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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
DJ Gallo

NBA finals Game 3: Golden State Warriors 118-113 Cleveland Cavaliers – as it happened

LeBron James contemplates defeat to the Warriors
LeBron James contemplates defeat to the Warriors. Photograph: David Maxwell/EPA

Read Bryan Armen Graham’s match report:

Thanks for following along with tonight’s liveblog. We’ll be back on Friday night for Game 4. Let’s hope Cleveland has something left to make it fun.

If the series really is all-but-over, you have to think that Durant’s play in the final minutes wrapped up an MVP for him. After his excellent play in Games 1 and 2, he led Golden State in scoring with 31 points tonight despite a very quiet third quarter.

LeBron and Kyrie Irving combine for 77 points -- and Kevin Love was excellent in his own way despite scoring just 9 -- but none of that matters now because of the final minute.

We were a minute away from having a real series on our hands, until Golden State ripped it away and moved to 15-0 in the playoffs.

We’ll see if Cleveland has anything left, both physically and mentally, for Game 4 on Friday night. They played their best game for 47 of 48 minutes and still lost. It will be hard to come back and do it again in three days, knowing the chances of winning four straight are close to zero.

Final score: Warriors 118-113 Cavaliers

Steph Curry hit two free throws after Cleveland had to foul and that did it. They close on an 11-point run and there is pretty much zero noise in the arena. Stunned.

(Or as stunned as you can be by the best team in basketball playing great at the end of a game.)

Warriors 116-113 Cavaliers, 0:09 4th quarter

Cleveland inbounds the ball to James who tries to take a three in the quarter, but Iguodala knocks the ball away on the way up. Game kind of over.

Warriors 116-113 Cavaliers, 0:12 4th quarter

Durant hits two free throws and Golden State has scored nine consecutive points. It looked like we had a series here and then the Warriors ripped it away. Blerrgh.

But Cleveland still has a shot. And the ball.

Warriors 114-113 Cavaliers, 0:45 4th quarter

Durant hits a three to give Golden State the lead and things are very quiet in the arena.

We’ve got a timeout, so behold this Kyrie Irving effort.

On effort alone, the Cavs deserve this game. But effort doesn’t always matter in the face of talent. And threes. Lots of threes.

Cavaliers 113-111 Warriors, 1:15 4th quarter

Durant just took Tristan Thompson down the left side of the lane for a short pull-up and with just 12 seconds off the clock we have a one possession game.

Cavaliers 113-109, 1:27 4th quarter

Warriors have the ball. They have Durant, Curry, Green, Thompson and Iguodala on the court against James, Irving, Korver, Smith and Thompson. Kevin Love just limped off after tweaking his ankle.

Cavaliers 113-107 Warriors, 2:44 4th quarter

LeBron drives the lane and swings the ball out to a wide open J.R. Smith who hits a three ... and that’s followed by a missed three by Durant.

Cavaliers 110-107 Warriors, 3:43 4th quarter

LeBron hits two free throws and then blocks Andre Iguodala. Hey, that brings back memories.

Tonight it is definitely more than a game for LeBron James.

Cavaliers 108-107 Warriors, 4:45 4th quarter

A Durant three cuts the lead to 1-point. The Cavs have to, and should be, happy with how they’ve played. But the fact that they’re still only up 1 point has to terrify them a bit, too. Any other team in the NBA and they’d probably be up at least 20 right now.

If Kyrie Irving could be more consistent, the Cavs have a real chance in this series. It’s too much to ask him to always play like this, but he need to not have those games where he’s just kind of a non-factor.

Cavaliers 108-102, 5:24 4th quarter

J.R. Smith follows a Durant three with a free throw ... and then a Durant miss is followed by a circus shot from Kyrie Irving.

Cavaliers 104-99 Warriors, 6:30 4th quarter

LeBron scored with ease on Curry last trip down the court, and now draws a blocking foul on him this time. Steve Kerr might want to end that matchup fast because it’s not going to work.

Cavaliers 102-99 Warriors, 7:05 4th quarter

Kevin Durant gets his first bucket of the second half driving by J.R. Smith. Yes, Durant and Curry are back in the game. So these will be some huge minutes in the game. Best vs. best.

