Cavs’ best not good enough vs Warriors

CLEVELAND – LeBron James and Kyrie Irving couldn’t be stopped. J.R. Smith finally got started.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were so much better than in the previous two games.

They’re just not good enough to beat what may be one of the NBA’s best teams ever.

The Cavaliers fell into a 3-0 hole in the NBA Finals after the Golden State Warriors pulled out a 118-113 victory on Wednesday night.

Blown off the court in the second halves of the first two games, the Cavaliers surged ahead with a big third quarter and were still ahead by six with less than 3 minutes to play.

“I’m human, as well as my teammates, and to lay it all on the line like that, you want to come out on the winning side,” Irving said. “But we gave a great effort, and the result just didn’t turn out the way we wanted to.”

But the heavy minutes Cleveland’s superstars were forced to play may have taken their toll down the stretch. The Warriors finished with an 11-0 run to steal the victory and all but assure themselves of taking Cleveland’s title. No team has blown a 3-0 lead in the NBA.

“I thought our team scrapped and competed,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I can’t be disappointed with the effort and how we played, but they made the plays down the stretch that we didn’t execute defensively or offensively, and they took advantage of it.”

James had 39 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, but his attempt at a tying 3-pointer was blocked by Andre Iguodala and James stepped out of bounds after recovering it, slamming the ball to the court in frustration.