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Golden State poised to win NBA championship

Cleveland made a game effort behind LeBron James and Kylie Irving Wednesday night, but visiting Golden State sprinted to the finish to triumph 118-113 for a 3-0 lead in the NBA finals

Game four Friday night in Cleveland could make the Warriors the first to go undefeated through the playoffs while the Cavs are dethroned, maybe swept

Arnie Leshin

By Arnie Leshin

With all due respect to the late Yogi Berra, it’s over, get the brooms out.

Yes, the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers made a stubborn bid in game three Wednesday night of the NBA finals, but “coming close” and “almost” doesn’t cut it when your game is shut down when it counted most.

Hanging in there before the capacity crowd at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, everything fell apart when the Golden State Warriors scored the last 13 points of the game to come away with a 118-113 win and take a 3-0 advantage in games.

Winning last year after falling behind 3-1, this is not about to happen again for the Cavs. Fact, no team has ever rebounded from a 3-0 series deficit to win the title. Twelve have tried, all have failed. There doesn’t appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel.

Cleveland made the effort to cut the gap, to have a chance to make it 2-2 by winning twice at its own place. Each time superstar LeBron James was on the court, the Cavs were in the game. Each time, he went to the bench, it was the opposite.

In one stretch, with the 6-foot-9 James doing his thing alongside point guard

Kyrie Irving, it was a two-man show that put them up by 14 in the fourth quarter. The two had worked for a 94-87 lead late in the third quarter after Golden State led 67-61 at halftime despite committing a dozen turnovers in the half.

With 3:20 remaining in regulation, Cleveland was up 113-105. James, then Irving, took a quick seat on the bench when the Warriors called a time out. When they returned, the visitors were in full gear, closing the gap each time.

They scored, then they rushed back to shut down the Cavs on defense. In a well-executed display of offense, Curry drove past two defenders for a layup, Kevin Duran, in his first NBA finals, hit a baseline jumper for Golden State, then after yet another miss by Cleveland, Duran lined up a 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds to go, and it was now Golden State 114-113.

Tight defense and poor offense were keys in the downfall of the Cavs. Missed shots by James, by Irving, and not much support from the rest of the lineup, was just when the Warriors needed with its better-balanced roster.

Yes, James and Irving needed help and didn’t get it, leaving the team without a shot of making the series competitive and not enabling Golden State to become the first team to go undefeated through the playoffs.

James scored 39, his partner, Irving, added 38. That’s 77 of their team’s total.

Meanwhile, Duran has been a super addition to his new team’s success. He’s winding up a splendid season with double figures each game of the playoffs, tossing in 31 Wednesday night to go with 30 from Klay Thompson and 26 from Curry. Duran’s two free throws in the final seconds sealed the triumph.

One more once in Cleveland Friday night. Even if the Cavs come more together as a team and salvage this one, the fans in Oakland won’t need brooms anyway.

So, even if Yogi did or did not say it “It ain’t over til it’s over,” this one appears to be over as Golden State cruises to its second title in the last three seasons, with or without the brooms.

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