LeBron has in no way stopped being excellent, but Kyrie Irving is now tied with him for a game-high 35 points. Yes, those two have 70 of Cleveland’s 102 points.

Klay Thompson leads Golden State with 27.

And while Kevin Love isn’t scoring much, he is playing by far his best game of the series.

Cavaliers 102-95 Warriors, 8:33 4th quarter

Kyle Korver hits another three for the Cavs, which is exactly why Cleveland got him. Deron Williams might want to start doing some of that.

Cavaliers 97-91 Cavaliers, 10:12 4th quarter

James hits a three and the Cavs will look to open the lead with Durant and Curry on the bench. James now has 35 on the night.

Draymond Green also just picked up his fifth foul of the night with more than 10 minutes left in the game.

End of the 3rd quarter: Cavaliers 94-89 Warriors

The Cavaliers won the third quarter, 33-22. And Golden State’s scoring has decreased by quarter from 39 to 28 to 22. That’s a great trend for Cleveland. And a great trend for all of us who just wanted to see a competitive, entertaining series.

Cavaliers 94-87 Warriors, 1:00 3rd quarter

Great ball movement leads to three more buckets by the Cavs and Cleveland has their biggest lead of the night.

Cavaliers 88-86 Warriors, 2:24 3rd quarter

Korver hits a corner three after James swings the ball over to him while driving the lane. Game 3 is living up to what we hoped the whole series would be.

And 8 boards and 9 points. He’s working on a sneaky triple-double.

Cavaliers 83-82 Warriors, 4:18 3rd quarter

James converts on a three-point play and the Cavs have their new latest lead of the series.

Warriors 82-80 Cavaliers, 4:37 3rd quarter

Not much happening of late other than Kevin Love pulling down offensive rebound after offensive rebound. But the Cavs can’t capitalize.

The Big Three?

Warriors 79-78 Cavaliers, 6:28 3rd quarter

LeBron missed a shot and Steph Curry went right down and drilled a three. That’s what makes playing this team so hard: any mistake you make can instantly turn into not just a bucket, but three points. You can’t get away with anything.

Cavaliers 78-76 Warriors, 6:55 3rd quarter

Kyrie Irving has back-to-back baskets for Cleveland. This is apparently his half to handle the scoring for the Cavs.

Cavaliers 74-74 Warriors, 7:45 3rd quarter

JaVale McGee just hit Draymond Irving underneath with a great pass. The new McGee is a lot of fun.

Cavaliers 71-69 Warriors, 8:55 3rd quarter

Kevin Love, who was cold all night, hits a three on a pass for LeBron and the Cavs have their first lead after the first quarter in these NBA Finals. Having people other than LeBron score for Cleveland is a novel approach, but it’s working so far in the second half.

Warriors 69-68 Cavaliers, 9:31 3rd quarter

Good start to the half and a sloppy effort so far by Golden State. Zaza Paculia set a dumb moving screen on what would have been an easy dunk by Durant, then he let Kyrie Irving leap up and over him for a rebound on the next possession. That led to transition and a foul on LeBron James by Draymond Green. Green now has four fouls on the night.

Warriors 69-66 Cavaliers, 10:45 3rd quarter

J.R. Smith hits a three for Cleveland. He has opened the first and second halves well, but hasn’t done much in between.

Second half underway!

The Cavs have 24 minutes to save their title hopes.

This seems flimsy at best -- the league would have forced longer series for the Warriors earlier in the playoffs, too, no? -- but this is the NBA and the fans love a good conspiracy, so here you go ...

Here is Irving’s coast-to-coast play to end the half:

Good half by the Cavs and a simply outstanding performance by LeBron James ... but they still trail by 6 points at home.

The Warriors are turning the ball over a lot with 12 in the half, but Cleveland has 9 of their own.

The difference has been, as it often is: Golden State’s three-point shooting. They were 12-of-20 in the half. It’s hard for any team to counter that.

