Takeaways: Durant shows up LeBron as Warriors take Finals stranglehold

Kevin Durant scored 43 points to help his team top the Cavaliers 110-102, giving the Warriors a 3-0 series lead.

The Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t ask for much more in Game 3 but, on collectively their best night of the Finals, they still had no answers for the defending champs down the stretch.

Such is the nature of facing the Golden State Warriors, the NBA’s reigning dynasty showing no signs of giving up the throne anytime soon.

On Wednesday, the Dubs weathered a triple-double from LeBron James, surprising contributions from the Cavs supporting cast, and the coldest shooting night of the season from Game 2 hero Steph Curry.

It didn’t matter. With his Warriors co-stars struggling, Kevin Durant seized his moment and dropped a playoff career-high 43 points on Cleveland.

Durant carried his team throughout the game, but by the time crunch time rolled around, Curry & Co. rose to the occasion. With the game on the line and in the final minutes of an incredibly competitive second half, Golden State completed the comeback, erasing what was at one point a double-digit deficit to take the game 110-102, and a 3-0 series lead.

The ingredients were there for a Cleveland victory, and through the first half the team seemed poised to take Game 3 and fight its way back into the series.

Draymond Green was in foul trouble early. Curry and Klay Thompson were flat-out off, a combined 1-of-9 from deep. JaVale McGee, who started his second consecutive game, was forced to make big plays.

Meanwhile, the Cavs were getting contributions across the board. “Minnesota” Kevin Love made an appearance, scoring 15 first-half points, grabbing 10 boards, and showing a nose for the ball that made him one of the NBA’s premier post threats with the Timberwolves.

James had nine first-half assists and his teammates — including J.R. Smith — were hitting their shots, nailing over 42 per cent of their three-pointers. James was also a scoring force in the paint, bullying his way to layups and turning the clock back one year with this self alley-oop jam:

A Durant long-bomb at the buzzer brought Golden State to within six at halftime, but the Cavs were clearly in the driver’s seat.

Cleveland entered the game 8-1 on home court in these playoffs and, perhaps seeing James playing his last homestand at Quicken Loans Arena, the crowd was great. But at least one fan may have contributed to his team’s ultimate demise:

On Wednesday, an especially motivated Durant put his full arsenal on display, hitting shot after shot over hapless defenders and reminding us all — as if we needed it — that he’s one of the NBA’s hardest puzzles to solve defensively…Ever.

Durant made 15 of his 23 shots, was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Like LeBron’s 51-points in Game 1, performances like this are a treat for fans — regardless of who you’re cheering for — and help us pause for a moment and remember how freakishly good he is at basketball.

It wasn’t just Durant’s scoring that carried the Warriors on Wednesday. He led the team in rebounds with 13 and notched seven assists. Whether finding the open man out of a double team, or off the dribble, he was a great facilitator and continually made the Cavs defence pay for doubling him.

The biggest moment of them all came with the Warriors up by three with less than a minute to go, when Durant recreated his iconic game-winner from last year’s Finals and effectively put the nail in the Cavaliers’ coffin:

James did his part in Game 3, notching a 33-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound triple-double (along with two steals and two blocks), although he shot just 1-of-6 from deep.

He was good. Durant was better.

Quick Hits:

• As mentioned, Curry was ice cold in Game 3. Fresh off setting a Finals record with nine three-pointers on Sunday night, the two-time MVP couldn’t buy a bucket.

After pulling a disappearing act through two quarters, Curry’s woes continued well into the second half, where he was 0-of-4 from deep and 1-of-7 from the field heading into crunch time. He left the floor late in the third quarter after appearing to roll his ankle, but returned shortly after and, to his credit, kept shooting.

Now is the time where we pause and take a moment to admire this Norm Macdonald prediction that warrants, at minimum, a very polite golf clap:

Curry hit a pair of clutch shots in the final minute, and, like his team, stepped up when it mattered most.

• Andre Iguodala made his return to the Warriors’ lineup after missing his last six games due to injury. He made his presence felt in 22 minutes of action and came up big in the clutch, delivering a rude poster dunk on Tristan Thompson late in the fourth and stealing the ball to set up Curry for his dagger.

• For a second there it looked like this could be the Smith Revenge Game. Smith came out of the gates on fire and finished the first half with 10 points while hitting two three-pointers. The second half? Smith bricked a ton of shots down the stretch and finished the game with 13 points on 3-of-10 from deep.

• McGee arrived to the arena like this, so you knew he was in for a good night.

McGee was instrumental to Golden State staying within striking distance in the first half. He was the Warriors’ second-leading scorer through two quarters and constant threat to finish an alley-oop at the rim. Throw in a dash of stellar one-on-one defence on James, and the fact that JaVale McGee is a bona fide contributor on a championship team remains one of the NBA’s most stunning developments.

• The Rodney Hood reclamation project is underway, although it may be too late for the Cavaliers. You may recall Hood when he created a stir for not wanting to check into the fourth quarter of a Cavs blowout over the Raptors in Round 2. Hood was acquired at the trade deadline and was expected to be, at least, a legitimate spark off the bench.

Hood was an established shooting threat who was averaging nearly 17 points per game for the Utah Jazz before arriving in Cleveland, but the pressure of expectations and playoff hoops seemed too much for the fourth-year shooting guard.

He went from playing 25 minutes per game in the regular season to out of head coach Ty Lue’s rotation completely. Looking for a prayer, Lue played Hood in Game 3 and was rewarded for the decision. After playing four minutes in Games 1 and 2 combined, Hood saw major court time and scored 15 points — one of four Cavs in double-digits. In the fourth quarter Hood was the reliable secondary scorer that Cleveland so desperately needed.

After missing killer opportunities in Game 1 and now again in Game 3, LeBron and the Cavaliers will look to avoid the sweep in Game 4 on Friday.

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