Reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant played the hero role as he led the Golden State Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102 on Wednesday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven finals at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Durant unloaded a playoff-high of 43 points to go along with 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, which moved a victory away from their second consecutive title. Stephen Curry, on the other hand, who was coming off a history-making performance in Game 2, struggled mightily as he was limited to just 11 points.
It can be recalled that Curry had 33 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in Game 2 last Sunday at the Oracle Arena. On top of that, he also recorded an NBA Finals high of nine three-pointers made despite shooting a lackluster 11-of-26 from the field.
All-Star shooter Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Jordan Bell, and JaVale McGee each had 10 points for the Warriors who are looking to win its sixth championship. Prior to this year's finals, the Warriors already took five crowns after winning the 1947, 1956, 1975, 2015, and 2017 rings.
More Work To Do
Although history favors the Warriors after winning Game 3, Durant knows that the team still has more work to do in the next game. Game 4 of the series is scheduled on Friday.
In the checkered history of the league, no team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit. The last squad to force a Game 7 in the NBA Finals after being down 0-3 was the New York Knicks in 1951.
"I'm not done playing basketball yet. I don't want to downplay anything and say like this is the end of the road. Just get back to work tomorrow and figure out a better game plan," Durant said in the post-game press interview.
Spectacular Performance From James
Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James was impressive again, finishing with 33 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, but it proved to be not enough for the Cavaliers to pull off the victory. All-Star forward Kevin Love backed James' triple-double effort with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
It was James' third consecutive game of scoring 25 points or more in this year's finals. The three-time NBA Champion registered 51 points in Game 1 before scoring 29 markers in Game 2.
Besides Love and James, only J.R. Smith and Rodney Hood hit the double-digit mark for the Cavaliers. Hood recorded 15 markers, while Smith added 13 for the Cavaliers who were outscored by the Warriors by six points in the fourth.
Photo: KT King | Flickr
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