The NBA Finals 2015 are live for Game 3 and Game 4 for the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers from Quicken Loans Arena as the playoffs series continues for LeBron James and Stephen Curry and the matchups are on TV from ABC and streaming online from the WatchESPN website and this game starts at 9 pm ET and is tied 1-1.
The Cavaliers have the chance to take home court advantage with a win here and they easily could have been up 2-0 had James made the game winning shot at the end of Game 1. This is the first time that the first two games of the finals have gone to overtime and that has played into things for the Cavs so far. The Cavaliers were not given much of a chance against the Warriors after Kyrie Irving went down, but James put the team on his back and helped tie things up.
Stephen Curry had Matthew Dellavedova on him for part of the game and the Australian took over for Irving and held Curry to an 0-for-8 night when he was contesting his shots. Curry only made two threes on 15 shots and he also did not shoot well overall. The Cavaliers have the chance to take a 2-1 lead with a win at home and they have played very well at Quicken Loans Arena this year. The Warriors have only lost four times at home this season and the Cavs pulled one of those and now they can take a lead in the series.
The Game 3 matchup is one of the most crucial in the finals, as the winners of Game 3 when the series is tied go on to win over 80 percent of the time. While a win for the Cavs or the Warriors does not guarantee a series win, getting the victory here would be huge for either side. The Cavs really could put the Warriors in a tough spot and that could add pressure, as they are a shooting team and that could keep them off of their game.
Dellavedova likely won't have as much success against Curry again, but keeping him from getting too many open shots could be the whole key to stopping the Warriors. Draymond Green needs to do more on offense and the Cavs obviously will once again be relying on James to get it done. James had 44 points in the Game 1 loss and he put up a historic stat line in Game 2 with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists to help the Cavaliers tie up the finals.
James is trying to do something Michael Jordan never did, which is bring a bad team through the playoffs and basically will them to a championship. The team had Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving at the start of the playoffs and many felt it would be tough for the Cavs and now somehow playing without two elite players, the Cavaliers are tied in the finals with the best team in basketball. James may have some extra motivation with all the media giving the Cavs no chance, but now anything could happen and if the Cavs win game 3, this will be a true chance for a title to come to Cleveland for the first time in 50 years.
Check here for the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers live coverage.
Here is a link to the live stream from the WatchESPN website coverage from ABC.
Check here to follow along the box score and game live with stats.