In one of the most dramatic endings in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors scored 11 points in the final 139 seconds to stun the home team as well as the capacity home crowd with a 118-113 win.
With about six minutes to go for the first quarter in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James collided with his teammate Tristan Thompson and was knocked down.
James stayed glued to the ground for quite a while as the manic 20,562 people at the Quicken Loans Arena here turned mute. The Cleveland Cavaliers took a time-out, probably wanting more time to digest the damage to their engine room.
But up was James after a few seconds, marching straight to the bench with visible discomfort. And out he came to open the scoring immediately after the break for the Cavs. The man was unstoppable, the pain could wait.
Not for long, though.
In one of the most dramatic endings in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors scored 11 points in the final 139 seconds to stun the home team as well as the capacity home crowd with a 118-113 win here on Wednesday. It gave the Warriors a cushioning 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Finals, and brought them one step closer to the championship.
Needing to dodge danger for just over a couple of minutes, the Cavs surrendered to the class of Kevin Durant, who scored a game-turning 3-pointer with just 45 seconds remaining on the clock to take his team into a 114-113 lead from a 107-113 deficit.
At 116-113 and with 12 seconds to go, James paused outside the 3-pointer line, took a shot and missed. A collective gasp echoed around the arena, and even before Cavs’ final death knell was sounded, James stormed off the court.
The pain was similar to what he had endured in the first quarter, except this time it was in the mind than the body.
One could only feel for the 6’8” Cavs superstar, who almost single-handedly put his team into a winning position in Cleveland’s quest to “defend the land”. He scored 39 points – the most on the day from either team – made four 3-pointers and assisted nine of them.
If not for James’s mastery, the Cavs would’ve been blow away by the Curry-Durant fury even in their own backyard. One man was taking it all on his chest, yet returning empty-handed.
“For me personally, I gave everything I had tonight (Wednesday),” a visibly distraught James said after the loss. “So win, lose or draw, you live with the results.”
The Cavs will also have to live with the fact that they’ll now have to become the first team ever to win the Finals from a 3-0 deficit starting from the fourth game on Friday. For inspiration, they merely need to look at the mirror, for last year they became the first team to clinch the title after a 3-1 deficit.
But this Warriors team is different. This Warriors team is hungrier. This Warriors team has learnt its lessons from last year. This Warriors team has KD, who can produce magical moments like that clinching 3-pointer to turn tides.
“I don't want to relax. It's not over,” Durant said after the game. “Basketball is a crazy game. Anything can happen.”
Sure James will agree.
Result: Cleveland Cavaliers lost to Golden State Warriors 113-118 (Warriors lead series 3-0)
N ZONE
15
No. of consecutive wins for the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 Play-offs, becoming the first team in NBA history to do so
1,175
No. of points LeBron James has scored in the Finals, the most after Jerry West (1,679), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,317) and Michael Jordan (1,176)
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