It took the Cleveland Cavaliers about 8 1/2 quarters to finally show up in the NBA Finals, but their 120-90 victory in Game 3 reminded everybody of the behemoth that strolled through the Eastern Conference. There wasn't much the Golden State Warriors were able to do in Cleveland, as the Cavs, in trimming Golden State's series lead to 2-1, remained undefeated (8-0) at home in the 2016 playoffs.
Every time the Warriors looked to be mounting a run, Cleveland responded with a surge of its own to quell the threat. Kyrie Irving did the damage early, scoring or assisting on 26 of the Cavs' first 33 points. He finished with 30 points and eight assists. LeBron James took over in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 32 points while raining jumper after jumper for the first time all series.
The other Cavaliers did what they didn't in the first two games. Tristan Thompson controlled the area around the rim on both ends of the floor. J.R. Smith finally broke through with 20 points and five 3-pointers. And Richard Jefferson, starting for Kevin Love, played 33 productive minutes (9 points, 8 rebounds).
For the Warriors, Stephen Curry was pretty much a no-show except for a brief stretch in the third quarter when he started hitting some jumpers. Draymond Green wasn't a scoring factor at all (6 points on 2-of-8 shooting) and Klay Thompson shot 1 of 7 from 3-point range while forcing a lot of shots. The Warriors turned the ball over 18 times, running their turnover total to 38 the past two games.
Cleveland looks to even things up Friday night in Game 4 at Quicken Loans Arena.
