Cavaliers get physical to keep title hopes alive

The history of this Warriors team has yet to be completed, but even if Durant does nothing else, Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals is a admirable legacy.

Things got heated in the second half. The Cavs are quickly running out of time to fix it.

LeBron James has 29 points and Kevin Love has 23 for Cleveland, which has already set a Finals record with 20 3-pointers.

The Cavs were determined not to let the Warriors celebrate on their floor for the second time in three years, and it was Cleveland, not Golden State, which busted Finals scoring records in the first half.

The Cavs jumped off to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter before exploding for a Finals record quarter total of 49 points on Friday night. That was a reference to the Warriors winning the previous year’s title in Cleveland. The Warriors later flew out to visit Durant in the Hamptons and had a positive meeting that included Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Green telling Durant that they’re all willing to sacrifice for him in order to win. Curry signed an unbelievably team-friendly extension in 2012, leading to one of the league’s great incongruities: The fifth highest-paid Warrior was the NBA’s first unanimous MVP.

Lebron James passed Magic Johnson with the most triple-doubles in NBA Finals history, posting his ninth Friday night.

There is an inpatient segment of Laker fandom – and just about every other fan base – that wants then to go after Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Russell Westbrook (if he becomes a free agent) and any other star they can.

The Cavaliers scored 137 points in Game 5 on June 9, and the Warriors left Quicken Loans Arena with nearly as many bruises on their battered bodies.

Game Five will be played Monday in Oakland.

Curry hit a layup and after both James and Irving missed for the Cavs, Durant dropped his 3 – a shot that could be the one most remembered in this magnificent run by the Warriors.

“We’re not going to change our game because of who we’re playing”, said Lue.

Golden State clawed within seven, but then the Warriors began fouling and Kerr got nailed with his technical – one of seven in the game.

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, some vendors outside the Cavs’ arena apparently are preparing for the likelihood that this is the last home game of the season.

Cleveland has gone from 11.9% usage of isolations in regular season to 15.2% of the time in 16 playoff games. The same team, who came back from 3-1 deficit to beat the 73-win Warriors. Teams are 0-126 in the same situation.

He said they are going to come out as a confident group, play hard and give themselves a chance in Game 4. To see that go in, that was liberating, man. They don’t figure to shoot as poorly again at home, nor should the Cavaliers expect to have a 39-point advantage from behind the arc. It’s the difference between having a very good team with lots of role players or having a team that can actually, legitimately win an National Basketball Association championship…

They are 1-3 in four meetings with the Durant-led Warriors this season and needed an Irving turnaround fadeaway with 3.4 seconds left to win one in Cleveland on Christmas Day.

Big shots and an incredible highlight play where James threw a pass off the backboard to himself and flushed a dunk, fueled their third quarter run. The guys in the 50s would’ve destroyed everybody.