CLEVELAND // Feeling a new sense of urgency after falling behind in the NBA finals, the Golden State Warriors are seeking a solution to Cleveland’s defensive success against the NBA’s most prolific scorers.
The Cavaliers silenced NBA Most Valuable Player Steph Curry most of the night in a 96-91 victory on Tuesday that gave the hosts a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 tonight in Cleveland.
“There’s a sense of urgency now. It’s the NBA finals. We can’t let any quarters, any possessions, go as we try to win three more games,” Curry said.
“We can take our intensity to another level. That’s what we have to do. We’ve got to be more aggressive with our offensive game, more assertive.”
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Curry scored 17 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, hitting seven 3-pointers as the Warriors trimmed a 20-point deficit to a single point. But Golden State never led, and even Curry finding his rhythm was not enough to keep the NBA’s winningest club from falling to LeBron James and company.
“I was pleased with the way we responded when we got down and I’m very confident we’ll play better in Game4,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
But Kerr was concerned that his club, which has no players with any prior NBA finals experience, could stumble so badly at the start.
“I didn’t like our energy. I didn’t like our body language for most of that first three quarters,” Kerr said. “This is what we have to fight through. You have got to bring energy. You’ve got to bring life. You’ve got to bring some emotion.
“When the shots go in it’s easier to do that, but you’ve got to do that when the shots aren’t going in. We can’t get our heads down. That’s why I was pleased with the comeback, because we looked more like ourselves. It’s the finals. There’s a lot at stake so we’ve got to compete every second.”
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