Bodies flew in the fourth quarter and it was the Cleveland Cavaliers who outlasted the Golden State Warriors 96-91 and took a 2-1 series lead.
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After two Cleveland baskets, Stephen Curry hit his first three-pointer of the night. The Cavs, though, rallied fed off the incredible energy from the crowd at Quickens Loans Arena and built a lead that the Warriors wouldn’t be able to overcome. Largely behind the energy of Andre Iguodala and Festus Ezeli, the Warriors managed to keep it close; trailing just 24-20
The second quarter, for the Warriors, was the Iguodala show. As the Cavs kept pushing, every Warriors aside from Iguodala looked like he was just looking forward to the halftime whistle. David Lee saw his first minutes in the second quarter and got a wide open dunk off an Iguodala feed. Curry went into halftime with just 3 points while James Jones, who ended the quarter with a three, had 7 at the break. Going into the half, the deficit grew and the Warriors trailed 44-37.
The third quarter went about as poorly as it could have for the Warriors. They looked completely outmatched and overpowered. No one could score and the Cavs did whatever they wanted offensively. Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy noted, on the broadcast, that the Warriors–Curry in particular–looked scared. The LeBron James and Cavaliers extended the lead to 17 and made it look easy.
The fourth quarter was quite the ride for anyone watching, regardless of preference. The Warriors started the period off with an 8-0 run. Behind the efforts of the (forgotten) Lee, the Warriors chipped away at the lead. Curry and Lee picked apart Cleveland with the pick-and-roll that dominated just a few years ago. The MVP finally found his stroke, scoring 17 of his 27 points, in the fourth quarter. Curry drained some ridiculous three pointers that Golden State fans had become accustomed to.
The end of the fourth quarter was a fight. It became extremely physical and players were throwing themselves at 50/50 balls left and right. Of course, Matthew Dellavadova was in the middle of most of it; making big play after big play including an and-one floater that, with the free throw, pushed the Cavs’ lead to 4.
The Warriors had cut it down to 1 and won the quarter 36-24, but the hole they dug themselves into through three was too much to overcome. LeBron James put together another fantastic performance finishing with 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. The Cavs out-hustled Golden State and players like James and Jones showed their experience.
Tale of the Tape
Warriors
- Field-goal percentage: 40% (36-90)
- Three-point percentage: 35.3% (12-34)
- Rebounds: 46
- Assists: 21
- Turnovers: 14
Cavaliers
- Field-goal percentage: 46.1% (35-76)
- Three-point percentage: 42.9% (9-21)
- Rebounds:43
- Assists: 15
- Turnovers: 14
Good to Know
Stephen Curry looks to have found his shot shooting 10-20 from the field and 7-13 from three.
What’s on Tap
Game 4 will be on Thursday in Cleveland.