Cleveland, OH — Oh. My. Durant.
43 points. 13 rebounds. Seven assists.
The Cavs are down 3-0 in the NBA Finals after the Warriors defeated them at home 110-102. And what’s that old saying, the series doesn’t start until one team loses at home? The series hasn’t just officially started, but it’s almost over too.
The Warriors’ Kevin Durant was unstoppable on Wednesday night in Cleveland — and I don’t use the word unstoppable very often: he shot 10-for-14 from the field, 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and he went perfect from the charity stripe.
Steph Curry was sitting at four points for most of the game before coming alive and sealing the fate of the Cavs late in the fourth quarter to finish the game with 11 points. JaVale McGee, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Jordan Bell all finished with 10 points apiece. Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston both contributed eight points.
“We’ve got a lot of depth, we’ve got a lot of guys who can play and they’re all chipping in,” said Steve Kerr, head coach of the Warriors. “It was amazing what [Kevin Durant] did out there tonight. Some of those shots, I don’t think anyone else in the world can hit those but him. He was incredible.”
I would argue it was a total team effort led by an unforgettable performance by Durant, despite the Twitter world saying Durant won the game himself (because let’s remember LeBron’s performance in Game 1 and not even that won the game for his team). And that really just makes me feel bad for LeBron.
“This is the beauty of this team,” said Kerr. “We have multiple big time scorers.”
Imagine how different these games would be if six players on the Cavs could hit double-digit scoring? James ended Game 3 with 33 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds — his 10th triple-double in NBA finals. The feat also helped him pass Michael Jordan for new all-time leader in 30-point playoff games (with 110).
Kevin Love scored 20 points, J.R. Smith finished with 13 points and surprisingly Rodney Hood made the most out of his 26 minutes and banked in 15 points … and everyone else, well, wasn’t great. Jeff Green scored a mere three points, George Hill just five, and Tristan Thompson had just eight points and seven rebounds.
Want to know why LeBron isn’t overly happy? There’s why. Give him one more player who can score and he gives this deeply-talented Warriors team a run for their money — keep the roster how it is now for the Cavs and it’s going to be a sweep.
