Wednesday night’s Game 3 matchup of the NBA Finals between the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors went right down to the wire.
With just under one minute remaining in the game, Warriors forward Kevin Durant sank a decisive three-pointer over LeBron James to give his team a commanding 3-0 series lead.
https://youtu.be/JumAv1nl8bs
James and his teammate, Kyrie Irving, put up a valiant effort in Game 3, but it just wasn’t enough. In fact, according to ESPN Stats and Information, the 77 points that James and Irving combined for was the most by any duo in Finals history.
In his 46 minutes of playing time, James, now playing in his seventh consecutive Finals, recorded 39 points (15-of-27 field, 4-of-9 from downtown), 11 rebounds, nine assists, one block, and one steal.
As for Irving, the former Duke Blue Devil stand-out tallied 38 points (16-of-29 field, 0-of-7 from three-point land), six rebounds, and three assists in 44 minutes of action.
How about the rest of the Cavaliers, you ask? Well, their next highest scorer was J.R. Smith, who finally found his rythm, knocking down 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Aside from that, Cleveland’s stat sheet looked pretty bleak. Kevin Love finished with nine points and 13 rebounds. Kyle Korver tipped in eight points.
Will the Cavs be able to evade being swept? Only time will tell. Game 4 is set to tip at 9:00 p.m. on Friday, with ABC having live broadcast coverage.