End of 1st half: Warriors 67-61 Cavaliers

Golden State ended their half with threes by Thompson and Curry, before Irving dropped in an amazing runner as time expired.

Warriors 61-59 Cavaliers, 1:08 2nd quarter

Kyrie Irving winds his way through the Golden State D for a lay-in. He’s up to 15 points now and is providing the secondary scoring the Cavs desperately need.

Updated

Warriors 57-55 Cavaliers, 1:50 2nd quarter

Cleveland gets some free throws after a Draymond Green technical. If Golden State isn’t going to cool down shooting the ball, then Cleveland could really use Green getting out of control.

Warriors 57-53 Cavaliers, 2:11 2nd quarter

LeBron swoops down the lane for a bucket to get to 25 points on the night. This is the same as 2015: LeBron’s team may lose the series, but he deserves to be the MVP.

Warriors 55-49 Cavaliers, 3:23 1st quarter

Every time the Cavs gets close, the Warriors knock down a couple shots to keep a modest lead, the latest coming on a turn-around jumper by Kevin Durant in the lane and then a Durant transition dunk. Durant is now up to 12 points.

Warriors 49-45 Cavaliers, 5:07 2nd quarter

Steph Curry hits a transition three to get the Golden State lead back to four.

Deron Williams has been awful so far in this game, and also in the series. But ... yes to this:

Warriors 46-45 Cavaliers, 7:01 2nd quarter

LeBron hits a nice left-handed reverse lay-up along the baseline and he now has 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting.

Warriors 46-43 Cavaliers, 8:03 2nd quarter

Some sloppy play of late. J.R. Smith turns the ball over dribbling off of Kevin Durant’s leg, Korver heaves up a contested three and Ian Clark steps out of bounds.

Updated

The Korver dunk you want to see. The Korver dunk you need to see.

Warriors 44-43 Cavaliers, 9:35 2nd quarter

This little Cleveland run has come with Curry and Durant on the bench after Golden State went on a run without LeBron on the court. It seems that good players make their teams better.

LeBron now has 21 points in the game after another three.

Warriors 39-39 Cavaliers, 10:59 2nd quarter

Kevin Love hits two free throws and Golden State’s 9-point lead is chopped to a tie in 61 seconds.

Warriors 39-37 Cavaliers, 11:20 2nd quarter

Kyle Korver just dunked.

No, really. Kyle Korver just dunked.

Cleveland opens the half with six quick points.

LeBron had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the 1st quarter, the Cavs as a team shot 55% from the floor ... and they’re still down 8 points.

Golden State being 9-of-14 from three in the first quarter -- with Klay Thompson’s 16 points leading the way -- has a lot to do with that.

End of 1st quarter: Warriors 39-31 Cavaliers

Warriors close on 10-0 run with LeBron on the bench.

LeBron was great in the first quarter. His teammates were not. Cleveland is in serious trouble.

Warriors 37-31 Cavaliers, 0:37 1st quarter

The Warriors are on an 8-0 run while LeBron is getting a rest. He can’t to it all, at least not when he’s not even in the game.

Warriors 35-31 Cavaliers, 1:34 1st quarter

Steph Curry hits back-to-back threes and the Warriors set an NBA record for most threes in a quarter with 9. Cleveland is playing well and still isn’t leading.

Cavaliers 29-29 Warriors, 2:08 1st quarter

Here’s that LeBron dunk:

Warriors 27-25 Cavaliers, 3:00 1st quarter

LeBron is doing LeBron things. He hits a deep two then stole the ball from Javale McGee in the post and took it coast-to-coast for a monster dunk.

Warriors 24-21 Cavaliers, 4:45 1st quarter

Annnnnnnd another three for Klay Thompson. H has 16 points already. Remember that a big part of Cleveland’s comeback last year was Thompson struggling with his shot. That’s not happening here.

Cavaliers 21-19 Warriors, 5:37 1st quarter

LeBron scores right away. Yes, he seems to be okay.

Here is the collision:

LeBron is back in as play resumes.

LeBron James is down on the court

He collided with Tristan Thompson on Klay Thompson’s latest three. But after laying on his back in the lane for a full minute, he’s getting up and appears to be okay.

