Warriors inch closer to trophy
Cleveland, June 7: Defending champion Golden State, powered by 43 points from Kevin Durant, moved to the brink of a third NBA title in four seasons on Wednesday by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 110- 102.
The Warriors seized a commanding 3- 0 lead in the best- of- seven NBA Finals and by winning Game Four on Friday would complete the first championship series sweep since Cleveland was blanked by San Antonio in 2007.
“I don’t want to downplay anything but I don’t want to act like this is the end of the road,” Durant said. “We did some things that we need to correct if we want to win the next game. I’ve just got stay locked in.”
No team has ever recovered from a 0- 3 deficit to win an NBA playoff series, but the Cavaliers made the top comeback in NBA Finals history in 2016 from 1- 3 down to swipe a title from Golden State.
“It’s definitely a tough loss,” said Cavaliers star LeBron James. “We had our chances. But we have another opportunity on Friday to extend the series but we’ve got to come out and play 48 minutes.”
Durant added rebounds and assists to his top scoring total, but 12 seven playoff it was not until his 3- pointer with 49 seconds remaining to give the Warriors a 106100 lead that Cleveland’s fate was sealed.
Durant’s last basket was eerily like a 3- pointer he made late in game three last year against the Cavs that clinched a Golden State victory.
It was another dagger in the title hopes of James, who had 33 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists while Kevin Love added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers had been 8- 1 at home in the playoffs with eight wins in a row since losing their firstround opener to Indiana.
“We feel like we’ve been right there,” Love said. “We just have to come out Friday and not give in.”
But the Warriors improved to 10- 2 against the Cavaliers since Durant joined Golden State before last season.
“His overall game was ridiculous — the passing, the rebounding, the scoring,” Kerr said. “It wasn’t just the number of points. It seemed like every time we needed a bucket he got it for us.”