ANKARA
The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors 96-91 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals to take a 2-1 lead.
Lebron James once again delivered for the Cavs, scoring 40 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, dishing out eight assists, making four steals and blocking two shots.
The improbable hero of the finals series, Matthew Dellavedova, continued his impressive performance in Tuesday's game as well; he scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds and made four assists in the win.
The Cavaliers, playing at home, were up as much as 20 with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but MVP Stephen Curry and the Warriors made a run in the fourth quarter. Curry, who scored 27 points, cut the Cavs lead into just one (81-80) with 2:45 to go in the game.
Thanks to James' and Dellavedova's performance in the remaining minutes, the Cavaliers survived the Warriors' comeback and took a 2-1 lead in the series.
Along with his 27 points, Curry also grabbed six rebounds, forward Andre Iguodala chipped in with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists and Klay Thompson scored 14 in the loss for Warriors.
James became the current record holder for "most points scored by a player through the first three games of the NBA Finals" with 123 points.
The previous record belonged to a former Warrior, Rick Barry, when he scored 122 points in 1967 NBA Finals between the San Francisco Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Game 4 will again be at the Cavs' Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time (01.00 GMT Friday).
