AWC’s Sean Roby picked by Giants
CLEVELAND — Kevin Durant pushed the Golden State Warriors to dynasty’s doorstep.
LeBron James may be at the door.
Durant scored 43 points, draining a long 3-pointer in the final minute to cap his magnificent performance, and the Golden State Warriors defeated James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night to move within a victory of a sweep, their second straight title and third championship in four years.
No team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs.
It might be time to order some champagne from Napa Valley.
With the Cavs within 103-100, Durant stood motionless after dropping his 33-footer, which effectively ended the fourth straight finals matchup between two teams who have gotten to know each other well since 2015.
“That was amazing what he did out there tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Some of those shots, I don’t think anybody in the world can hit those but him. He was incredible.”
Golden State will now have four chances to wrap up its title starting with Game 4 on Friday night.
James scored 33 points and Kevin Love added 20 for the Cavs, who have fallen into a hole in which no team has ever emerged. Cleveland came back from a 3-1 deficit to stun the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals, but that was when Durant was in Oklahoma City and James had a different supporting cast.
The Warriors won despite a 3-of-16 shooting performance from Stephen Curry, who did come up big down the stretch as the Cavs were trying to salvage their season.
Now Cleveland could be down to one final game with James. The threetime champion can opt out of his $35.6 million contract and test free agency this summer, and it may be time for the 33-year-old to find a team capable of beating the Warriors.
Durant, who tilted this rivalry toward the West Coast when he signed with the Warriors as a free agent before last season, was brilliant from the start. He helped offset a rough night for Curry, who made a finals-record nine 3-pointers in Game 2, but was just 1 of 10 from behind the arc and didn’t score his second field goal until there were under three minutes left.
Curry’s scoop shot put the Warriors up 98-97 and defensive specialist Andre Iguodala, who didn’t play in Games 1 or 2 because of a knee injury, came up with a steal under the basket. Curry finally buried a 3 and after James matched him with a long shot, Iguodala drove the lane for a thundering dunk.
Moments later, Durant delivered his dagger to silence Cleveland’s crowd.
“The shot clock was running down, I was pretty far out, I just wanted to get a look,” Durant said. “I didn’t want to run there and shoot a bad shot, fall on the ground and they got numbers going the other way so I decided to pull
Arizona Western College third baseman Sean Roby will get the opportunity to continue his baseball career, but now he’s going to be getting paid for it.
Roby was selected in the 12th round (346th overall) by the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday after two big seasons for the Matadors.
“I’m excited. I can’t believe it, to be honest,” Roby said. “I’m happy with the team. I’m exited to live my dream. It’s something that I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”
He was named the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year last month and helped the Matadors en route to a Regional title and a big postseason run. Roby finished the season with 22 home runs and 77 RBIs during 58 games. He batted .356 and also had 15 steals.
His bat came up clutch during the Region I tournament. He was named region MVP after going 7-for-13 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in the three-game series.
“He improved tremendously,” AWC coach Drew Keehn said. “He lifted and he worked at it every day. He did everything we asked of him. It’s a little bit of a shock for a guy to come into the program and be asked to do so much. Some guys can turn away from that, but he didn’t.”
That performance helped cap off his career as a Matador, but it was only a year earlier that Roby showed up as a walk on. He says that he worked a lot on the mental part of his game and his approach at the plate. He thinks that helped lead him to the breakout season.
“I just had to be more confident at the plate,” Roby said. “I tried to get my team involved. The coaches really helped me out. Thinking in my head and talking to myself about how I had to do better helped me step up my game this year.”
The Giants have minor league affiliates in Scottsdale, Salem, Oregon, Augusta, Georgia, San Jose, California, Richmond, Virginia and Sacramento.
Roby wasn’t the only Matador to get drafted this week. Former AWC pitcher Carlos Vega was selected in the 21st round (638th overall) by the Chicago Cubs. Vega, who transferred after the 2016 season to Southeast Missouri State University, finished the season with a 3.82 ERA over 35 1/3 innings.
While at AWC Vega led the team in 2016 with an ERA of 2.44 over 66 1/3 innings. He also was 8-3 with 90 strikeouts.