Game 3 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio was another historic night for the Cleveland Cavaliers led by Ohio native, LeBron James as they handled the Golden State Warriors 96-91 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The back to back wins for the Cavaliers are the first two NBA Finals victories for the franchise since joining the NBA League in 1970.
At the post-game conference after Game 2 in Oakland, LeBron James called out the Cavaliers fans to bring their outdoor loudest voices and cheers for Game 3. Well, not only did the Cavaliers fans bring the woofers, but LeBron was honored with the presence of Cleveland Brown Legend, Jim Brown at courtside!
Like all the great players, LeBron James showed up and showed out! The King led his team with another staggering stat line of 40 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists! Wow, only two assists away from his sixth triple double in the NBA Finals. James had excellent support from Tristen Thompson contributing a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds while Matthew Dellavedova continues to shine in his role as the starting point guard replacing All-Star, Kyrie Irving. Dellavedova gave the Warriors 20 points while still making it tough for the MVP, Stephen Curry to get a steady rhythm for the Warriors.
It seemed as Warrior Head Coach, Steve Kerr made the first major adjustment in the series by playing former All-Star, David Lee. Lee definitely gave the Warriors another skilled big man on the floor, but with a struggling Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and splash brother, Klay Thompson shooting a disastrous 7-28 made it tough for the Warriors to gain momentum to push for a victory.
The Warriors were down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, but managed to get Curry loose for a few good looks in the fourth quarter to make the game close. Curry finished the game with a team high 27 points, but as I wrote earlier in this story, LeBron James showed up and YES, showed out! LeBron took every big shot and made the right pass to a teammate to secure the Cleveland Cavaliers second victory in NBA Finals history!
Game 4 will be played at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday, June 11th at 6:00 p.m. (EST).