Warriors vs. Cavaliers: Best Highlights, Comments from Game 3 of 2017 NBA Finals

The Golden State Warriors look determined to pull off a complete 16-0 sweep of the 2017 NBA playoffs.

After falling behind by six points with 3:09 left in Wednesday's Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Warriors went on a game-sealing 11-0 run to take a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead in the Finals.

From start to finish, this was the most competitive contest of the series so far. Golden State won the first two by an average of 20.5 points, effectively ending each before the fourth quarter. The lead never reached double digits in the second half for either side on Wednesday.

It was the kind of back-and-forth battle, packed with highlights and clutch performances, that NBA fans have been clamoring for all postseason.

It started in the first quarter, when an aggressive LeBron James looked intent on getting his team in the win column with this dunk shared by NBA.com:

LeBron finished the opening frame with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Despite his ridiculous start, the Warriors still led 39-32 after one.

That seven-point lead was thanks in large part to a ridiculous barrage from downtown by Golden State. According to NBA History, its nine first-quarter three-pointers set a Finals record:

But the Cavs kept fighting to open the second. And few things signify fight quite like a Kyle Korver dunk, seen here in NBA.com's tweet:

Kyrie Irving also started getting loose in the second quarter, putting on plenty of displays like this one shown by SportsCenter:

Irving scored 11 of his 38 points in that second frame, and it turned out, he was just getting started. The third quarter belonged to Kyrie, and NBA TV shared video of all 16 of his points from that frame:

He eclipsed 30 points during the third, putting him in pretty elite company, according to Basketball Reference:

Bleacher Report even wondered if the ridiculous performance came from Irving's legendary Uncle Drew persona:

All told, Irving and James would finish with 38 and 39 points, respectively. This is the fifth time both have topped 30 in a playoff game, according to NBA History:

But that heavy load may have slowed the duo down by the time the fourth quarter came around. Each went 2-of-6 in the final frame, combining for just 12 of their 77 total points.

As it has all series, the fourth quarter belonged to Kevin Durant. He scored 14 of his 31 in the last 12 minutes. He was 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from three, with the biggest shot being this go-ahead triple, seen in slow-motion, courtesy of the NBA, with 0:45 to play:

Durant talked about the big shot in the postgame press conference, as seen on NBA TV:

KD's shot proved to be a dagger and was the climax of an incredible run, but the Warriors were excellent throughout the fourth. And the Cavs were able to return fire for the first nine minutes of the quarter. The NBA cut together a reel of the best plays from the closing minutes:

It took longer in Game 3 than it did in Games 1 and 2, but eventually the Cavs ran out of gas. They did indeed go shot for shot with the Warriors for most of the fourth but got steamrolled in the waning moments.

Fatigue, as Draymond Green told the NBA TV crew, may have been the key:

And the numbers support that. In fourth quarters this series, Durant is averaging 10.3 points, with a true shooting percentage of .879. Stephen Curry is 4.3 points, with a TSP of .611. LeBron, meanwhile, is averaging 3.7 points in fourth quarters, with a .463 TSP. Finally, Irving is averaging 4.7 points on .485 TSP.

Even with his deflated fourth-quarter numbers, though, LeBron is still doing enough. He just needs some help. Michael Pina of Vice Sports shared his almost unbelievable plus-minus:

Obviously, that means the Cavaliers were outscored by 12 points in the two minutes James sat. There's simply very little else he can do, something he talked about on NBA TV:

With the sweep now very much in play for the Warriors, Game 4 is set for Friday at 9 p.m. ET.