Cleveland Cavaliers rally into NBA Finals with rout of Golden State
By Reuters
Last Updated: 09/06/16 7:50am
Smothering defense and an aggressive attack inspired by LeBron James lifted the Cleveland Cavaliers back into the NBA Finals with a 120-90 rout of defending champions Golden State on Wednesday.
James scored 32 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and added six assists while Kyrie Irving netted 30 points, 16 in the first quarter, and had eight assists after producing only 10 points in a 110-77 loss in game two.
"My teammates got me going. They told me to be aggressive and that's what I was," James said. "It was just a collective team win."
Despite the humbling defeat, the Warriors remain 2-1 up in the best-of-seven series ahead of Game Four in Cleveland on Friday.
"They came out and played like a team with a sense of desperation, like their season was on the line. And we came out and played like everything was peaches and cream," said Golden State's Draymond Green. "We got bullied. We can't get bullied."
Only three teams in 69 prior NBA Finals have rallied from 2-0 down to win the title, but no team trailing 3-0 has ever won an NBA playoff series.
"We weren't ready to play," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "They just punched us right in the mouth right in the beginning. We were turning the ball over like crazy. Soft. We were extremely soft to start the game. Just a horrible way to start."
Playing without forward Kevin Love, sidelined by a concussion suffered in game two, the Cavaliers shifted James to power forward and used pressure defense to ignite scoring.
"We were very physical defensively and we were aggressive offensively, attacking the basket, getting out in transition, running the floor," said Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue. "That's how we have to play."
Never before in NBA Finals history had a team won by 30 or more only to lose the next game by 30 or more, but that's what the Warriors did.
"If you let your guard down and the other team is angry, then you can see this kind of turnaround," Kerr said.
"This was about one team being emotionally fired up and angry about being down 0-2 and another team being comfortable. It was just the level on intensity they brought. Their aggressiveness was important."
JR Smith added 20 points while Tristan Thompson contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who improved to 8-0 at home in the playoffs and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors.
NBA MVP and scoring champion Curry managed only two points in the first half and finished with 19 while Harrison Barnes added 18 points and Klay Thompson contributed 10. Curry and Thompson shot a combined 10-for-26.
