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Warriors blown out by Cavs; Lead series 2-1

By Carlos Murillo

Jun 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) celebrates in front of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the four quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) celebrates in front of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the four quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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With a little over three minutes left in the second quarter, Head Coach Steve Kerr pulled MVP Stephen Curry who had more first half turnovers than points.

It was that kind of night for the Golden State Warriors, who were completely run out of the gym by a re-energized Cleveland Cavaliers team. The Warriors were dominated in every single way imaginable and the final score of 120-90 reflected that.

This was the third consecutive blowout in the 2016 NBA Finals. After an extremely competitive Western Conference Finals, the Warriors dominated the Cavs in Games 1 and 2 in Oracle Arena. Facing a potential 3-0 deficit, LeBron James and the Cavaliers responded perfectly, hitting Golden State in the mouth right from the tip.

The Cavaliers were without Kevin Love in this one, who was not cleared to play after undergoing the concussion protocol following. Instead, former-Warrior Richard Jefferson made his first start in the NBA Finals since he was a New Jersey Net in 2002. He outscored and out rebounded Golden State’s Draymond Green 9 to 6 and 8 to 7 respectively.

This one got ugly fast for the Warriors as they fell behind by 20 in the first quarter. The Cavaliers jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Kerr called time. Instead of making any adjustments (namely, bringing in Andre Iguodala to counter the Cavs’ small lineup), he continued to roll with Andrew Bogut at center. The Cavaliers missed just six shots in the first quarter while Curry and Klay Thompson were 0-8 between the two of them.

The Warriors suffered a bit of a scare in the first half. Thompson was defending Kyrie Irving on a drive when Timofey Mozgov set a moving screen, driving his knee into Thompson’s thigh. The Warriors’ All-Star exited the game and went to the locker room, but returned later in the game after putting on a pair of padded tights under his shorts.

Golden State made some progress in the second quarter, chipping away at Cleveland’s lead. James and Irving combined for 2-17 shooting while the Warriors hit 12-18 from the field. Going into the halftime break, the Warriors were only trailing by 8 points, despite playing poorly. The Warriors were in great position to take the game away from Cleveland.

But James and co. weren’t having it.

They upped the defensive intensity and continued to drain shots. Cleveland’s role players like J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson were complete opposites than the versions of themselves that showed up to the first two games in the Bay Area. Smith found his stroke while Thompson feasted on the glass, grabbing offensive rebounds giving his team chance after chance.

Golden State’s energy just wasn’t there while Cleveland’s was turned all the way up. They fed off their home crowd and finally looked like a team that deserved to be in the NBA Finals. The Warriors just didn’t have a chance in this one, looking disengaged and slow for all 48 minutes.

The Warriors will look to take a commanding 3-1 lead before heading back home to the friendly confines of Oakland, California while the Cavaliers want to tie it up.

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