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NBA Finals: 5 takeaways from Game 3

By Ian Levy

Jun 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Golden State Warriors players react from the bench during the final seconds in the fourth quarter of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers won 120-90. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Golden State Warriors players react from the bench during the final seconds in the fourth quarter of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers won 120-90. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers kept hope alive with a 30-point win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Let’s hear it for home cooking, am I right? After looking utterly hopeless in Games 1 and 2 against the Golden State Warriors — losing both by a combined 48-point margin — the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled themselves together and took a big step towards evening the series. The Cavaliers executed crisply in the first quarter, found some seams in Golden State’s defense, built confidence and never stopped pushing.

One of the biggest stories going into the game was the absence of Kevin Love, still working through the NBA’s concussion recovery protocol. The fact that Cleveland won by such an enormous amount with Love unavailable will pump air into the narrative that he was the problem, but to get this win Cleveland solved a lot of issues that had nothing to do with Love.

Kyrie Irving was fantastic and Cleveland made a strategic adjustment, screening for him more with the intention of attacking rather than forcing switches to exploit a different mismatch. Irving responded with his best game of the series — 30 points and 8 assists on 12-of-25 shooting. Cleveland also got huge performances from LeBron James, who appeared to finally work his way out of the corner Golden State’s defense had backed him into, and Tristan Thompson on the offensive glass.

The Cavaliers still have a long road ahead of them and it remains to be seen how much of the formula from their Game 3 win is replicable. Here are a few takeaways from their big win, and things to watch for in Game 4.

Next: 5. The rebirth of LeBron's jumper

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