Warriors in command
GOLDEN STATE 110 CLEVELAND 102 (Warriors lead series 3-0)
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 three-pointer in the final minute to cap his magnificent performance, and the Warriors beat James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102 in Game 3 of the NBA final 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 down 103-100, Durant stood defiantly and almost motionless after dropping his 33-footer — almost from the same spot from where he hit one in Game 3 last year — and effectively ended the fourth straight finals matchup between two teams who have gotten to know each other well since 2015.
After Durant scored, Stephen Curry and Draymond surrounded Durant and screamed at their teammate, who calmly walked toward the bench.
“I tried to just stay in the zone,” Durant said, acknowledging he was nervous the Cavs could still come back.
Durant said the similarity with last year’s shot — a moment that helped define his first championship — didn’t occur to him.
“No, not at all,” he said of the comparison. “I just took the shot.” There was nothing the Cavs could do. “It was like deja vu watching him hit that shot again,” Cavs forward Kevin Love said.
Golden State will now have four chances to wrap up its title starting with Game 4 on Friday night. The Warriors are trying to join a select list of teams to win three championships in four years.
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 finals, but that was when Durant was in Oklahoma City and James had a different supporting cast.
“We had our chances,” James said. “You can’t make mistakes. They’re not going to beat themselves.”
The Warriors won despite a 3-of-16 shooting performance from 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, who recorded his 10th triple-double in the finals. The threetime champion can opt out of his $35.6-million US 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 was just 1-of-10 from behind the arc.