NBA Finals 2017: Warriors vs. Cavaliers Game 3 live stream: Watch online
By Luke Norris
Teams that lose the first two games in the NBA Finals don’t have the best track record. Since the Finals took first place 70 years ago, 32 teams have taken a 2-0 lead. 28 of them went on to win the NBA Championship: the 1969 Boston Celtics, the 1977 Portland Trailblazers, the 2006 Miami Heat and of course, LeBron James and the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit so this has become a must-win game for Cleveland. But how can they do it?
For starters, the big three of LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have to get some help from the supporting cast. The bench played marginally better in Game 2 but the disappearance of J.R. Smith is a cause for concern. He’s scored just three total points in these Finals after averaging 10.6 points per game a year ago. And what was his best performance? That’s right…Game 3. Smith was electric in the third game in 2016, putting up 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field and knocked down five of his 10 three-point attempts and also added three steals on the defensive end. The Cavs really need another option at this point to keep up.
Although he played a bit more aggressively in Game 2, Tristan Thompson has largely been a non-factor as well. He’s put up just eight total points in two games after averaging 10.3 in 2016 and the Cavs desperately need another effort that he gave in Game 3 last year, a game in which he missed just one of his six shots to score 14 points and he also grabbed 13 rebounds, which is five more than he has in this series. Starting to see the picture? If the Cavs’ other two starters can show some productivity, the Cavs might have a fighting chance. LeBron looked winded near the end of Game 2 and while he still may be arguably the best player on the planet, he can only do so much. Every single one of the all-time greats had some help. Need proof? Just look at the head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
Here’s the rest of the info you need for Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals.
Date: Wednesday, June 7
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena
TV Info: ABC
Live stream: WatchESPN, ABC Live Stream (territorial restrictions apply), FuboTV
Oddsshark.com currently has the Warriors as a three-point favorite with an over/under of 226 points.
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