2016 NBA Finals: Game 3 Recap And Highlights

In Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers showed this series isn’t over yet with a 30-point trouncing of the Golden State Warriors.

The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ bench may not have showed up for Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals, but behind their hot-shooting backcourt and Tristan Thompson‘s effort on the boards, this is suddenly a series again.

In a 120-90 trouncing of the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night, the Cavs moved to 8-0 at Quicken Loans Arena in the postseason and pulled to 2-1 in the Finals.

Kyrie Irving led the charge early on, finishing with 30 points and eight assists on 12-of-25 shooting. LeBron James had 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists on 14-of-26 shooting, while J.R. Smith added 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range.

Tristan Thompson finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass.

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It was a rough night for the Warriors, with league MVP Stephen Curry reverting back to his Game 1 struggles. He finished with just 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, making only three of his nine three-pointers and committing six turnovers and four fouls.

Harrison Barnes was the Dubs’ best player in Game 3, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting. Klay Thompson had 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and Andre Iguodala chipped in 11 points.

The Cavs outshot the league’s best three-point shooting team, going 12-for-25 from deep as the Warriors struggled to the tune of 9-of-33 shooting, They also out-rebounded Golden State by a massive 52-32 margin, forced 18 turnovers and overcame the absence of Kevin Love to earn the Game 3 victory.

Cleveland’s sense of desperation was apparent from the opening tip, and with Curry and Thompson looking thoroughly uncomfortable on the offensive end, the Cavs steamrolled their way to a quick 9-0 start.

Cleveland started the game 10-for-15 from the field, while the Dubs went 4-for-13 with four turnovers. The Splash Brothers started 0-for-7 from the field (and 0-for-5 from three-point range), but Kyrie Irving’s offense made a surprise return from the start.

While the Dubs’ offense floundered, Irving was an offense unto himself, finishing the first quarter with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Cleveland was up by 20 at one point and Kyrie’s 16 points matched the entire Warriors’ output in the first quarter, with the Dubs trailing 33-16.

The Cavaliers shot 15-for-21 (71.4 percent) from the field in the first period, holding Golden State to 7-of-20 shooting (35 percent) and five turnovers. The Splash Brothers did not score a single point.

To start the second quarter, Steve Kerr went small with Klay Thompson being checked out in the locker room for a thigh contusion. The Warriors quickly went on an 7-0 run to cut the lead back down to 10, making it a 10-0 run bridging the first and second quarters.

Harrison Barnes was the catalyst for the Warriors, starting the game 3-for-3 from the field for eight early points and knocking down a buzzer-beating layup in transition to close the first period.

The Cavs extended their lead back to 13 behind Tristan Thompson’s grunt work on the offensive glass, at which point the Warriors responded with their Death Lineup. A quick 4-0 run chopped Cleveland’s lead back down to nine, but Cleveland once again responded.

Thanks to J.R. Smith finally, mercifully getting a three-pointer to fall — two straight, to be exact — and a LeBron James reverse dunk down the lane, the Cavs extended their lead back to 15.

Though Curry was completely absent for most of the first half, Klay Thompson began to click in the second quarter, scoring six straight points to cut the lead back down to single digits.

Unfortunately for the Dubs, Curry picked up his third foul and looked completely out of sorts committing it, reaching in transition after Kerr had stressed being careful with the foul trouble. Klay Thompson’s 10 second quarter points would be his only points for the entire game.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavs with 19 first half points on 8-of-16 shooting and LeBron James added 11 points on a disappointing 5-of-14 shooting, with Cleveland’s star duo going an abysmal 2-for-17 from the floor in the second quarter.

Tristan Thompson dominated the offensive glass, with 10 rebounds and a monstrous seven offensive boards as the Cavs were a +8 on the boards.

Klay Thompson led the Dubs with 10 points on 10 shots, while Harrison Barnes also had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Draymond Green chipped in four points, six assists, four rebounds and one incredible block on King James at the rim.

Still, even with the Warriors committing 10 first half turnovers for 21 Cleveland points, despite shooting just 2-for-14 from three-point range, despite missing five of their eight free throws AND  despite Curry going 1-for-5 with three turnovers and three fouls, the Dubs only trailed by eight at the break.

Against a 73-9 juggernaut, it seemed reasonable to believe it was only a matter of time before the Splash Brothers got back on track and handed Cleveland another devastating loss.

But with Kerr going back to his regular starting lineup to start the second half, the Cavs continued to exploit Andrew Bogut and went on a quick 9-3 run.

The onslaught continued once Kerr went to the Death Lineup however, with LeBron James’ jump shot finally making its return.

With Curry noticeably struggling and J.R. Smith chipping in on the other end, the Cavaliers built a 70-48 lead, opening the third quarter on a 19-5 spurt.

Curry started to build some momentum at that point, chipping in two three-pointers to fuel an 11-4 Warriors run, but J.R. Smith responded once again with a three of his own to extend the lead back to 18.

The dagger came in transition after LeBron James deflected another errant Curry pass, got the loose ball, kicked it to Kyrie Irving on the wing and got rewarded for his effort with a beautiful alley-oop that ignited Quicken Loans Arena.

Curry wound up with a nice third quarter, scoring 13 points that included two three-pointers and another four-point play, but despite the MVP finally waking up, the Dubs trailed by 20 entering the fourth quarter.

With Kerr opting to sit Curry to start the final quarter, the Cavaliers were able to extend their lead just far enough to put the game permanently out of reach and quickly enter garbage time.

More hoops habit: 2016 NBA Finals: Game 2 Recap And Highlights

Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals will be played in Cleveland on Friday, June 10, as the Cavs look to even the series.