In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors outscored the Cleveland Cavaliers by 10 points in the final quarter, ensuring a victory and a 3-0 lead. In his press conference after the game, Steve Kerr credited the Cavaliers fatigue for his team’s victory.
“And I think when you get guys playing 45, 44 minutes, basically attacking one-on-one the whole game, it’s — you hope eventually it’s going to take its toll,” Kerr added. “I wasn’t sure after a while; they just were going nuts. But I think that we just stayed with it, and our defense finally kicked in.”
In the game, LeBron James played 45 minutes and Kyrie Irving played 44 minutes. The two players combined to score 77 of their team’s 113 points, with JR Smith being the only other teammate with over 10 points in the game.
As for Steve Kerr’s players, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both played 40 minutes, and Steph Curry played 39 minutes. In the game, Kerr played 13 of his players, while the Cavaliers had nine guys step on the court.
Not only did Steve Kerr credit the fatigue, but his player, Draymond Green, did as well.
“I caught LeBron walking off at the end of the third quarter and you could just tell he was exhausted.” – Draymond Green#NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/A7ns6WQKVc
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 8, 2017
It will be interesting to see how much energy the Cavaliers come out with in the fourth game of the NBA Finals. There is only one day of rest between Game 3 and Game 4, which is the shortest amount of time between games in the entire series.
The Warriors are looking at becoming the first team to go 16-0 in the playoffs, and even though they said they aren’t looking at that, it still looms over them. On the other side, the Cavaliers will have to fight for their season, and try to extend the series at least one more game on Friday night.
