Pictured are Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, and NBA megastar LeBron James
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CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- Led by an all Black starting lineup of megastar LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, JR Smith, Tristan Thompson and Richard Jefferson, the Cleveland Cavaliers trounced the Golden State Warriors, 120-90, Wednesday night to win Game 3 of the NBA Finals. (Editor's note: Game 4 is Friday night at the Quickened Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio).
The home turf victory brings the championship series to 2 and 1 and follows losses by Cleveland in games 1 and 2, the Warriors taking Game 1 by 15 points and Game 2 by 33 points.
The Cavilers are 8-0 at home in the playoffs this year and 5-4 elsewhere. They led in first quarter of Game 3 by as many as 20, and never surrendered such lead.
James, Irving, Smith, Thompson and Jefferson finished with 32, 30, 20, 14 and nine points respectively, Jefferson, who had nine rebounds behind Thompson's 13 and James' 11, starting in lieu of Kevin Love, who left Game 2 with a head concussion.
Coming in to Game 3 James said that it was "do or die."
He said Wednesday night after the Cavs butchered the Warriors and won by 30 points that it was a team effort.
"My teammates did a great job of finding of finding me and I cannot do nothing without them," said James.
Irving posted 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter and ended with four rebounds and eight assists. He too agrees that on -court team camaraderie is crucial.
"It is a total team effort," said Irving. "We are going against a good team in Golden State."
Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue, who is Black, would not say if Love, whom doctors kept out of Game 3, will return to the starting line-up for the remainder of the series even if he is cleared to play. He attributed his team's newly found success over the Warriors to various factors.
A key element, he said, was "being aggressive on both ends."
Absent from the discussion on whether Jefferson, who is Black, will take the starting forward position from Love, who is White, is race.
Reaction is mixed on which of the two talented players should proceed, though racial tension is seemingly mounting, some would argue.
"The starting line-up that won Game 3 by 30 points and included Richard Jefferson should remain and Kevin Love should take a break," said Cavs fan and former East Cleveland councilman Charles E. Bibb Sr, also president of the greater Cleveland Carnegie Roundtable.
And some of the Cavs, whether intentionally or unintentionally, have made it known that they believe that Jefferson, 36 and on Wednesday making his first debut in 18 years as a starter in an NBA Finals, is a better fit than Love, 27.
Lue's predecessor, David Blatt, who was ousted in January in favor of Lue, then the associate coach, always had a White in his starting line-up whether it was Love, Mathew Delladevoba, or Timofey Mozgov.
Blatt led Cleveland to the NBA Finals last year but could not bring home a championship title, the Warriors winning that series, 4-2.
Warriors Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson did not score in the first quarter in Game 3 and both struggled throughout the game, Curry finishing with 19 points and Thompson, 10 points.
"Clearly they were playing at a much higher level then we were and they deserved to win," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr of his team's disappointing loss.
(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com). Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com