A year later, in another NBA Finals Game 3, history repeated, only from a few feet further beyond the arc.
“It was like déjà vu, seeing him hit that shot again,” Cavaliers forward Kevin Love said.
That last dagger from Durant pushed him to a playoff career-high 43 points on the night – going 15-for-23 from the field, along with 13 rebounds and seven assists – to lift the Warriors to a 110-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
He needed to be because the Warriors, a team blessed with a pair of former MVPs on their roster, got very little from their other one – Stephen Curry.
“I just tried to play hard defense, rebound as best as I could, and be patient and play with poise,” Durant said. “I just tried to be aggressive and do something. I just tried, each time down, to focus on getting a good shot each possession. Defensively is where we came to play in the second half. We’re going to need that effort for the full 48 minutes.”
Opening the game with a 16-4 run, Cleveland led wire-to-wire in the first half behind a similar formula that put the Cavaliers on the doorstep of winning Game 1 in Oakland last week: getting physical with Golden State.
