The Warriors took a commanding 3-0 series lead in the NBA Finals after storming back in the final minutes to beat the Cavaliers 118-113 in Game 3 on Wednesday night. Trailing 113-107 with just over three minutes remaining, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant combined for the final 11 points of the contest to steal the victory for Golden State. Durant and Klay Thompson paced the Warriors with 31 and 30 points, respectively, while Curry added 26, as that trio combined for all but one of Golden State’s 16 three-pointers in the game. With the win, the Warriors remain undefeated in postseason play and now possess the longest postseason winning streak in the history of the four major American sports.
GAME LEADERS
When they needed him most, Kevin Durant came through in the clutch. With the game hanging in the balance, he delivered the biggest shot of his career and a momentous comeback victory to Golden State that leaves them one win away from their second title in three years.
The pace was frantic from the start, as the teams combined for 70 points in the opening frame. After J.R. Smith followed Kyrie Irving’s game-opening layup with a three-pointer, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant connected on back-to-back three-pointers to give the Warriors their first lead of the night. Durant would add another trey 52 seconds later to put the Dubs up 9-7, but Smith and LeBron James answered right back with two-straight threes for the Cavs to reclaim a slight advantage. That latter shot began a stretch in which James would account for nine of Cleveland’s next 11 points, while Thompson kept pace by scoring 11-straight Warriors points, a sequence that included three more three-pointers. Andre Iguodala would get in on the action with a three-pointer of his own to put Golden State in front 27-23 with 4:20 left in the first quarter, but James and Irving combined for the next six points in the contest before Shaun Livingston knotted the score at 29-29 with 2:15 remaining. After two Iman Shumpert free throws, the Warriors then closed the quarter on a 10-0 run ignited by two Stephen Curry three-pointers. After setting a Finals record with 18 threes in Game 2, Golden State would total nine treys in the first quarter of Game 3 to establish yet another Finals record. Golden State's 13 first-quarter assists also matched the franchise playoff record for assists in a quarter.
Cleveland flipped the script to begin the second quarter, opening the frame on an 8-0 burst to tie the score at 39-39 one minute into it. Thompson converted a layup on the ensuing possession, though, and the Warriors would go on to remain in the lead for the duration of the half. James would provide the only field goal in a four-minute span of the quarter to pull the Cavs within one, but Curry ended Golden State’s drought with another three-pointer to rebuild a two-basket cushion. Irving scored on a layup 18 seconds later, however, and Cleveland’s All-Star guard would begin to get rolling from there. He’d add another layup 28 seconds later to cut the deficit to two, and would do so once more at the 1:17 mark to close within 61-59. Thompson and Curry then combined for back-to-back three-pointers to match the Warriors’ largest lead of the night before Irving converted yet another layup at the quarter buzzer to send the game into halftime with Golden State leading 67-61.