Three takeaways from Warriors' tight Game 3 win over Cavaliers

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The Golden State Warriors take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the NBA Finals after a tight 110-102 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Klay Thompson (10 points) and Steph Curry (10 points) were held in check by the Cavs defence, but they simply had no answer for a red-hot Kevin Durant who poured in a playoff career-high 43 points to go with 13 rebounds and seven assists.

LeBron James had 33 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Cavs, with Kevin Love adding 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Here are three takeaways from today's game:

Kevin Durant: The closer

KD was unbelievable from start to finish in Game 3, on a night where the Warriors needed every single one of his 43 points.

He shot a scorching 15-of-23 from the field, including 6-of-9 from the three-point line, saving his best for last. In a mirror-image from Game 3 last season, Durant pulled up from deep, draining the clutch three-pointer to give the Dubs a106-100 lead and put the result to bed. 

At the rim, mid-range, three-pointers, Durant put on an offensive performance for the ages to put his team firmly in control of the FInals.

Cavs can't find 3-point stroke

Returning to their home floor, the Cleveland Cavaliers were looking for their shooters to set the tempo in Game 3 and in the first quarter things looked to be going to plan, with Kevin Love and J.R. Smith connecting from deep early.

After the first period, the Warriors tightened up their defence, running the Cavs off the three-point line as they went on to finish 9-of-31 from deep.

Without their threes dropping, the Cavs offence labours for buckets and in the fourth quarter when they needed to match the Warriors production, they managed just one three-pointer.

Iguodala makes immediate impact

'The Hamptons 5' lineup which has seen plenty of success for the Warriors in the post-season returned today with Andre Iguodala making his first appearance in the Finals.

With the lead changing hands in the fourth quarter, the Warriors' deadly five-man unit seized control of the game, with Iguodala's presence, especially on the defensive end, allowing Durant to do his thing on offence...and we all know how that went.

 

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Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor for The Sporting News.