The Warriors’ bench set a modern-era Finals record in Game 1 by outscoring the Cavaliers’ reserves by 35.
In Game 3, the Cleveland’s starters took their turn making history.
The Cavs’ starters outscored their Golden State counterparts, 105-57. That 48-point advantage is by the most in an Finals game since the NBA adopted a 16-team playoff in 1984.
The 2002 Lakers previously held the record, their starters outscoring the Nets’ by 38 in Game 2. Now rank every team by starter-scoring advantage in a Finals game, and those Lakers are closer to 16th place than first place.
The breakdown from yesterday’s Game 3:
Cavaliers
- Kyrie Irving, 30
- J.R. Smith, 20
- Richard Jefferson, 9
- LeBron James, 32
- Tristan Thompson, 14
Warriors
- Stephen Curry, 19
- Klay Thompson, 10
- Harrison Barnes, 18
- Draymond Green, 6
- Andrew Bogut, 4
Here’s every Finals game since 1984 where one team’s starters outscored the other’s by at least 30 (the team with the starter-scoring advantage won each time):
