And Chef Curry still wasn’t cookin’. This series (and these playoffs) have had a lot of blowouts.
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“At the end of the day, no matter if you lose by 30 or one, it’s just one win”, Cleveland star LeBron James said after the Cavaliers’ 120-90 win on Wednesday night in Game 3.
The odor of their carpet is a sign that Coach Steve Kerr is about to have his second championship ring in two seasons. Cleveland is 13-0 when scoring 100 points in this postseason…. “I thought we were very physical defensively, and I thought we were aggressive offensively, attacking the basket, getting out in transition, running the floor”, Lue said. No Golden State possession went by without multiple Cleveland defenders playing up and into the passing lanes.
At Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron James shot with confidence, and Kyrie Irving dazzled, and good J.R. Smith made a thrilling cameo. The Warriors switched so seamlessly through Games 1 and 2 as to present a gapless front in coverage.
Instead of the usual Warriors counters, Curry seemed rushed and confused… and his shots weren’t going in, either… and that seemed to spill over to his defense, too. But it would behoove the Warriors not to keep pushing their Steph-less luck.
This is the first time since 1965 that there’s been two 30-point margin of victories in the NBA Finals – and the first time ever that teams have both won and lost games by 30 in the title series. Down 2-1 in that particular NBA Finals, they were searching, somewhat desperately, for a lead to build on. Still, the Warriors won 110-77.
Curry didn’t offer any excuses, but the two-time MVP hasn’t been himself so far in this series.
“It was just about how everyone can get the job done whoever is on the floor”, James said.
The Warriors looked jittery from the get-go, falling behind 9-0 to start the game, where the crowd may have played a part in the nerves. He just couldn’t stay on the floor because of the foul trouble.
The NBA Finals have been no different. Going home did the Cavs good.
“I have to be better”, he said. Vince Carter was named the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year Wednesday as voted on by National Basketball Association players.
Well, Kerr was partly right.
On the other hand, Jefferson is averaging 5.6 points, 0.7 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game in the playoffs while playing in an average of 15.7 minutes per contest. “Most of the teams in the league are pretty equal in talent”. I mean, that’s what everybody was saying about them the last two games.
Harrison Barnes scored 18 points for Golden State on a night when the Splash Brothers again struggled.
And if you saw his eyes when he got to the podium afterwards, you would presume Curry is more than braced for this.
“He just didn’t play well”, Kerr said. Draymond Green had just six points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Follow along for live scores and updates from Wednesday’s Game 3. They scored 19 and 10, respectively.
What Lue should do will be one of the more debated topics until Friday’s game. He shot wide, shot short and shot long. He was so bad that Kerr benched Curry briefly in the second quarter to have a conversation and settle down his superstar.
“I would have done the same thing”, Curry said.
The win for the Cavaliers sees them edge closer in the series after being simply blown off the court during the first game, now trailing two games to one. The Cavaliers, in snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Warriors dating back to last year’s Finals, now have a chance to knot the series at two games apiece in Friday’s Game 4, which will also be played in Cleveland.
The Cavs are 9-0 during the postseason when they shoot 40 percent or better from 3-point range.
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His play at times suggested otherwise.
