamethrower to the first quarter, leading all scorers with 16 points and drilling four of his five long-range looks. By night's end, he'd devoured his first 30-burger in more than two months and bettered his three-point total from the previous three contests combined with six on 11 tries.
If Thompson has his shot, the Warriors are almost impossible to contain. It's bad enough playing pick-your-poison with Durant and Stephen Curry. When Thompson himself is at an All-Star level, you see why this group has so many entries in the record books.
It's Dominate or Bust for Kyrie
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Coming into Game 3, Kyrie Irving knew his personal bar was set absurdly high. He entered with series averages of 21.5 points and 4.5 assists—and a bunch of questions about what was wrong with his game.
"Just seeing a lot of bodies," Irving said of how he was being defended, per Cleveland.com's Matt Goul. "They're obviously trying to make a few other guys make plays, and when we're coming off our isolations, they're bringing a few more bodies to clog the lane."
Irving reprised his Uncle Drew character and shook those bodies Wednesday. Despite a goose egg from three and mild mid-range success, he piled up 38 points on 55.2 percent shooting. It wasn't quite enough, mostly because of another dismal effort from Cleveland's support staff (and a tiny bit to Irving's atrocious shot selection after Durant's big bucket). But if he doesn't dominate, the Cavs have no chance.
Kyle Korver Has Hops
7 of 10Kyle Korver has spent the bulk of this series below the radar, which makes sense given where he's at in his career and how much star power this series possesses.
But the 36-year-old stole a sliver of the spotlight with a surprising slam off a sneaky back cut early in the second quarter. Sure, it may have been a travel and wasn't exactly the cleanest finish, but it was a sight to behold as only his second dunk of the year and first playoff throwdown since 2011, per ESPN Stats & Info.
"Did I just see a Kyle Korver two-handed dunk in the NBA Finals?" Leigh Ellis of NBATV's "The Starters" tweeted. "I couldn't have."
Warriors Turnovers Should Hurt More Than They Do
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It feels like forever ago that the Warriors were matching Finals history with a four-turnover performance to start the series. That's probably because they've averaged more giveaways in the eight quarters they've played since (4.75, 38 overall).
That should be an important number, potentially a debilitating amount of self-inflicted damage. Truth be told, it looks more like a necessary evil that's just packaged alongside Golden State's greatness.
The four-turnover outing was almost a little too mechanical for a team that improvises like a great jazz musician. In fact, it was the Warriors' lowest-scoring (113 points) and worst-shooting (42.5 percent from the field, 36.4 outside) contest of the Finals. That seems neither fair nor in line with any conventional basketball wisdom.
Cavs Can't Find the Right Pace
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After the Warriors ran the Cavs out of the gym twice to start the series, everyone harped on the importance of pace control for Cleveland. Well, everyone except the Cavaliers.
"That's not our game," James said, per Bay Area News Group’s Jimmy Durkin. "We don't play slowdown basketball."
Only, Cleveland did slow the tempo in the third quarter and won the frame for the first time in these Finals. But the deliberate pace seemed to burn the Cavs late, as their offense stagnated and their 22nd-ranked defense cracked at the most inopportune time. They don't have the depth to win an up-and-down shootout, but they haven't shown the discipline to survive a drag-it-out affair, either.
JR Smith Has a Pulse
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File this away as useless sports trivia—JR Smith scored the first points of these Finals. That's only notable because that triple tied his scoring total in Games 1 and 2 combined.
There was some obvious encouragement, then, from seeing him line up and knock down his first two three-point tries in Game 3. He wound up connecting on 5-of-10 outside on the night, joining James and Irving as Cleveland's only other double-digit scorer with 16 points.
Last year, Smith struggled through the first two contests, erupted for 20 in Game 3 and never had single digits the rest of the way. Maybe he can spark another mini-fire again. That said, it says a lot about Cleveland's supporting cast when Smith is the only one eliciting confidence. Kevin Love just had his second bad game in three tries, while Tristan Thompson still awaits his first good one.
Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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