Cleveland Cavaliers Hammer Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of NBA Finals

CLEVELAND (AP) — There was a third straight blowout in the NBA Finals on Wednesday. This time, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers doing the postgame celebrating.

LeBron James had 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Cavs crushed Golden State 120-90 to pull within two games to one in the series. Kyrie Irving dropped in 30 points for the Cavaliers, who were coming off 15- and 33-point losses to the Warriors in Oakland.

Cleveland jumped out to a 30-10 lead, then watched the Warriors get within seven in the first half before the Cavaliers dominated the last two quarters. Irving led the Cavs' first-quarter assault by scoring 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting.

J.R. Smith helped the Cavs pull away in the second half. He shot 5-for-10 from 3-point range in scoring 20 points.

Cleveland veteran Richard Jefferson had a productive game in place of Kevin Love, who has not been cleared by doctors after suffering a concussion in Game 2 on Sunday. Jefferson contributed nine points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes while helping the Cavs hold Draymond Green to six points on 2-for-8 shooting.

Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each had another sub-par performance, going scoreless in the first quarter and finishing with just 29 points. Curry paced Golden State with 19 points and still hasn't scored 20 in any game of the series.

Game 4 is Friday in Cleveland.

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