The first time in these finals that these games went down to the wire. The Warriors and Cavs were pretty much neck-and-neck with each other, offensively and defensively. The Cavs had some momentum going to tie this series up, but the arrival of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson helped swung the momentum in the Dubs' favor and like I said in the 4th quarter post, champions find ways to win on the road. They get blown out by 30 in game 3 and they come back and respond in game 4 to take a 3-1 lead.
CLE
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Kyrie Irving, 34 points, 14-28 shooting. In game 3, Kyrie was absolutely in the zone. No matter how good the Dubs defended him in that game, "Uncle Drew" just made them look silly with some flashy, razzle-dazzle offensive moves. He was hot again in this game and single-handedly kept this Cavs team afloat for the most part of the game until the 4th quarter. It'll be interesting to see if he replicates the same success on the road, especially since the Cavs are facing elimination.
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2nd half adjustments. The Cavs kept up the intensity for a whole 48 minutes in game 3 and they never looked back. It was a whole different story and a tale of two halves. The Cavs were lackluster offensively and defensively. They couldn't make any shots in the 4th quarter. They were having a tough time running their offense when the Warriors tightened up their defense. They didn't have the urge to finish their defense, box out, and securing rebounds and they allowed the Splash Bros to get their game going.
LeBron James, 25 points, 7 turnovers. LeBron may have padded his stats for a near triple-double, but he accounted for a majority of the Cavs' turnovers. It's another example of LeBron looking to be passive and defer to his teammates to make a play on offense. That's been the constant criticism of "the King" throughout his career in the finals.
GSW
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Stephen Curry, 38 points, 11-25 shooting. The MVP has finally arrived. Curry got off to a much-needed quick start in the 1st quarter. He slumped down for a majority of the 2nd quarter, field goal-wise, but he was sensational in the 2nd half. This was the game Curry needed as he was a non-factor for the first three games.
Klay Thompson, 25 points, 7-14 shooting. I'd say this is Klay Thompson's 2nd best game in the Warriors two finals appearances. He has been a disappointment in both, but this was also a much-needed game for the other Splash brother. When Klay started to find rhythm in his 3-point shot, that pretty much allowed Curry to follow suit. Thompson played a solid game.
Harrison Barnes, 14 points, 5-11 shooting. It's a crime that Harrison Barnes has been playing well so far in these finals and I'm not putting him on here on the positives for the Warriors. Kudos to Barnes for stepping his game up and an awesome clutch 3-pointer he made in the 4th quarter to put the Warriors up nine and help seal the game away.
Draymond Green, 9 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks. Green may have not gotten it done offensively this game, but he did what he does best defensively. He protected the paint very well and helped disrupt the Cavs' stagnant offense in the 2nd half.
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The Bigs. In all honesty, I couldn't think of any negatives for the Warriors after this game. So I threw out the regular rotation of bigs in Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli as they were non-factors this game. I just had to throw something out there.
Conclusion
The Golden State Warriors are now just one away from capping off their historical 73 win season and capturing back-to-back NBA titles in Steve Kerr's first two years as head coach. They got the Cavs right where they want them and they'll look to close in front of their home crowd at the "Roaracle." The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the clock. The team has been given a pass last year since they weren't at full strength. One loss away and those conversations of being healthy will be put to rest. Clearly, the Cavs have more to lose in the next game and they'll need to rekindle the intensity they had in game 3 and transfer that in a hostile crowd to get the series back to Cleveland for a game 6. I'll see you guys for game 5 on Monday.
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