At Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron James shot with confidence, and Kyrie Irving dazzled, and “good” J.R. Smith made a thrilling cameo.
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Curry claims he doesn’t care too much about that, though. Where they fell apart in Game 3 was in dealing with Cleveland’s crisper passing, in failing to respond with accordingly swift rotations. At least for a day. It’s possible the guy made fun of one of the 11 teams Bieber roots for and the pop star didn’t take kindly to it. You’re not going to take that kind of abuse if you’ve learned how to Love Yourself.
Now that same spotlight, that same critique has shifted to the reigning MVP.
“We weren’t tough enough”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. Why isn’t he taking over games? Instead he gave them no points, no assists and two turnovers in the first quarter, two points in the first half, 19 points for the game, most when hopelessly behind. Since Green is the hub of the Warriors’ early half-court actions, the Cavaliers were caught behind the 8-ball right away and failed to catch up.
“It seemed kind of dirty to me”, Thompson said after the game. They’re the superior group in terms of depth, team play, defense, and overall ability, and the Cavs’ offense has still largely been inefficient and reliant on isolation plays so far, while their poor defense from Games 1 and 2 may easily return.
Last night’s Game 3 peaked with a 13.4 in the first quarter of the 10 PM hour.
Because for all the obvious talent on the roster, Cleveland – especially in the first two games of this series – has looked like Ikea furniture: a box of pieces with instructions that generally get everything to fit together decently but won’t impress anyone.
“We just lost one game”, Kerr said, smiling.
“I’ve just got to be aggressive and play better and be more assertive”. “Obviously, me being the playmaker of this team, I’ve got to do a job of trying to get my guys some looks when I attract a double team or I attract guys in transition, get those guys going”.
Curry and Thompson have not gone off and single-handedly won a game this series. It didn’t matter with the Warriors bench scoring 45 in the first game and Draymond Green dropping 28 in the second. So when you get to this level everybody has got talent, whether you are in the finals or the 10th game of the season.
Now the questions about Curry’s play will intensify after a loss. For some fans (and old-school media members), the only way right way win is to do it in a Jordan or Kobe manner, where one player dominates the ball and the game. It’s a line of thinking that shows a lack of understanding of the game.
To repeat as champions, to win two more games and close out a rejuvenated Cleveland, the Warriors need their MVP.
Perhaps that’ll come this summer, but for now there’s the concussion protocol, Game 4 and a chance for redemption.
The shifts and adjustments that happen in the regular season are vanishingly hard to track because so many other variables are changing around them.
The Cavaliers were reluctant or unable to mimic this approach in the first two games and were clubbed over the head with backcuts and easy buckets.
But yet again, the Warriors struggled in a Game 3.
“Kevin is a big part of our team, one of the main reasons we’re here”, Jefferson said.
Kerr had expected much better, saying at shootaround in the morning his team recognized “the opportunity we have tonight”.
It’s time for Curry to be one of those “different players”.
“I’ve got to play 100 times better than this”, he said, dismissing any notion he’s slowed by injuries.
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Combined, they’re shooting 31 for 77 (40 percent) from the field in the series, 16 for 45 (36 percent) from 3-point range, and have shot a combined nine free throws between them.
