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| Kevin Durant carried the fight for the Warriors in Cleveland. Carlos Osorio/AP |
MANILA--Golden State threatens to sweep Cleveland again.
The Warriors moved to within a win from bringing out the brooms in the NBA Finals after shocking the Cavaliers, 110-102, in Game 3 at the Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday (Philippine Time).
Behind a career game from Kevin Durant, Golden State shrugged off an off day from Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and went 3-0 up against Cleveland for the second straight championship round.
The Cavs appeared dead set to finally score a win in the series after a dominating second quarter to open a 49-37 lead late in the period.
The Warriors, however, closed out the first half on a strong note, setting up a third quarter blast, which has been their main barrage for most of the playoffs, to get the lead, 83-81, entering the fourth.
The game remained tight for most of the final frame, but Curry scored five straight points to put Golden State up for good as huge baskets from Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green sealed the victory.
Durant finished with a playoff career-high 43 points on 15-of-23 shooting with 13 rebounds, seven assists, and one steal for the Warriors.
Curry, despite shooting only 3-of-16 overall, came up big at the death, making seven of his 11 points in the last three minutes.
Green, Thompson, JaVale McGee, and Jordan Bell each tallied 10 markers.
LeBron James' 33-point triple-double, which also consists of 11 assists and 10 rebounds, went down the drain as the Cavs now need to sweep the last four games of the best-of-seven series to reclaim the title.
Golden State, which failed to complete the sweep last year, has a second chance to go 4-0 against Cleveland on Saturday (Philippine Time) in Game 4.
Box Scores:
GOLDEN STATE 110-Durant 43, Curry 11, Bell 10, D. Green 10, McGee 10, K. Thompson 10, Iguodala 8, Livingston 8, West 0, Young 0, Looney 0, McCaw 0.
CLEVELAND 102-James 33, Love 20, Hood 15, Smith 13, T. Thompson 8, Hill 5, Nance Jr. 5, J. Green 3, Korver 0.
Quarters: 28-29; 52-58; 83-81; 110-102.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
The game remained tight for most of the final frame, but Curry scored five straight points to put Golden State up for good as huge baskets from Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green sealed the victory.
Durant finished with a playoff career-high 43 points on 15-of-23 shooting with 13 rebounds, seven assists, and one steal for the Warriors.
Curry, despite shooting only 3-of-16 overall, came up big at the death, making seven of his 11 points in the last three minutes.
Green, Thompson, JaVale McGee, and Jordan Bell each tallied 10 markers.
LeBron James' 33-point triple-double, which also consists of 11 assists and 10 rebounds, went down the drain as the Cavs now need to sweep the last four games of the best-of-seven series to reclaim the title.
Golden State, which failed to complete the sweep last year, has a second chance to go 4-0 against Cleveland on Saturday (Philippine Time) in Game 4.
Box Scores:
GOLDEN STATE 110-Durant 43, Curry 11, Bell 10, D. Green 10, McGee 10, K. Thompson 10, Iguodala 8, Livingston 8, West 0, Young 0, Looney 0, McCaw 0.
CLEVELAND 102-James 33, Love 20, Hood 15, Smith 13, T. Thompson 8, Hill 5, Nance Jr. 5, J. Green 3, Korver 0.
Quarters: 28-29; 52-58; 83-81; 110-102.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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