IT’S NOW 2-TO-1
On his knees, but fighting, LeBron James gets a loose ball and passes it to a teammate in first half action of Game 3 which saw his team beat the Golden State Warriors, 120-90, for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first win in the NBA Finals 2016 at home court, on Wednesday.
Game 4 Saturday 9 a.m. (Manila Time)
CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James scored 32 points and Kyrie Irving added 30 as the Cleveland Cavaliers, pushed for 48 minutes by a delirious, championship-starved crowd, beat the Golden State Warriors 120-90 in Game 3 on Wednesday night to pull within 2-1 in the NBA Finals.
On their home floor, where they have been dominant all postseason, the Cavs pulled their season from the brink following back-to-back blowout losses in the Bay Area.
They did it without starting forward Kevin Love, little help from their bench and by keeping Stephen Curry penned in.
The league's MVP was mostly MIA, scoring 19 points — two in the first half — on 6-of-13 shooting. Harrison Barnes scored 18 and Klay Thompson 10 for Golden State, which had won seven straight over Cleveland — the first two finals games by a combined 48 points — and came back to the birthplace of rock and roll looking to party like they did after winning the title in Quicken Loans Arena last year.
The Cavs, though, have made this a series after it appeared the Warriors were on the fast track to another crown.
“We've got to give the same effort on Friday,” James said. “It started defensively and it trickled down to the offensive side.”
Irving bounced back from two rough games out West, J.R. Smith made five 3-pointers and Tristan Thompson did the dirty work inside, getting 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who improved to 8-0 at home and can even the series with a win in Game 4 on Friday night.
The Cavs hardly missed Love, still suffering from a concussion sustained in Game 2. He wanted to play, but Love is still in the NBA's concussion protocol and has not yet been cleared to return by league and team doctors.
Coach Tyronn Lue started veteran Richard Jefferson and moved James into Love's power forward spot, giving the Cavs a smaller lineup better equipped to run with the Warriors.
The 35-year-old Jefferson gave the Cavs a huge boost in 33 minutes, scoring nine points with eight rebounds.
Leading by eight at halftime, Cleveland took control in the third quarter when James and Irving combined on a play that symbolized the Cavs' resurrection.
Crawling on his hands and knees after a loose ball near midcourt, James got to his feet and whipped a pass to Irving on the left side. Irving returned a lob to James, who leaped high and flushed it with his right hand, a basket that seemed to erase all that went wrong for the Cavs in California.
Before taking the floor, James and the Cavs huddled in the hallway outside their locker room and prayed.