THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS survived a last-quarter surge from the Golden State Warriors last night to win game three of the NBA Finals 96-91.
A 12-0 run from the Cavs blew the game apart in the third quarter but the Warriors fought back in Cleveland thanks to a 13-2 start to the fourth term, only for the hosts to hold on to claim a 2-1 series lead.
LeBron James top-scored for the Cavs with 40 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while replacement point guard Matthew Dellavedova (20 points) produced another strong performance up against Warriors star Steph Curry (27).
Cleveland led by seven points at half-time at Quicken Loans Arena and set up their victory after the main break, with James and Dellavedova effectively beating Golden State on their own.
The pair were exclusively involved in the home team’s first eight scores of the quarter in terms of shooting and assists, while one of them produced the final pass or shot every time the Cavs added to their tally in the third stanza.
With David Lee coming off the bench to score seven of his nine points for the game in the fourth quarter, the Warriors got as close as one point when Curry sank a three-pointer with two minutes, 45 seconds left.
But in a perfect illustration of Dellavedova’s performance, the Australian bustled his way past Curry to sink a two-point floater in the next play, earning the foul and converting from the free-throw line to put Cleveland 84-80 ahead.
James was the next to score with a three-pointer, while in the final minute, Dellavedova dived on a loose ball from Curry, was fouled and sank both free throws to stretch the hosts’ lead to seven.
Curry had been kept fairly quiet in the first three quarters but exploded in the last, scoring 17 points, including five threes to drag the visitors to 94-91 down with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Two late free throws from James put Cleveland five points clear, and it was enough to see them hold on. Cleveland host game four on Thursday.
them Brits are always late
ha ha.
excellent Cornelius. true that.
if he wins it on the last shot though he’ll be as Irish as myself.
Unlike us punctual Irish!!!!
According to Skysports he’s now Irish again :)
Of course he’s Irish, Jason, Europe is losing!!!!
He was watching the All-Ireland Hurling Final!!!!
Surely in the scenario described he would have been an hour early with Chicago being an hour behind the eastern coast. Unless the earth spins in the opposite direction stateside….
If its 10am in Chicago it’s 11am on the east coast….
Mr crow u beat me to it! silly brits with their tardiness ;)
Cornellius and maverick. You are ignorant gits.
Are all Rorys slow today? Twas a joke. Declan summed it up by what i meant.
sense of humor by pass for Rory Conway !!
@Alan you must be from Leitrim I’m guessing and you support Liverpool and you have a dislike for snobby c@@nts who play golf… All combining to show why you hate 3 champions ie Kilkenny, Man United and McIlroy
lol, probably. would rather go and watch shels than man utd and spend friday night under lights on the driving range with a bunch of other people who kit themselves out from car boot sales and who couldnt hit a wall with a tractor
Man United.. Champions? I think you must have time warped in from 1999??
You don’t know Leitrim people, we laugh at your silly comments!!!!
for some unknown reason some sports people really annoy me. i cant figure out why. mcilory seems a real tosser. i couldnt care less what he does or doesnt achieve. same with alex feguson, wayne rooney, brian cody and others
If Europe wins he’s British , if they lose he’s Irish . Wait till you see.
“eastern seaboard time”? Lads, it’s called Eastern Standard Time in winter and Eastern Daylight Time in the summer…..
Ten minutes is the the time most golfers turn up for their tee time, no big deal.