Finality Sets In At NBA Finals

The depth of the Golden State Warriors put them within a game of winning their third NBA title in four years on Wednesday night.

No, we’re not ignoring the monster effort by Kevin Durant, who scored a career playoff high 43 points in a 110-102 victory. It’s just that the Warriors have so many ways to offset a bad night by one or more of their other All-Star starters.

“He gave me and Steph a night off,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson.

Stephen Curry couldn’t buy a 3-pointer, until very late. Thompson combined with his backcourt buddy for a total of 21 points on 7of-27 shooting. This would doom most teams, but the Warriors are not like most teams.

Every starter was in double digits, as was one player off the bench. Durant kept scoring while the Cavaliers, as always, had to lean on LeBron James and Kevin Love. It’s just not enough.

“We’ve got a lot of depth and a lot of guys who can play,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, though he kept returning to the contributions of Durant, the Finals MVP last year.

The Warriors had built a 2-0 lead in the series without big man Andres Iguodala (leg), who was the MVP of the 2015 Finals. Iggy came off the bench to play 22 minutes and score eight points.

LeBron had another triple-double – 33 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists – and it still wasn’t enough, even at home.

Game 4 is Friday night in Cleveland. If the Warriors win, they’ll pull off the first sweep in the Finals since 2007, when the San Antonio Spurs won the title in four straight against … the Cavaliers and LeBron James.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman