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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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LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jun 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots the ball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the second quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

5. The miraculous rebirth of LeBron’s jumper

LeBron James made some jumpshots in Game 3 which was a much bigger deal than my cool-as-a-cucumber beginning to this sentence implies. Before the game, I wrote about the general decline of his jumpshot in both frequency and accuracy over the past two seasons:

“This season, jumpshots made up a smaller portion of LeBron’s field goal attempts than at any other point in his career. The difference is enormous — seven fewer jumpers per 100 shot attempts than his previous career low, and 15 fewer jumpers per 100 shot attempts than last season.”

In the first two games of the Finals, LeBron was 3-of-12 on jumpers. In Game 3, he was 4-of-8, including several comfortable pull-ups in rhythm. He is still yet to make a catch-and-shoot jumper in the Finals but the ball is going to be in his hands more often than not. Being able to mix in a few pull-ups with his drives should help open the floor.

Scheme and spacing had a lot to do with helping LeBron finally break through Golden State’s defense and push Cleveland’s offense to an efficient extreme. But using the space he was given to hit mid-range jumpers and even bang in a three-pointer will continue to keep pressure on the Warriors in Game 4.

Next: Where was Draymond?

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