It was an intense spectacle and the Quicken Loans Arena and Cleveland as a whole was pumping. The noise alone was igniting the right kind of fire in the Cavaliers players heading into the game and through large stretches of it. When the hosts scored a roar went up. Every Warriors miss was cheered. Every Warriors player was jeered. The crowd was ready to show Golden State who the defending champions were.

To their credit it had little effect on Golden State’s performance on the night. It seemed to be going to script for the 2015 champions as they lead 39-31 at the end of the first quarter. Even so there were flashes of the heart that Cleveland have become renowned for as the game got more physical. It was like watching a Finals game in the 90s in some portions of it.

The Warriors kept making their shots in the second quarter despite the Cavaliers getting in their faces and working hard. JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Kevin Love, Richard Jefferson, they were all up for the fight and defending well in one-on-one situations. But collectively the team defense was still allowing looks and you can’t do that with fantastic scorers like the Warriors have. The halftime score was 67-61 to the visitors and the writing looked like it was on the wall. Klay Thompson was hugely impressive and ended the game with 30 points going 6-of-11 from 3-point range. His key contribution came in the first half where, from a scoring perspective, Curry and Durant were kept relatively quiet. However, nothing is a given in the NBA and even more so in The NBA Finals.

In Games 1 and 2 of the 2017 NBA Finals the third quarter has been the Cavaliers’ Achilles’ heel as they’d been smothered by an avalanche of points by Golden State in the third period in those previous clashes. This time the Cavs fought harder, hustled more and came out on top. Cleveland led 94-89 at the end of the third frame to buck the trend and set the pace going into the final period. The crowd were loving it as the decibel level went up a few notches. This was their home court and they were ready to ‘Defend the Land’. Smith, Korver and Jefferson were making shots, Love was hustling in the post and winning rebounds galore. It was all going their way as the bit players were joining the big-time players in contributing towards a much-needed victory.

The story of the game going into the fourth quarter was the return to form of the defending champion Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James stepped up with the points for their team as Irving finished with 38 points and James ended with 39. LeBron James came close to another triple-double, falling an assist shy of his ninth in the Finals —he had 11 boards and nine helpers. But for all of their otherworldly effort they couldn’t get the stops on the defensive end and that is essentially what killed the Cavs. LeBron James had no effect on Durant as he tore downcourt and pulled up for the pressure shot. Durant scored 31 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists. Even with time remaining, more Warriors hustle kept them in front as Andre Iguodala stripped the ball from LeBron James and the game was done.

The Warriors had stolen this victory right from under the noses of the Cavaliers. Stephen Curry exemplified the determination of the Dubs as he recorded a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Five of those boards were on the offensive end as he didn’t let his head drop. It was performances like that from Curry that gave a clear indication that the Warriors are only focused on getting the title. They won’t be swayed from their path and the Cavaliers saw that again in a pulsating Game 3. The sweep is still on.

By Cyrus Rogers