CLEVELAND -- Three days after folks were lining up to give Stephen Curry his first NBA Finals MVP trophy, one of his teammates is poised to intercept it.
Kevin Durant, who won the Bill Russell Award last June, is closing fast toward another.
With the Warriors reeling in the early moments Wednesday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Durant was there to pick them up, carrying them from down to up, from quarter to quarter, until the job was done.
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And Durant made sure of that, draining a 33-foot 3-pointer with 49.8 seconds remaining that practically buried the Cavaliers under a 110-102 Warriors victory and moved teammate Draymond Green into a spasm of euphoric profanity.
“It was almost like I was cussing him out,” Green said. “But I was so happy.”
Happy because that shot was reminiscent of Durant’s clutch shot in Game 3 of the 2017 Finals.
Happy because that shot, giving the Warriors a 106-100 lead, fairly assured them of a victory that would leave them one win away from repeating as NBA champs.
Golden State Warriors
Green was delirious enough to compensate for Durant, whose poker face barely twitched when the shot ripped through the net.
“Don't get me wrong, every time I make a shot in the NBA I get excited,” Durant said. “I just internalize it a little bit as I get older a little bit more than I did as a younger player.
“So I was definitely excited. It's hard to make shots at this level in the NBA, and I understand that. But at the same time I knew the game wasn't over.”
No, KD, the game was over. The Cavs were done, ready to go out into the Ohio night and scream to the heavens.
“He’s an assassin,” LeBron James said. “And that was one of those assassin plays.”
That shot was Durant’s signature moment, his final three points on a career-playoff-high of 43 points, achieved with the kind of precision players dream of. Ignited by a perfect first quarter -- 4-of-4 from the field, 1-of-1 from deep, 4-of-4 from the line -- Durant wound up 15-of-23 from the field, including 6-of-9 beyond the arc, along with 7-of-7 from the line.
“Some of those shots, I don't think anybody in the world can hit those but him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He was incredible.”
Durant had to be magnificent, or the Warriors would have been in trouble. On a night when Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry combined to shoot 7-of-27 overall and 3-of-15 from deep, Durant sizzled, outscoring his fellow starters 43-41.
“Holding Steph to 11 points and Klay to 10, you would think you would win that game,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “So the guys did a good job on those two guys.
“I thought Durant hurt us with his one-on-one, getting to the free-throw line a little bit. But his one-on-one ability really saved them again tonight.”
Since his regrettable Game 1 of only 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Durant has turned into a hyper-accurate offensive machine. In Game 2, he scored 26 points, on 10-of-14 shooting, adding nine rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.
That was superb, yet doesn’t pack the power of his performance in Game 3. In addition to the scoring, Durant also finished with 13 rebounds, seven assists and one steal. He was plus-15, leading the Warriors in that category for the third consecutive game.
“It just happened within the flow,” Durant said. “I wasn't expecting to come out or shoot a lot of shots or look to score. I was just trying to play great defense and run the plays that Coach draws up and just run with the flow of what our offense is like throughout the game.
“I try not to think about just scoring. But, you know, we struggled to shoot the ball early on, and I felt like I had some good looks. I started asking for more of them, and I was able to knock down some shots for us.”
Durant joined Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to score at least 25 points in his first 13 Finals games. No single moment, though, will linger quite like the shot inside the final minute.
“He works hard at his game, at his craft,” Curry said. “He's ready for those moments. When you have that belief in yourself, the moment is never too big for you. So have the guts and composure to take the shot last year and tonight, it was big.
“I think he would live with the result knowing how much work he's put into it. That's what superstars do.”
They also do things that put themselves in the discussion about championships and trophies. If Curry had the edge after Game 2 on Sunday, Durant has moved in front after Game 3.
| Game | Result/Schedule |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | Warriors 124, Cavs 114 (OT) |
| Game 2 | Warriors 122, Cavs 103 |
| Game 3 | Warriors 110, Cavs 102 |
| Game 4 | Cleveland -- Friday, June 8 at 6pm |
| Game 5 | Oakland -- Monday, June 11 at 6pm |
| Game 6 | Cleveland -- Thursday, June 14 at 6pm |
| Game 7 | Oakland -- Sunday, June 17 at 5pm |