Kevin Durant had an absolutely ridiculous game for the Golden State Warriors, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers at every turn and leading his team to a 110-102 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Durant finished with 43 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
LeBron James, noted ALSO PRETTY GOOD AT BASKETBALL player, had a strong game as well, along with Kevin Love for the Cavaliers. James put up his 10th career NBA Finals triple double, en route to 33 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Love finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.
The Cavaliers didn’t even play bad — in fact, they played quite well until Durant started to take over the game.
Durant was about the only Golden State player who did anything in the first half. Steph Curry had just two points after quarters, missing all five of his three-point attempts. Klay Thompson had just five points, with 1-of-4 from range.
Meanwhile, Durant had 24 points, was 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from range, and had eight rebounds when the game went to halftime. Cleveland, on the other hand, had 14 points from LeBron James and 15 points from Love, who also had 10 rebounds.
Still, it was a back-and-forth half of play. The Warriors were very bad right out of the gate, but Durant carried them to just a 6-point deficit going into the half, despite the Warriors clearly being outplayed much more than that.
Draymond Green finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 9 assists. Curry finished with just 11 points, making just one of 10 three-point attempts.
Below is the live blog in reverse chronology. We now go to Game 4!
Warriors 110, Cavaliers 102 - FINAL
We come back from the timeout, and James makes a layup. But Draymond gets the ball and cuts through the defense for a dunk, and the Cavs take another timeout. Smith misses a three, and Iguodala gets the rebound. He throws it to Curry, and James fouls him. Smith then fouls him when they in-bound the pass. Curry goes to the line, and makes both free throws. End of game.
Warriors 106, Cavaliers 100 - 0:49.8 4Q:
Iguodala shooting foul, and Love hits both free throws. Curry moves to six points off the Draymond assist when he drops in a layup. Curry, 0-for-9 from three, finally sinks one after a Love turnover. James misses, Smith rebounds and misses a three, Love rebounds and dishes to James, who makes a three to get within a point with two minutes to go! Durant dishes to Iguodala, who dunks hard to make it a three-point lead. Tristan Thompson misses a turnaround jumper, and Klay gets the rebound. He gives it to Durant, who puts down another three to move to 43 points, and Cleveland takes a timeout!
Warriors 96, Cavaliers 95 - 3:19 4Q:
Durant gets a steal from James, but Klay misses the jumper. Tristan Thompson gets the rebound, but James misses the layup. Curry loses the ball, and it’s a Smith steal. Green picks up another personal, and so does Iguodala. James goes to the line, and makes both free throws. Durant gets the ball, and he’s good with a jumper to give Golden State the lead back. Durant misses a shot, but James misses a three right after. Cavs take a timeout.
Warriors 94, Cavaliers 93 - 6:04 4Q:
Hood hits a jumper to start for Cleveland. Bell makes a layup on the next shift. Korver misses a jumper, and Cury gets the rebound. But he loses the ball, and James misses a three for Cleveland. Hood gets a shooting foul, and Bell makes one of the two free throws. Curry misses another three after Korver is called for traveling. James makes both free throws after a Livingston foul. Curry misses a jumper, and Bell misses the tip-in. Hood makes a jumper to give the Cavs back the lead. Durant hits a jumper to give the Warriors back the lead, though! Livingston gets his third personal, and Nance puts down one of two free throws. Livingston buries a jumper, and after a Korver miss and Hood rebound, Hood nails a jumper to tie it again. Durant gets the ball, and he’s good again for two. He’s up to 38 points. Curry misses another three. Durant picks up a shooting foul, and James misses the first free throw. He sinks the second one. Durant misses a three, then Tristan Thompson misses a bucket. Draymond misses a three, and James hits a jumper to give the Cavs the lead again. But the Warriors take it back with an Iguodala layup off the Durant assist. Cleveland timeout.
Warriors 83, Cavaliers 81 - END 3Q:
After the timeout, Livingston gets a nice dunk to start. James hits al ayup, and Klay hits a layup of his own. Livingston has a shooting foul, and Hood makes one of two free throws. James goes to the bench for a breather with 1:12 to go in the third. Durant misses al ayup. Hood misses a jumper. Third quarter comes to an end as James comes off the bench and the Warriors send Draymond out there to defend him. James can’t sink the three as time expires.
Warriors 79, Cavaliers 78 - 2:42 3Q:
James misses a three to start, and Durant misses one of his own. Smith gets the rebound, and dishes to James, who makes a driving layup. Thompson hits at hree, and James misses a three. Draymond dunks, and Tristan Thompson hits a jumper. Durant hits a jumper of his own, and Klay gets his third personal. Love makes both free throws. James blocks a Draymond layup, and Hood hits a jumper before the Warriors take another timeout.
Warriors 69, Cavaliers 64 - 7:44 3Q:
After the timeout, Hill has a shooting foul and Curry makes both free throws ... moving to four points on the game. McGee gets a three-second violation, and Love hits his free throw. He then misses a three, and Durant gets the board. But it’s stolen by James, who dishes it to Thompson in the paint, and he makes a nice layup. He is fouled by Durant and has an and-one chance, but he misses it. McGee hits an alley-oop assisted by Draymond. Hill misses a three. Curry is now 0-for-6 from downtown after another miss. Smith also misses at hree. Draymond, on the other end, hits a jumper off a Durant rebound and assist. Cleveland timeout!
Cavaliers 61, Warriors 61 - 10:13 3Q:
Draymond picks up his fourth assist on a McGee alley oop dunk. James makes a jumper, and Klay is called for a shooting foul, so it’s a possible three-point play. James sinks the free throw, so it is. McGee hits a layup off his own rebound. Hill misses a jumper, and McGee gets the rebound. He gets it to Durant, who sinks a three. Smith misses a three for Cleveland, and McGee gets another putback layup for Golden State after a miss from Curry. Cavs timeout.
