With the Cavs already in a 2-0 hole they can’t allow to get deeper, Irving must play like an All-Star, if not a superstar, for Cleveland to win Game 3 on Wednesday night over the Golden State Warriors, attempting to cap an historic season with a second straight title. A win on Wednesday could potentially turn the series around, but right now things don’t look good on that front.
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Kyrie Irving had his shot going early, making 7/9 field goals for 16 points as the lead exploded to 33-16 at quarter time. Afterwards, the Cavs said his status was questionable, but the team later sent out a news release saying Love is out and his status for Game Four has not been determined. He got Kevin Love twice, LeBron James and Thompson as well.
While that may be the case, it doesn’t seem as if James is willing to take over the scoring duties for the Cavaliers, as he focuses more on the less visible parts of the game. Irving tossed a soul-crushing Alley-oop to a soaring James late in the third quarter, putting Cleveland up 79-59.
Game 3s continue to be a nightmare under head coach Steve Kerr. The Warriors made a run in the second quarter, outscoring the Cavs 27-18, but it was all Cleveland after halftime as they outscored Golden State by 22. Now the game goes to Cleveland for game 3 and game 4. The top stars for the Warriors in the first two games were not Steph Curry or Klay Thompson.
It was suggested to James that he could play like a man possessed in Game 3, like Michael Jordan did when his teams trailed in series.
Warriors: Are 0-4 in Game 3s in these playoffs.
The blame can’t exclusively rest on Curry’s shoulders. The center was injured in the first half of Game 2 when Golden State’s Harrison Barnes elbowed him in the head.
James is shooting 42 percent in the series which is over 10 percent less than his season average of 52.9 percent.
Australian duo Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova had little impact on the game. The bench spark from Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa was also missing, the pair combined for 12 points. They were Shaun Livingston and Draymond Green. Green was mostly quiet with 6 points, 7 rebound and 7 assists. They have beaten the Cavaliers seven consecutive times – three in last year’s finals, two this season and twice more in the finals. When he arrived at the arena about two hours before Game 3, Varejao – a longtime fan favorite in Cleveland – stopped to hug several arena workers before entering the Golden State locker room. Despite his outstanding play throughout the playoffs, he is typically horrid going up against the Warriors. The last team to find themselves in such a predicament was – oddly enough – the Cavaliers in 2007, against San Antonio.
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Although they know there is a need to win at least one game away from Quicken Loans Arena in order to win the franchise’s first-ever NBA Championship, in order to force the best-of-seven series back to Oracle Arena in Oakland, they must handle their business with the home crowd behind them.
