Three reasons why Cleveland downed Golden State in Game 3
“We weren’t ready to play,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr confided following Golden State’s 120-90 loss in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday. “Soft,” he went on. “We were extremely soft to start the game.”
Well, then. How exactly did Cleveland manage to come back from losing Games 1 and 2 by a combined 48 points to take this one by 30?
Three things, as they usually do, stood out.
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Confidence, Cleveland. Confidence.
This isn’t just an easy sports talk write-off, as there genuinely is something to playing at home.
And if you didn’t have time to watch Wednesday’s Game 3, or don’t feel like watching a DVR’d version of a blowout basketball game, then take it from the box score. Cavalier guard J.R. Smith hit 5-10 three-pointers and 7-13 overall for 20 points, showing little hesitation in following through on the long jumpers he uses to turn close Cavs games into one-sided Cavalier wins.
The same went for LeBron James, bending those knees Jamal Mashburn-style on his way toward a series of long two-point jumpers and a crucial third quarter three-pointer that pushed his team to what was then a game-high 22-point lead midway through the period. What once seemed like a contest that Golden State could make competitive turned into a rout, mainly because the Cavaliers trusted their low percentage looks.
James’ perimeter touch helped keep a flailing Golden State defense both spread out and a little frightened about that eventual LeBron drive. By the time the fourth quarter hit, a confident Iman Shumpert decided he wanted to launch one of his own looks from behind the arc, re-establishing a 23-point lead off of a James assist in the face of a frightened GSW defense. Even Tristan Thompson left the Reggie Evans routine back in the Bay Area by actually going up for his own shots following the typical series of offensive rebounds (seven in total) from Cleveland’s starting center.
This was the Cavaliers’ first game in Ohio since May 25, and it showed. The initial burst of relief that came from working in familiar environs didn’t dissipate following the first few minutes, as the Cavaliers showed unending confidence even after the defending champions trimmed what was a 30-10 lead to seven points by halftime. Even Richard Jefferson, playing in his fifth “home” stadium since 2011, seemed excitable.
Home court advantage, especially in the NBA, should never be sloughed off.
Quick Hits Arena
The Cavaliers immediately set the obvious tone, one the NBA has seen far too many times for too many years, in pulling out the rolled-eyes back-at-home burst of energy that usually comes straight out of central casting.
The Cavs scored the game’s first nine points and later built the lead up to 30-10 behind the work of Kyrie Irving. Contributing his best pre-injury Stephen Curry impersonation, Irving gave the opposition16 first quarter points as the Cavaliers rolled to what turned into a 33-16 advantage after just 12 minutes. The Cavalier All-Star managed to find space in delayed transition, building his team’s belief in its eventual win by dominating the play to begin things.
It was a needed tonic, and it helped set the stage for a sputtering Golden State offense. Though all-out fast break ball hasn’t been a hallmark of the Warriors’ offense in this series thus far, they have done their best work while forcing the Cavs to backpedal defensively. With so many Cleveland shots heading in, though, the Warriors were unable to force mismatches, its big lineup featuring Andrew Bogut looked a little out of place, and the Cavaliers’ own defense made a point to cover all angles while using its versatility and – shock horror – communication as it got out on potential scorers.
Golden State would recover in time to make Game 3 into a three-possession game heading into halftime, but a quick 7-0 burst to start the second half for the home team helped push things back into a blowout stage. In a contest that saw Cleveland’s bench score just 15 points despite sitting its starters for the final 4:38, it was that initial attack to start each half that helped keep the defending champs at arm’s length.
Warrior Woes
Of course, the champs didn’t exactly help themselves.
Klay Thompson started Game 3 by missing his first five shots and two free throws prior to taking a painful knee to the thigh from Cavs center Timofey Mozgov just before the end of the first quarter. Thompson would go on to finish with 10 points in the loss on 4-13 shooting.
It took 17 minutes of game action for one of the Splash Brothers to make a field goal, a gimmie Stephen Curry lay-up off a broken play – a dish from Draymond Green that almost felt like he was trying to get his 12th man a bucket in garbage time. Curry did ending up finishing with 19 points on 6-13 shooting, but his footwork comes and goes (as it has throughout his return from a sprained right knee) and he turned the ball over six times.
Golden State, following five consecutive wins over two of the best teams in the NBA (in Western finalist Oklahoma City and now these Cavs) were due a night off, and even with the delayed NBA Finals schedule this was the team’s tenth game in 22 days – a rather active schedule for this time of season. Still, Curry and Thompson are now averaging 16 and 12 points respectively in these Finals.
Considering the fact that this championship round has featured two massive blowouts and one small’ish blowout, on paper this can be excused to a light extent. With that in place, and with all due respect tossed toward the way the Splash Brothers scared the wits out of the Cavaliers with their decoy plays in the first two games, something has to give.
And some shots have to start falling.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