Cavaliers 19-19 Warriors, 5:48 1st quarter

Klay Thompson misses a three, but Golden State gets the rebound, Thompson rotates to the other side of the court, gets the ball back and hits.

Cavaliers 17-16 Warriors, 6:40 1st quarter

We’re back with action and Klay Thompson hits a three with Tristan Thompson all over him. Those are the kind of shots that can wear a defense down mentally. You do everything right and it still doesn’t matter.

There is an extended media timeout, so here is LeBron James made out of drier lint.

Cavaliers 17-13 Warriors, 7:00 1st quarter

James is 4-for-5 to open the game with 9 points. He seems rather intent on what the locals call “defending The Land.”

Updated

Cavaliers 13-11 Warriors, 8:10 1st quarter

Durant hits another three and J.R. Smith comes right back with a three of his own. Durant has six points already and Smith has five. So far the game seems a little fast for Cleveland -- a pace that better fits Golden State over a whole game. But it’s working so far for the Cavs.

Warriors 6-5 Cavaliers, 10:03 1st quarter

Kevin Durant hits his first shot of the night -- a three. So he hasn’t cooled off yet.

Cavaliers 5-3 Warriors, 10:35 1st quarter

J.R. Smith and Klay Thompson trade threes. Smith hitting is a good sign for Cleveland. They need Smith to contribute something and he was pretty much MIA in Golden State.

Cavaliers 2-0 Warriors, 11:15 1st quarter

Draymond Green missed a three on Golden State’s first possession and then Kyrie Irving took Steph Curry easily to the rim for a lay-in and the night’s first points.

No lineup changes for either team at the start.

We have tip-off!

Cleveland’s chance to turn the series around is underway.

The get-in price for tickets for Game 3 minutes before tip was $275/ticket on StubHub. For Game 4 the lowest price is $331.

UPDATE: That Curry t-shirt isn’t exactly new.

Some interesting pregame comments from Ty Lue on utilizing LeBron James on both ends of the court:

You’ve probably seen it by now, but just in case not ... here is LeBron James making a reporter say that he is a “smart guy” after Game 2. LeBron lost the game, but won the media scrum in a blowout.

The Warriors are up 2-0 after big, double-digit wins and Steph Curry is swishing shots at midcourt in warm-ups, BUT ... the Cavaliers tonight will have Jesus/Kevin Love.

For those of you into this sort of thing, the most recent lines for the game are Cleveland +3.5 and a points total of +/- 227.5.

If the Warriors need any shots made from just inside half-court tonight, Steph Curry is ready to go.

Welcome to The Guardian liveblog of Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals.

Tonight has the feel of a Game 7. Or at least the feel of a Game 7 for Cleveland. They need to win tonight or the series is over. Golden State blew a 3-1 lead last year, but there’s now way they’re blowing a 3-0 this year. Not with Kevin Durant added to the roster.

I am already on record feeling the series is over due to the decisiveness of Games 1 and 2. Maybe not in a sweep, but after Game 2 I wrote ...

The Cavs can get one, maybe two. But thinking they have a shot to win it all feels too far-fetched for even a comic book. The other superheroes have teamed up to take out LeBron and all Cleveland can do now is watch it happen.

But I am very happy to be proven wrong (yet again by sports) and entertained by another 7-game series.

Please feel free to participate in tonight’s liveblog by e-mailing me (at the address listed at the top of the page) or by tweeting me at @DJGalloEtc.

Your protagonists tonight will be:

Just in case you thought this series was over, LeBron James has a thing or two to tell you:

“Do I look tired?” he said at his team’s shootaround Wednesday ahead of Game 3 against the Warriors. “I feel great. I’m averaging a triple-double in the finals. I’m pretty good, I would think.”

James is averaging 28.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 11.0 assists, but he’s been outshone by defensive assignment Kevin Durant, who’s averaged 35.5 points and 11.0 rebounds as the Warriors have taken the first two games of the best-of-seven championship series by a combined 41 points.

DJ will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how Game 2 ended:

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