NBA Finals: 5 Standout Stats from Game 3
The fans are getting their money’s worth as the 2015 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors went down to the wire again. This time, however, it didn’t go into overtime but Game 3 of the Cavs Vs Warriors match-up came down to the final seconds before the home team made their free throws to put the game out of reach, winning 96-91.
LeBron James has found a new Robin to his Batman in Matthew Dellavedova as both of them played magnificent basketball once again for the wine and gold. A 20-point lead was nearly erased by the suddenly-hot-shooting Stephen Curry who got going in the fourth quarter but just came up short in the end. The Warriors have been playing from behind for most of this series and they nearly pulled off the comeback.
LeBron James & Matthew Dellavedova scored or assisted on 78 of the Cavs' 96 points. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/S40WsJXsUa
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 10, 2015
Game 3 was a crucial win historically in the Finals as teams that won it with the series tied 1-1 have gone on to win the NBA championship 84% of the time. Cavs Vs. Warriors Game 3 had all the excitement and drama of the previous two games and something tells me that we’ll see more of the same in the coming days. Now let’s go to the stats and check out how the Cavs won the game.
1. LeBron James: 40 Points, 12 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 4 Steals, 2 Blocks, 2-6 3-Pt FGs, 10-12 FTs
Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots against Golden State Warriors forward
Harrison Barnes(40) during the first quarter of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron had another monster game, by posting another near-triple-double. As Coach Erik Spoelstra used to say, he may actually lead the League in the “almost triple-double” category. The Cavs needed every one of those figures that James put up for them to win this game. Here’s how the night looked for LeBron historically:
- James is the first player to reach 40 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals in an NBA Finals game since steals were first recorded in 1973-74, says Elias.
- LeBron set an NBA Finals record with 123 points in the first three games. Rick Barry scored 122 in the first three games of the 1967 Finals.
- With four steals, James (302) tied Jason Kidd for 6th most steals in the postseason. The next one will give him sole possession of the number six slot.
Image courtesy of Bleacher Report video Can LeBron keep this scoring pace up ‘til the final buzzer of the Finals? If he does he’ll be in the short-list of players (Michael Jordan, Rick Barry, and Elgin Baylor) to average 40 or more in the Finals. If they win the championship, he’ll join Jordan as the only ones to do so on a winning team.
2. Matthew Dellavedova: 20 Points, 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists, +13 (+/-)
Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) shoots against Golden State Warriors guard
Klay Thompson(11) during the first quarter of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
For the second straight game, Dellavedova made a huge impact by guarding Stephen Curry.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Curry shot 5-for-14 when guarded by Dellavedova but 5-for-6 when someone else guarded him.
This time, however, Delly made sure that he was an offensive threat as well as he was one point shy of his career playoff high. He dived for loose balls and made himself another target of James’ pinpoint passes off double-teams. How do you guard a guy which the scouting report says doesn’t score much? Curry has not admitted it in postgame interviews but the Aussie has definitely thrown him off his game. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Curry shot 5-for-14 when guarded by Dellavedova but 5-for-6 when someone else guarded him. If he can play this well defensively in the next few games, Curry may not be able to get his groove again.
3. CAVS: 44 Points in the Paint, 17-24 (71%) Free Throws; WARRIORS: 36 Points in the Paint, 7-12 (58%) Free Throws
The Cavs attacked the Warriors’ interior defense throughout the game resulting in an 8-point advantage in points in the paint and 12 more free throw attempts than the Warriors. So far in these Finals games, whoever has had the most free throws made has won the game and this is a good example of that. With the score so close at the end of every game in this series, free throws have been the deciding factor.
In Game 1, the Warriors won at the line going 7-for-8 in overtime. In Game 2, the Cavs went to the line and converted 3 of their 4 attempts in the waning seconds of another OT to win it 95-93. Game 3 was also decided by clutch shooting from LeBron and Delly who together canned all five of their free throws in the final minute, giving the Cavs a five-point victory.
4. CAVS: 35-76 (46.1%) FGs, 9-21 (42.9%) 3-Pt FGs; WARRIORS: 36-90 (40%) FGs, 12-34 (35.3%) 3-Pt FGs
Home cooking is always the best and that was true for this Cavs as the team shot its best field goal percentage of the series at 46%.
The Cavs’ defense for the first three quarters was so good it stunned the Warriors into a measly 55-point scoring total in 36 minutes of action.
In the third quarter, the Cavs put the Warriors on their heels with some hot-shooting from practically every Cavaliers player on the floor on the way to a 20-point lead with less than three minutes left in the quarter. If not for the Cavs’ tentativeness and poor shooting in the fourth, they would have had their first 50% shooting of the series.
The Warriors, on the other hand, were on their way to infamy as they only scored 37 points in the first half, their worst performance in a half all season. The Cavs’ defense for the first three quarters was so good it stunned the Warriors into a measly 55-point scoring total in 36 minutes of action. Curry saved them from their worst ever shooting from the field in the series with consecutive threes that could have rallied them to a win.
5. Stephen Curry: 27 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 3 Steals, 1 Block, 6 Turnovers, 10-20 FGs, 7-13 3-Pt FGs
The MVP was nowhere to be found during the first three quarters of this ball game when Curry had only scored 10 points.
He finished with 27 points, but for the first 29 minutes of the game, Steph had only 3 points. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/EDx1d660Eu
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 10, 2015
By the time the fourth quarter had rolled around, Curry was unstoppable. He drained threes in bunches with shots that were impossible to guard. He scored 17 points, shooting a spectacular 6-for-7 from the field and 5-for-6 from three-point range. It was one of those quarters where Steph nearly brought the Warriors all the way back from another double-digit disadvantage to win in the end. If the game went into overtime, I’m not sure the Cavs would have survived a Curry explosion.
Honorable mention:
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David Lee: 11 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 4-4 FGs, 13 minutes
Lee was the Warriors’ secret weapon as Warriors Coach Steve Kerr finally discovered a player he could rely on.
With Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes playing one of their worst games in the playoffs, Lee provided a spark that gave the Cleveland crowd nervous twitches whenever he touched the ball. Scoring almost at will, Lee was the second best player on the floor in the fourth quarter to complement Curry’s out-of-this world shooting. Kerr said that we should expect to see more of him in the next few games.
What were the standout stats in this game for you? Is there one particular stat could have spelled the difference between winning and losing for the Cavs and Warriors?