Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from Game 3 vs. Warriors
1. The Warriors are too good
Picture yourself a Cavaliers fan.
Hours before Game 3, a mysterious message appears in your inbox. In it, the following information is revealed about Game 3:
- Kevin Love would finish with 20, J.R. Smith with 13 and Rodney Hood would break out, scoring 15 off the bench.
- Kevin Durant would score 43, but besides him, Curry would be the next closest with 11. The Splash Brothers would struggle, scoring a combined 21 on 7-of-27 shooting, including 3-of-15 from downtown.
- Cleveland would have nine more offensive rebounds than Golden State, while the turnovers and free throws would both be within three.
- Oh, and LeBron James would in fact play.
Easy win for the Cavaliers, right?
This game is a testament to just how good these Warriors are. That they can still win on the road under those circumstances is unbelievable.
Cleveland has to be perfect if it wants even the slightest of chances to beat Golden State, even at home. When the Warriors are playing at significantly less than their ceiling, they can still steal a road game in the NBA Finals against the greatest player of his generation.
They could have easily let this game go, with nearly everything outside of Durant not falling in their favor, but they made their way back into the game slowly but surely, wearing the Cavs down in the process.
Next: 2018 NBA Finals Game 3 recap and reaction
It never seems to matter what isn’t going right for the Warriors, and it appears as though not even they can stop themselves from losing.