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 James had a game-high 40 points to go along with 12 rebounds and
eight assists in front of a raucous crowd of red T-shirt-clad fans,
as Cleveland grabbed the upper hand in the championship series
against the top-seeded Warriors.
"I didn't see (James) take bad shots at all. I thought he was
great," Cleveland head coach David Blatt said of James, who went
14-of-34 from the field.
"I thought he controlled the game and helped his team to play the
way that we wanted to play."
Cleveland never trailed in the game and led by as many as 20 points
late in the third quarter but were put to the test as Golden State
clawed back within a point with under three minutes remaining.
The league's reigning Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry had a
horrible start to the game for Golden State but used a strong fourth
quarter to finish with a team-high 27 points.
But Curry made a costly error with two minutes to play and his team
down by four points when he sent a behind-the-back pass out of
bounds with no team mate in sight.
On Cleveland's ensuing possession, James drained a three-pointer
that put the Cavaliers ahead 87-80 and brought the delirious
towel-waving crowd to their feet.
Golden State, with Curry finally finding a groove, looked ready to
take a stab at tying the game when they were awarded the ball with
17 seconds to play only to have game officials reverse a call and
give Cleveland the ball.
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From there, James drained a pair of free throws to put the game out
of reach.
"I didn't like our body language for much of that first three
quarters," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. "This is what we
have to fight through. Things aren't going our way, it doesn't
matter, you've got to fight through."
The Cavs, who were already heavy underdogs before losing All-Star
guard Kyrie Irving to a knee injury in the opener, are suddenly two
wins away from a maiden NBA title and ending the city's 51-year
drought in major sports championships.
Game Four is on Thursday in Cleveland.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford/Ian Ransom)
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