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NBA Finals: Warriors vs. Cavaliers Game 3 recap, full highlights

By Cody Williams

CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 08: LeBron James
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 08: LeBron James /
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The Cavaliers responded to the change of scenery with a resounding victory over the Warriors in Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals

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After the way that the first two games of the 2016 NBA Finals played out, fans had to wonder if the Cleveland Cavaliers had anything remotely resembling a chance at beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors in even one game in the series. That’s why they play the games, though, because the Cavaliers came out for Game 3 with the series moving to Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night and made a statement almost immediately.

Cleveland started out their first game of the NBA Finals at home by jumping out to a monster lead over the Warriors. While LeBron James obviously played a big part on both ends of the floor, Kyrie Irving was the redemptive star for the Cavaliers early on with his offense. His handles were dicing up Warriors guards virtually every possession and he was seeing a big bucket right from the opening tip.

The Cavaliers amassed a big lead over the Warriors in the first quarter, going up 33-16 to start the game. Not to be denied, strong performances by Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, and Andre Iguodala in the second quarter made things close and got the Warriors within double digits going into halftime, trailing only by eight.

However, that second quarter seemed to be all of the fire that the Warriors had on the road with Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry struggling so mightily. Kyrie, LeBron, and J.R. Smith began leading the way without Kevin Love in the lineup and just pulled away with a plus-12 margin in the third quarter. Back up by 20 points, the home team was then able to just coast from that point forward to secure the dominant victory in Game 3 and make the series a highly intriguing 2-1 with another game in Cleveland looming not too far in the future.

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Three Stars

LeBron James, Cavaliers – 32 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two blocks, one steal

Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers – 30 points, eight assists, three rebounds, one steal

J.R. Smith, Cavaliers – 20 points, four rebounds, three steals, one assist

Highlights

Next Game

The Cavaliers and Warriors will meet for Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals on Friday, June 10 again in Cleveland. Tip-off will be at 9 p.m. ET once again as well.

For all your NBA Playoffs coverage, stay up to date with the FanSided NBA hub.

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