NBA Finals: Warriors crush Cavaliers at homecourt; just a win away from copping another title

MANILA, Philippines – Despite Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson’s sub par performance, the Golden State Warriors heavily leaned on Kevin Durant’s 43 points to win Game 3, 110-102 for the 3-0 series advantage over Cleveland Cavaliers on June 7, 2018 (Manila Time) at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio, USA.

Warriors crush Cavaliers at homecourt; just a win away from copping another title
Kevin Durant dropped 43 big points to lift up Golden State and secure game 3 in Cleveland’s home court | Photo Credit: The Undefeated

“There’s no place like home.” With the home court advantage shifted to the Cleveland, the Cavaliers welcomed the Warriors with a back-to-back treys courtesy of Kevin Love and JR Smith to start the crucial game 3. To add up, LeBron James made an emphatic dunk with an assist to himself off the backboard for the 14-4 lead.

Some good news for the Dubs as Andre Iguodala is now cleared to play after sustaining a right knee contusion. With Iguodala back on the floor, the Warriors erased Cavs’ double-digit lead through their intensified defense and ended the 1st quarter with just a point disadvantage, 29-28.

Cleveland got back in the second to increase its lead. Unnoticeably, Cavs imposed an outstanding defense too as they had limited Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to 2 and 3 points respectively with more than 5 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Aside from poor shooting in the 1st half, Stephen Curry committed his 3rd personal foul together with Draymond Green. Curry however, stayed on the court while green was subbed out.

Despite Stephen Curry’s offensive absence, Kevin Durant dropped 24 to close the scoring gap to 6, 58-52 still in favor of Cleveland Cavaliers. Kevin love on the other hand had 15 and 10 before both teams headed to the dugout for the halftime break.

Kevin Durant continued to sizzle as the 3rd period began and managed to once again tie the game with just under 2 minutes gone by which is pretty usual for the Warriors or their ability to make a terrific 3rd quarter run.

Warriors’ “Third Quarter Avalanche” continued and the Dubs finally took the lead. Surprisingly, Javale Mcgee had been a great help for Kevin Durant with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson gone cold.

At the end of the third, the Cavaliers found themselves trailing the Warriors, 83-81. Inspite of being down in score, LeBron James and the Cavs found an unexpected help from seldomly-used Rodney Hood who contributed 9 points in 12 just minutes.

Rodney Hood’s shooting carried onto the final quarter and one of the reasons why the Cavs were still in the game.

If there’s one player that Cleveland misses since game 1, it would be Kyle Korver. The three point shooting guard lost his sting ever since the series started and unable to give support to his team.

4th Quarter got more interesting as the protagonists traded baskets and exchanged leads. Multiple fouls had been called however against Dubs and Cavs.

Under a minute, the Warriors had a 106-100 lead courtesy of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry who drained triples where they mattered the most.

Cleveland had 46 seconds left to tie or win the game but failed to do so and finally handed down game 3 to Golden State 110-102.

Do-or-die Game 4 will still be at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio where the Warriors can finish off the Cavaliers and win their 4rd title in 4 years.

— Joey Boy Capos, The Summit Express



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