NBA Finals 2018: Warriors vs. Cavaliers, TV Schedule and Game 3 Live Stream
LeBron James put together one of the best individual starts to the NBA Finals in history, but his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates haven't backed him up, leading to a two-game deficit entering Wednesday's Game 3 against the Golden State Warriors.
Cleveland came close to stealing a victory at Oracle Arena in Game 1, but JR Smith forgot the score at the end of regulation, which led to Golden State taking control in overtime.
Game 2 was far from close, as the Warriors defended their home court by overwhelming the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers have plenty to fix in Game 3 in order to reverse the course of the series, and if James gets the right amount of help, we could witness a turning point in the championship matchup at Quicken Loans Arena.
Game 3 Information
Date: Wednesday, June 6
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: ABC
Live Stream: Watch ESPN or ESPN app
James Attempting To Continue Historic Start
Before we get into the struggles of the Cleveland supporting cast, praise must be handed out to James, who is again turning heads with his remarkable play.
Through two games, he has 80 points, which is the fourth-highest total in NBA history behind Jerry West's 94 in 1969, Shaquille O'Neal's 83 in 2000 and James' own mark of 83 from 2015, per NBA.com Stats:
Although his points total dropped from 51 to 29 from Game 1 to Game 2, James still played a massive role in the Cleveland offense Sunday.
The 33-year-old future Hall of Famer handed out 13 assists and hauled in nine rebounds, leaving him one rebound shy of a triple-double.
James also knocked down 50 percent of his field-goal attempts and three-point shots, while making seven of his nine free throws.
While it's easy to assume he is going to thrive with two days' rest and a return to his home court, his points-per-game total with two days' rest was worse than his average with zero or one day off.
In 18 games played after two days' rest in the regular season, he put up 25.4 points per game, while he scored 28.4 points per contest on one day of rest.
This postseason, James recorded numbers close to his career highs, as he enters Game 3 with 34.6 points per game, which is less than a point beneath his top mark of 35.3 points per contest from 2009.
Regardless of what the other Cleveland players do in Game 3, we're almost guaranteed to see yet another jaw-dropping performance from James.
Which Team's Supporting Cast Will Shine The Brightest?
Even if the star players on each team produce terrific individual performances, the role players are still going to be a factor in some regard.
Golden State's supporting cast has been much more consistent than Cleveland's in the first two games of the series, especially in Game 2, when JaVale McGee and Shaun Livingston combined to make all 11 of their field goals.
James received more help in Game 2, as George Hill and Tristan Thompson reached the double-digit point mark, but it wasn't enough to keep the Cavaliers in contention for a win.
In order to outshine the Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavaliers need the same type of performance out of Hill and Thompson, plus more from Smith, who didn't completely bounce back from his Game 1 blunder as he scored 10 points in Game 2.
From the Warriors' perspective, they would like to get more out of their second unit, as they've received sporadic production from the cast of characters on their bench, including Nick Young, Zaza Pachulia and Kevon Looney.
Looney could be the X-factor for the Warriors in Game 3, as he's provided the defending champion with solid minutes throughout the postseason.
Although he hasn't scored a ton, the third-year man out of UCLA hauled in three or more rebounds in each of the seven games against Houston, and he could be key in creating second-chance opportunities Wednesday.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90
Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference
