CLEVELAND (AP) — The latest from Game 3 of the NBA Finals:
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10:45
Matthew Dellavedova might score more points than Stephen Curry and as many cheers as LeBron James.
The Australian point guard and fan favorite has hit a couple of 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Cavaliers have opened a double-digit lead over the Warriors.
James and Dellavedova had combined for all of Cleveland’s points for the first 5-plus minutes of the period, and Dellavedova’s baskets drew enormous cheers every time.
The Cavaliers’ grew to as many as 13 points.
Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer also got a huge ovation when he led an Ohio cheer during a timeout.
The way the Cavs are playing, Meyer’s Buckeyes might not be the only champions in Ohio this year.
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10:34 p.m.
If Stephen Curry is worried about his shot, you couldn’t tell from his halftime itinerary.
Rather than come out early for some extra work, Curry didn’t come back onto the floor until there were under 2 minutes remaining in the break. He then attempted just two shots before heading to the Warriors’ bench.
He was only 1 for 6 in the first half following his 5-for-23 performance in Game 2. He is 3 of 19 behind the 3-point arc over the last two games.
It was Matthew Dellavedova getting off early in the third quarter, not Curry, helping Cleveland extended its lead.
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10:23 p.m.
Thirty-seven points.
That’s a season-low in first-half scoring for Golden State, which averages 56 first-half points per game .
But the concerns probably run deeper than that for the Warriors — the first three games of the finals are the first time all season that Golden State has been under 50 points at the break in back-to-back-to-back games.
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10:15 p.m. ET
The Cleveland Cavaliers are halfway to their first NBA Finals home victory.
Cleveland leads Golden State 44-37 at halftime of Game 3, behind LeBron James’ 13 points and nine rebounds. The Cavaliers are again playing stellar defense, holding the Warriors to 34 percent shooting and again shutting down Stephen Curry.
The league MVP made his first shot, a 3-pointer, then missed his final five attempts. He was 5 for 23 in Game 2.
Game 3 has often been a pivotal one in the finals, with the team winning it when the series was tied 1-1 going on to win the championship 31 of 37 times.
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9:58 p.m.
Iman Shumpert has returned to the game with 5:31 to play in the first half wearing black sleeves under his jersey.
Shumpert went to the locker room in the first quarter with a shoulder injury, hit in the same shoulder that he had dislocated earlier this season, causing him to miss six weeks.
The Cavs couldn’t afford another injury, especially with reserve James Jones picking up three fouls by early in the period.
For the Warriors, David Lee is getting his first playing time of the season. The former All-Star had fallen out of the rotation, but with the Warriors struggling to rebound, coach Steve Kerr is giving him a chance.
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9:50 p.m.
J.R. Smith can get hot as quickly as anyone, and maybe this is the night it happens.
Smith made two jumpers early in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer, and his first three shots of the game to give him seven points in his first 9 minutes.
He shot poorly in Game 1 and nearly cost the Cavs Game 2 with some boneheaded fouls down the stretch, but with so many injuries he becomes one of their best options to provide a second scorer behind LeBron James.
Unless he loses his stroke or his composure, that is.
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9:45 p.m.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr thought his team “weathered the storm” in the first quarter of Game 3.
“We knew the crowd would be loud and we’re in a good spot right now,” Kerr told ABC’s Doris Burke in the televised between-quarters interview.
Burke followed up with a question about what Kerr thought of Golden State’s early offensive production, and Kerr gave his group high marks from the early going.
“Little better movement, little better penetration,” Kerr said. “We can still get better.”
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9:32 p.m.
Iman Shumpert has gone to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury for the already short-handed Cavaliers.
Shumpert was hurt after running into a pick set by Golden State’s Draymond Green in the first quarter. Shumpert arrived in Cleveland in January still rehabbing a shoulder injury from his time with the Knicks.
The Cavaliers have only been using eight players while playing without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
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9:20 p.m.
Even the King pays homage to other royalty.
Just before tip-off of Game 3, what did LeBron James do? Bowed in respect toward a fan in the jam-packed stands.
That fan just happened to be Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown.
Then James helped Cleveland jump out to an early first-quarter lead.
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9:05 p.m.
This crowd is delirious, and Game 3 hasn’t started.
When the Cavaliers took the floor, 20,000 fans inside Quicken Loans Arena, most of them wearing wine-colored T-shirts, erupted in cheers.
Seconds later, the crowd got even louder when LeBron James, dancing and rapping lyrics, was shown on the giant mid-court scoreboard. That was followed by chants of “Del-ly, Del-ly,” for guard Matthew Dellavedova, one of the Game 2 heroes.
James said earlier in the day that he expected Cleveland’s crowd to be louder than he’s ever heard, and it appears he could be right.
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8:55 p.m.
Dwyane Wade is back on ABC to help with the pregame and halftime analysis of Game 3, and he knows LeBron James — his former Miami Heat teammate and still close friend — better than almost anyone.
But James’ raw emotion when Cleveland won Game 2 was something new, even for Wade.
“I’ve been to four Finals with the guy and I’ve never seen him that emotional,” Wade said during Tuesday’s pregame show. “And what I took from that is that he has some sense of ownership. This is his city.”
Wade’s assessment of James’ performance in this series: “Spectacular.”
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8:35 p.m.
Golden State’s biggest star, well its cutest one, has arrived.
Riley Curry, the adorable 2-year-old daughter of Warriors guard Stephen Curry, walked into Quicken Loans Arena along with her grandparents about an hour before Game 3 started.
The youngster has stolen the show from her famous daddy by hamming it up during his postgame interview sessions throughout the playoffs.
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8:01 p.m.
Biggest game since 1997.
That was the consensus among Cleveland fans, who have waited 51 years for either the Cavaliers, Indians or Browns to win a championship.
The streets outside Quicken Loans Arena were packed with fans in the hours leading up to tip-off for Game 3 as the Cavs hosted their first NBA Finals matchup since 2007, when Cleveland was swept in four games by San Antonio.
This time around, though, Clevelanders are feeling hopeful about the Cavs’ chances of ending a title drought dating to 1964.
“Very confident and excited,” said Sarah Zuercher, who was headed to the game with her husband, Chris, wearing a “Woah Delly” T-shirt to honor pesky guard Matthew Dellavedova.
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AP Sports Writer Tom Withers and AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
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