Cleveland led by 20 points late in the third but Golden State was able to come back to as close as one point in the final period. But the Cavs were able to keep the Warriors at bay thanks mainly to superstar LeBron James and unlikely Finals hero Matthew Dellavedova.
James finished with 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists while Dellavedova surprised with a personal playoff-best of 20 points. Both players also made big plays down the stretch.
With their team up, 81-80, with 2:47 remaining, the Australian guard completed a big three-point play while the four-time NBA MVP knocked down a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 run that made it 88-80.
Regular season MVP Steph Curry knocked down a triple on the other end and the Warriors earned a stop for a chance to inch in even closer but Dellavedova made a huge defensive play, diving onto the floor to recover a loose ball and earning another trip to the line, knocking down both of his attempts.
James then added two more free throws to make it 92-83 with 51 seconds remaining.
Curry made a couple of late threes but James was steady from the free throw line to seal the win.
LeBron’s 40 raised his total to 123 points in the first three games of the NBA Finals, the most in NBA history.
Curry led the Warriors with 27 points. His struggles from the previous game continued until the first half of this one, starting the game by making just one of his first six shots. He turned things around in the second half, though, scoring 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting and 6-for-9 from three.
The Cavs blew the game wide open in the third quarter behind huge performances from James and Dellavedova. The pair combined to score 23 of the team’s 28 points in the quarter while the Cleveland defense allowed only 18 as they pushed their lead up to as high as 20 points.
James scored 13 in the quarter and sparked the Cavs’ big run. He knocked down a triple and followed it up by scoring in the post to score the first five points of a 12-0 run that made it 68-48 for Cleveland with 2:52 remaining in the quarter.
The run was capped by baskets from Dellavedova, who hit two big three-pointers earlier in the third quarter, JR Smith and Timofey Mozgov.
Smith and Tristan Thompson finished with 10 points apiece.
The scores:
Cleveland (96) – James 40, Dellavedova 20, Smith 10, Thompson 10, Jones 7, Mozgov 6, Shumpert 3, Miller 0.
Golden State (91) – Curry 27, Iguodala 15, Thompson 14, Lee 11, Green 7, Ezeli 5, Bogut 4, Livingston 4, Barbosa 4, Barnes 0.
Quarterscores: 24-20, 44-37, 72-55, 96-91.
source: interaksyon.com
