The NBA playoffs standings in the finals have the Cleveland Cavaliers leading the Golden State Warriors 2-1 after a great performance by LeBron James and Matthew Dellavedova in Game 3 and now the Cavs have the advantage heading into the Game 4 after winning one game in Oakland and that puts immense pressure on Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr to turn things around.
The Cavs were not given much of a chance against the Warriors after losing Kyrie Irving in Game 1, as they were defeated in overtime in that game to go down 1-0. But James has willed his team to two tough victories and he has put up some historic numbers, scoring the most points in the first three games of the NBA finals to give his team a 2-1 series advantage.
The winner of Game 3 goes on to win the NBA finals over 80 percent of the time when the series is tied 1-1 and now the Cavs have to take care of business at home. When the home team wins Game 3, the team goes on to win 66 percent of the series and the Warriors now have at least one advantage if they can win the next game, as two of the next three would be at home in Oakland. The travel schedule has been tough for Cleveland and James has said that the Warriors have had the advantage by getting more days at home.
James has been fantastic, as he has scored or assisted on 200 of 291 points by the Cavaliers in the series. But this was likely the only way the Cavs would win, as Irving and Kevin Love are out, leaving James as the only real chance for Cleveland. Dellavedova had 20 points and played crack defense once again and he seemingly made every hustle play for loose balls and on deflected passes, giving the Cavs some energy on that end of the floor.
The Cavaliers defense did its job for 36 minutes, but in the final quarter and for parts of the end of the third, the team allowed the Warriors to come back. The Warriors outscored the Cavs 36-24 in the final frame and they pulled within one, but the Cavs were able to stay ahead. The end of the game turned on a couple plays and Dellavedova continued to jump around, including getting a close call on an out of bounds play with Klay Thompson.
The Cavs started the game fast and they continued to dictate the pace like they have all series so far. The team held the Warriors to just 17 points and 18 points in the middle quarters and that style of play is favorable to the Cavaliers over Golden State. Curry ended up with 27 points after opening the game cold, while James had another standout performance.
James has been setting records and has been putting up great numbers, going for 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on Tuesday, while Tristan Thompson was huge with 13 rebounds to lead the Cavs. The Cavaliers and the Warriors will meet again for Game 4 and if the Cavs win that, they will be in amazing position to bring a title home to Cleveland for the first time in 50 years.
