Photo credit: @NBAJumpshot

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

LeBron James’ triple-double wasn’t enough, as another lethal third-quarter rally sparked the Golden State Warriors to a 110-102 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loan Arena on Wednesday night.

The Warriors are up three-games-to-none in the best-of-seven series. In NBA playoff history, teams down 3-0 are 0-for-131.

Kevin Durant bagged a game-high 43 points along with with seven assists and 13 rebounds. He also hit 15-of-23 from the field, including 6-of-9 3-pointers, while making all seven of his free throws.

Draymond Green, JaVale McGee and Klay Thompson each scored 10 points. Stephen Curry was held to 11. Green had nine assists and Curry added six assists for the Warriors, who can wrap up their third championship in four years on Friday.

As a team, the Warriors shot 52 percent from the field (42-of-81).

James finished with 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but was held in check down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Kevin Love scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Rodney Hood contributed 15 points off the Cavs’ bench.

Durant’s 33-foot 3-pointer with 49.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter provided the dagger after Golden State surged ahead to stay minutes earlier on Curry’s 3 with 2:20 remaining.

After Curry’s 3-ball put the Warriors up 101-97, James hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cavaliers to within 101-100. But after Durant’s deep 3-ball, James made a layup, but Golden State responded with Green’s spread-offense layup with 25 seconds left, putting the Warriors up 108-102.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 13 in the second quarter, leading 58-52 at halftime. Golden State opened the third quarter with a 15-3 run.

Cleveland regained the lead at 87-86 with 9:47 left in the fourth quarter, and the lead swung back-and-forth for the next seven minutes.

Green passed Wilt Chamberlain for the Warriors’ total playoff rebound record. Green has 923 boards in 100 playoff games, while Chamberlain pulled down 922 playoff rebounds for the Warriors in 36 contests.

James, meanwhile, broke a tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and moved into fourth place for most NBA playoff games played (238).

Up Next: It’s do-or-die for the Cavs in Friday’s Game 4 against the Warriors. Tipoff is set for 6:00 pm PDT on ABC.