Kevin Durant Unstoppable in Game 3. Warriors Up 3-0
SteemSports Presenter:@mateonav53
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
43 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 15/23 from the field. That was Kevin Durant's stat line. He was the heart and soul of the Warriors for all of Game 3 and particularly in crunch time when the game had the opportunity to break one way or the other. The Warriors are now up 3-0 on the Cavaliers after emerging victorious in Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night 110-102. He even did it on a night where Steph Curry (11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3/16 from the field, 1/10 from three) and Klay Thompson (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4/11 from the field) turned in subpar performances.
LeBron threw down a triple-double (33 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 13/28 from the field) but his competition is so stacked that triple-double didn't feel like nearly enough. He really has to average 45 for his team to have a chance. Kevin Love also pitched in 20 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal shooting 6/13 from the field.
The Cleveland Cavaliers looked like they had a chance going back to the first quarter. They jumped out to a lead thanks to early dominance in the rebound battle and capitalization off Golden State Turnovers. The Warriors had three quick silly turnovers to start the contest and the Cavs jumped at the opportunity to go up 18-8. Draymond Green and Tristan Thompson got double technical fouls in the first quarter too. Green just wouldn't stop yelling but nevertheless, he remained in the game.
Golden State figured things out in the latter half of the first quarter and rallied to cut the deficit to only two, 22-24. The Cavs were getting sloppy with the ball and began turning it over themselves. Even LeBron was throwing it away. The Cavs had the initial upper hand, but once guys like Thompson and Durant were able to get to their spots and hit shots, it looked like the road to a win would be a lot tougher for Cleveland. Kevin Durant was on fire with 12 points (4/4 from the field) and 7 rebounds, but the Cavs were ahead 29-26.
The Cavs managed to get ahead by a little bit to begin the second quarter, 35-28. Steph Curry still hadn't caught fire yet. In fact, he was throwing up some ugly shots. The Cavaliers continued killing them in the rebound department. They had a 25-12 board advantage with five minutes left in the quarter.
The Cavs were up by as much as ten with the second quarter winding down, but the Warriors closed the gap at the end on a Durant near-buzzer beater three to make it a six-point game, 58-52. LeBron was everywhere, doing it all (14 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 7/15 from the field), but he was clearly conserving his scoring energy for the second half. Kevin Durant wasn't saving anything, as he already had 24 points with 8 rebounds and 2 assists at the end of the first half. Kevin Love played aggressively too, tallying 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Warriors came out firing to start the third and quickly tied it up 61-61. They went on a 15-3 run and nabbed the lead 69-64 thanks to an improved passing clip and a seemingly endless supply of heat from Kevin Durant. KD really was the leader out on the floor for Golden State. He was always the one making big shot after shot and pretty pass after pass. He was taking over, having himself a LeBron type of game.
The Cavs kept battling in the third though. Rodney Hood was finally getting some minutes and he was making them count, shooting 4/5 from the field(he ended up finishing with 15 on 7/11 shooting). LeBron got his FIRST rest of the game with one minute left in the third quarter, and the Warriors were up 83-81 heading into the final quarter. It seemed like the Cavs should've been down more based on how well Kevin Durant was playing.
The score of the fourth quarter went back and forth like a game of ping-pong between the Warriors and Cavs. LeBron hadn't found his scoring touch and neither did Steph Curry for that matter. Bron did have 28 points though with three minutes left in the game, but it didn't feel like he was dominating in his usual manner.
With two minutes remaining in the game, Steph Curry finally hit some shots (a difficult layup and a three), which received a LeBron three-pointer in response to make it 101-100 Golden State ahead. With a chance to ice the game, Kevin Durant faced up with the ball slowly dribbling deep beyond the three-point line with Rodney Hood guarding him...and he sunk it in cold blood. Warriors up 106-100 with 49.8 seconds to play. The camera shot back to LeBron on the bench with a look on his face that said, "I can't wait to be done with these fucking teammates." Cleveland made a layup right after, but Golden State killed the clock and got a wide-open Draymond dunk off of nice ball movement to make it 108-102 with 25 seconds to play. When the final buzzer sounded, Golden State claimed a Game 3 victory 110-102 to go up 3-0 on the Cavs in the NBA Finals.
Golden State got this victory in Quicken Loans Arena without even having a passable Curry game. Kevin Durant was just that good tonight. That should illustrate the gap in personnel between the Cavs and Warriors. The game felt competitive for the majority of the time, but KD played incredible in the fourth to ice it. It doesn't feel like there's much hope left for the Cavs. We will see if they come out with any fight in them in Game 4.
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That long distance 3 pointer with just about a minute left in the game was the best.
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Kevin Durant's skill is ridiculous. But I can't root for the man after joining a 73-9 team that came back on him 3-1.
Last night was the first time I heard that he was actually over seven foot tall. And with a jumper like his, youre right his talent is amazing.
He seems to be everywhere the ball is.
I know, I learned recently about the seven foot thing too. I always thought he was 6'10/11. And to have a shot and handles like that??? Shit is cheat codes!!!
Warriors did not stop. LeBron next year in the new team?
I think it's very likely. Not much Cleveland can do with their roster. But where does he land? I'm not sold on the common options that are floating around like Rockets, Sixers, Lakers.
Whatever happens he better not join the Warriors
Not Warriors.))
Tonight the Finals were over. No more chance for the Cavs. They maybe will win game 4 in The Land, but this year they will not be able to recover 3 games deficit.
LeBron had a great season and post-season.
He is the best.
No doubts!
I know! At 33 years of age he was arguably the best he's ever been! It was incredible to watch. Too bad they couldn't steal that Game 1. The series would've been much more interesting
Magical post-season for LeBron no doubt. One of the best of all-time IMO, but not nearly enough to take down the mighty Warriors. I honestly figured LeBron would have to average legit 40-50 points per game for the series for the Cavs to have a chance. Durant was on fire once again last night, picked up the slack for everyone else. Cavs might win game 4 to avoid a sweep, but don't see a magical rally this time. This might have been a different series had they not let game 1 get away at the end of regulation.
Well said man. That Game 1 was heartbreaking! Ugh. They had it right there!!!
A good game played by the teams
Bit there must always be a winner