Cavaliers 58, Warriors 52 - END 2Q:
Tristan Thompson has as hooting foul on Bell, who makes one of two free throws. Love is assisted by Hill on a three, and is up to 10 points for the game. Draymond picks up his third personal. Smith misses a jumper, but Love puts it back with a layup. The teams exchange turnovers, Smith picks up his second personal, and Love has a shooting foul on Durant, who makes both free throws. Durant then misses a three after the Hill turnover (Klay steal). Smith gets the rebound, and Love sinks a three to move to 15 points. Klay makes a layup. James and Love both miss jumpers, and they have a shot clock turnover. Durant makes a three off it. Tristan Thompson hits a jumper. Draymond picks up his fourth personal. Wow, Curry gets a personal after it was initially called on James. Tristan Thompson has a shooting foul, and Iguodala goes to the line. He makes both free throws. James misses ajumper, and Durant gets the rebound. He misses his jumper, but Bell gets the putback. Hood hits a jumper, then Durant hits one of his own. Durant sinks a three as the half comes to an end.
Cavaliers 42, Warriors 34 - 6:40 2Q:
After the timeout, Curry misses another three, and then a shot clock turnover gives it to the Cavs. James has an offensive charge, and Bell dunks one for Golden State. James hits a fadeaway jumper. Livingston makes a layup, and James misses one. Linvgston has a shot blocked by Hood, and there’s an out-of-bounds turnover. Klay misses a layup, and James misses one, too. He comes up limping and takes himself out of play briefly, but returns to the game. Smith hits a three for Cleveland, and Bell gets a bucket for the Warriors. James makes al ayup, and the Warriors take a timeout.
Cavaliers 35, Warriors 28 - 9:20 2Q:
We’re into the second. West misses a jumper, and then we get three misses from the Cavs before James gets a putback layup. Hood blocks a Curry layup, and then makes a turnaround jumper. ANOTHER missed three from Curry. Then two misses from Korver, and another missed three from Curry. James gets the rebound after West misses the putback, and manages to sink it. Warriors take a timeout.
Cavaliers 29, Warriors 28 - END 1Q:
Hood misses a three, and Hill picks up his first personal. Klay misses a three. Hill has a turnover, and Hood gets as hooting foul. Durant makes both free throws, and after Nance Jr. sinks a layup, Klay hits the first three for the Warriors. James has a bad pass, and Durant turns it into a three of his own, and the Warriors are closing the gap. James makes a layup to stop the bleeding, and Livingston responds with a quick jumper. Durant pulls down a rebound after a miss from Nance Jr., and sinks a pullup jumper to tie the game. Jeff Green sinks a three off the James assist. Some good acting from Green after that, but no fouls. With 2.6 seconds left in the first, the Warriors inbound the ball and Durant is fouled. Durant makes both free throws and the first quarter ends.
Cavaliers 22, Warriors 14 - 3:38 1Q:
McGee misses a shot, and Love gets the rebound. He gets it to James, who sinks a layup. Warriors finally get back on the board when Durant hits a jumper. Smith misses a three and Durant gets the board, but Thompson misses the three for the Warriors. Turnover on Hill for Cleveland, and Draymond hits a jumper. Love misses a three, but Thompson also misses one for Golden State. Curry picks up his second personal after Love pulls down the rebound. Love misses a three, and Curry has as hot blocked. Love moves to seven points iwth al ayup after an Iguodala foul. Draymond and Tristan (what’s with all these same last names, smh) get a double technical for getting into it. Iguodala gets a dunk, while Curry picks up an assist. Draymond gets his second personal, and Smith makes a jumper. Curry misses another three, but Durant gets the putback layup. Hill also makes a layup. Curry then hits one, and the Cavs take a timeout.
Cavaliers 14, Warriors 4 - 7:57 Q1:
The Cavs get the ball first, and Love immediately makes a three with an assist from Hill. Smith gets a shooting foul though, and Draymong goes to the line. He hits both free throws. Hill again gets an assist off a three, this one made by Smith. Short stoppage for out-of-bounds, then McGee gets a dunk for Golden State. Smith hits a turnaround jumper. Thompson misses a shot, Love pulls down the rebound, and Hill makes a jumper. Curry misses his first three attempt. James puts in his own HUGE put-back dunk. Curry had a personal before that, and McGee has a turnover after it. Draymond misses a three, and Thompson winds up hitting a nice hook shot. Another Golden State turnover, then a Thompson miss for Cleveland, and another Golden State turnover. Love makes a layup off the turnover and the Warriorrs take a timeout.
The Golden State Warriors will look to take a 3-0 series lead in the 2018 NBA Finals when they face the Cavaliers in Game 3 on Wednesday night in Cleveland.
The Warriors are coming off a 122-103 victory in Game 2 where Steph Curry set a Finals record with nine made three pointers. Curry is averaging 31 points, 6.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists, while shooting 50 percent from behind the arc through the first two games of the series.
2018 NBA Finals Game 3: Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
TV: ABC
Stream: YouTube TV, Hulu Live, ABC app
LeBron James continues to carry the load for the Cavaliers, averaging 40 points, 8.5 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game. Kevin Love has averaged a double-double in the Finals so far. J.R. Smith as, well, done some J.R. Smith things.
The Cavaliers have had success in the Quicken Loans Arena this postseason, sporting an 8-1 record. The Eastern Conference champs will try to continue their success at home to keep this series close.
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