Motivation was the story in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Just like Michael Jordan's water bottle in Space Jam, LeBron James made clear prior to tipoff that he had some "secret stuff" lying within him. Although he has yet to reveal his underlying motivation, James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have clearly played with an extra edge in the past two games of the Finals.
After a gritty win in Game 2, the Cavs returned home to a deafening Quicken Loans Arena and continued to display tremendous heart. Matthew Dellavedova was the epitome of gritty and his obvious will to win ignited the Cavaliers and their fans. In what was his 21st career start, the second-year Australian scored 20 points in 38 minutes on the floor. The injury to Kyrie Irving is beginning to look like a blessing in disguise as Dellavedova was also a bother on defense in his second consecutive start. The pesky point guard forced six Stephen Curry turnovers and held the MVP to just three points in the first half on 1-for-6 shooting.
David Blatt deserves a large portion of the credit for the Game 3 victory as the Cavaliers' defense was outstanding. A seven-point lead at halftime was largely due to stellar defense-mainly by Dellavedova-as Blatt's squad forced the best team in the league to shoot very poorly from the field. The Golden State Warriors finished the game 36-for-90 and 12-for-34 from three-point range. Harrison Barnes missed all eight of his shots and had no points in 19 minutes on the floor as Steve Kerr was forced to make adjustments to his lineup.
A 2-for-10 Draymond Green was forced to the bench late in the fourth quarter with four personal fouls. Andrew Bogut was a nonfactor, scoring just four points in 17 minutes. The Warriors outrebounded the Cavaliers 46-43, but were outmanned in the post and showed very weak attempts to box out. The Warriors played regular season basketball that was not fit for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Forcing shots early in the shot clock without an inside presence to grab offensive rebounds was a recipe for disaster.
As was the case in Game 2, the Warriors were able to overcome early struggles and make another late surge to put pressure on the Cavs, who were up 17 points to begin the fourth quarter. Shots began to fall and Kerr made a pair of excellent personnel adjustments that allowed his team to pull within three points. David Lee and Leandro Barbosa came in hot off the bench in the late goings and provided an incredible spark for the Warriors.
Lee finished with 11 points, making all four of his shots from the floor. He also had a pair of key assists that highlighted a strong suit of a Warriors team that was not its usual self Tuesday night. Lee, Barbosa, and Andre Iguodala were the only players for the Western Conference Champions to have a positive scoring margin in their time on the court in Game 3. Iguodala has been the best player for the Warriors in the NBA Finals and has not only been a great defender against LeBron James, but is also third on the team in scoring.
Still, James continued his all-around dominance in Game 3, scoring 40 points while securing 12 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists. The King also had four steals in a game-high 46 minutes on the hardwood. He has pushed himself to exhaustion and, again, got just one solid contribution from a teammate. That teammate was Dellavedova who also ran on fumes and was sent to the hospital for dehydration after receiving a post-game IV. He has since been released, but gave the Warriors more than just a taste of what kind of meat is in the Delly isle. It might be dry for now, yet has been extra tender come game time.
After Game 3, all of the momentum resides in Cleveland. The Cavs have shown the heart of a champion which, coupled with frustratingly good defense, has been the formula to success. Closing out games hasn't been easy, but the Cavaliers have been triumphant in the past two contests and now hold a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.