An 11-0 run in the last three minutes of the game let the Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road (113-118), with Steve Kerr’s team now being only one victory away from winning the title (3-0).
Although Cleveland seemed to have control of the game (113-107), Kevin Durant scored seven crucial points and helped his team turn things around, as LeBron James and company ran out of time and couldn’t make a come-back.
For the winners, Durant had 31 points and eight rebounds, with Klay Thompson adding 30 (on 6/11 from the three-point range) and Stephen Curry 26 (along with 13 boards and six assists).
On the other hand, Kyrie Irving did his best for the losing squad (38 points, on 16/29 shooting), with James coming very close to the triple-double (39 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists), however Cleveland lost the opportunity to stay alive in the NBA Finals.
Despite being decimated by Golden State in the first two matches, the Cavaliers were expected to fight back in Games 3 and 4 in order to win both matches and tie the series, even though many people were thinking their mission was very difficult.
“The Cavaliers have lost the first two games in a horrible way and by a considerable amount of points. Now that Game 3 is in Cleveland, it doesn’t change the underdog status they have in the online sportsbook odds. They head into that matchup at +3, so it doesn’t look that bad for them. But on the other hand, the Warriors are just too good of a team this season. We all know anything can and will happen, but it seems like a very different Finals series from the ones before.” said line manager at MyBookie.ag, David Strauss.
And that was exactly the case in the beginning of the game, as both teams were executing very well offensively (19-19, 32-29). A 10-0 run from the Warriors, though, let them close the first quarter in front by seven (32-39).
Later, Cleveland responded and quickly tied the game (39-39), with no team managing to earn a significant advantage (43-46, 57-59), as Golden State took a six-point lead (61-67) at the end of the first half.
In the third quarter, the defending champions tied the game again (76-76, 82-82) and went on a 12-7 run to take a five-point advantage, after 30 minutes in the game (94-89).
In the fourth quarter, Cleveland retained its lead (100-93), however a three-pointer from Thompson enabled the Warriors to cut the deficit to just one (108-107), with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
A crucial three-point shot from J.R Smith (113-107) was followed by seven straight points from Durant that were enough to give Golden State the win over Cleveland (113-118), which brings the visitors a step away from claiming the NBA title for the second time in the last three years.
