2018 NBA Finals: Golden State finishes off four-game sweep with yet another decisive third quarter
CLEVELAND Third-quarter knockout punches got the Golden State Warriors back to the NBA Finals this year.
One final third-quarter haymaker Friday night allowed the Warriors to win their second straight NBA championship, and third in four years against the Cavs.
In beating Cleveland 108-85 in Game 4 to finish off a series sweep, Golden State took complete control of the game in the third by outscoring the Cavs 25-13.
Over the course of their 21 playoff games, the Warriors outscored their opponents by 153 points in the third quarter.
Friday, Golden State led virtually the entire first half and entered the second half with a 61-52 lead.
Sensing a sweep within their grasp, the Warriors put their foot down on the Cavs in the third and broke the game open.
Klay Thompson was the catalyst. After a scoreless first half, Thompson scored 10 in the quarter. Fellow All-Stars Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry combined for another 11.
On the other end, the Cavs had no answers. They missed their first five 3s of the third on their way to shooting 4-of-17 overall. They also turned it over five times.
LeBron James took just two shots in the quarter (or one less in the quarter than George Hill, who had another night to forget) and the Cavs looked like a dead team walking.
With James unable to take over the game and Golden State’s stars taking turns, the Warriors sucked the life out of Quicken Loans Arena in the third and took an 86-65 lead into the fourth.
It was nothing new to the Warriors.
Down 3-2 to the Rockets heading into Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors rallied to win that series with two huge third quarters in Games 6 and 7. Thompson hit big shots throughout those two third quarters, too.
The Cavs never came close to putting that kind of pressure on the Warriors in the Finals.
But like the previous rounds, the Warriors were at their best in quarter three. They outscored the Cavs in three of the four third quarters, with the overall count for the series being 115-92.
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