KD’s dream shot
Crucial 3-pointer seals 3-0 lead over Cavs in the NBA finals
CLEVELAND — Kevin Durant released his deep shot, the one he always makes in his dreams.
As the ball hung in the air, his plan to win an NBA championship, Golden State’s grip on the Finals and Cleveland’s last-gasp attempt to defend its crown were all momentarily suspended. It was perfect. Durant drained the shot of his professional life — a 3-pointer over LeBron James with 45.3 seconds left — to cap a 31-point performance as the Warriors, pushed harder than ever in their pristine postseason, moved within one win of the title by rallying to beat the Cavaliers 118-113 on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 series lead.
The Warriors trailed by six points with three minutes left before Durant, criticized for leaving Oklahoma City last summer to chase a championship, brought them back, scoring 14 in the fourth.
“He took over,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “You can tell, he knows this is his moment. He’s been an amazing player for a long time, and he senses this is his time, his moment, his team.”
With their 15 th straight victory, the Warriors now have the longest postseason streak for any team in the four major professional sports in North America.
But that means little to Golden State’s players, who with a win in Game 4 on Friday night can exorcise those haunting demons from last June when they blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals to the Cavs.
No team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the championship round, and it doesn’t appear any team is equipped to hang with these Warriors, who might go down as one of the best ever.
“It’s not over,” Durant warned. “The job’s not done. I don’t want to relax. This is a crazy game, anything can happen.”
Klay Thompson added 30 points and Stephen Curry had 26 for this California Dream Team, now one win from its second title in three years.
James shook off a kneebuckling blow to the chin while scoring 39 and Kyrie Irving added 38 for the Cavs, who took a 113-107 lead with 3:09 left on JR Smith’s 3-pointer.
Curry hit a layup and after both James and Irving missed for the Cavs, Durant dropped his 3 — a shot that could be the one most remembered in this magnificent run by the Warriors.
“All I was looking at was the bottom of the net,” Durant said.
“I saw he (James) was playing his heels behind the 3-point line. I’ve been working on that shot my whole life. To see it go in, that was liberating, man. We’ve got one more to go.”
After Golden State took the lead, Irving missed a 3 from his favorite spot on the right side and the Warriors closed it out with four free throws in the final 12.9 seconds before celebrating briefly on the floor and then charging down the hallway to their locker room.
After winning Games 1 and 2 by a combined 41 points at home, the Warriors had to scrap for all 48 minutes to take down the Cavs, who will need a similar effort to avoid being swept by a team with few — if any — weaknesses.
“That’s the most firepower I’ve played against in my career,” James said.
“I’ve played against some great teams, but I don’t think any team has had this type of firepower.”
James and Irving were relentless in the second half and it appeared they had done enough to get Cleveland over the top.
But Durant was not going to be denied. Not after getting this close, not after enduring so much heat for turning his back on the Thunder, not with a chance to put the Cavaliers in an insurmountable hole.
The 7-footer finished the night 10 of 18 from the field, with eight rebounds and four assists.
Curry, who has benefited more than any other player by Durant’s arrival, added 13 rebounds and six assists.