Lowell Cohn: Yet another Game 3 clunker for the Warriors

CLEVELAND - At shootaround Wednesday morning, Warriors general manager Bob Myers told me Game 3 that night would be tough. Said the Cavs were too good to go down like this. He meant like pathetic victims.

I thought Myers was being polite. Diplomatic. Not trashing an opponent. It was nothing like that. Man knows his business. The Cavs are not pathetic victims.

They whupped the Warriors 120-90, an unseemly score in an unseemly game. The Cavs were beyond tough. They were assassins. So strange NBA playoff ball, how one team can murder the other and make you think this thing is over. And then the murdered team murders the murderer, and your head begins to hurt from confusion.

So, what went wrong with the Warriors in Game 3?

I refer you to the Clunker Rule. It's inevitable a great team - the Warriors are a great team - will play a clunker. It's how things go in the NBA. It happens. You wipe your hand across your mouth and move on. The Warriors already did the hand wipe.

And it was a Game 3. The Warriors have lost every Game 3 in these playoffs. Something about the opponent coming home to their fans, and feeling elated and rising for one grand effort.

There was more. And here goes:

LeBron James shut down Draymond Green. Great players have shut him down this postseason. Kevin Durant and James. He scored six points. He is an up-and-down player, and this should concern the Warriors.

James played like himself, not like some chump who turns over the ball and can't hit a shot. He scored 32. But he is a so-so outside shooter and he doesn't even reach the so-so level as a 3-point shooter, and this will hurt him and the Cavs in this series.

The Cavs lucked out when Kevin Love could not play. He is a zero defender. Forget that. He is a minus defender. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue started Richard Jefferson, who can defend. Lue moved James to power forward where he eviscerated Green.

The Cavs are not as bad as they looked in Oakland. They also may not be as good as they looked in Cleveland.

And, oh yes, there was Stephen Curry. Big issue.

Scored 19 points, but they were phony points. In the first half when the Cavs won the game, he scored two.

Two?

It was weird to see Curry. Surely, it wasn't Curry. Someone kidnapped him, hid him in the cellar, and put a lookalike into uniform 30. The impostor in the first half hurried his shots. Couldn't get off shots. Threw away the ball. He wasn't the only reason the Warriors lost but he was a big reason.

Cut to the postgame news conference. Steve Kerr behind the big table, me asking the first question.

“Steve, I have two quickies. Curry came on late, but he got off to a really slow start. What was going on with that, if you understand it? And the second. Would you consider making changes in your starting lineup for the next game? I know you always do, will you do it more?”

“Lowell, we just lost one game.” Kerr's voice exasperated. Me feeling guilty like I hurt his feelings.

“I'm sorry,” I said. Lack of professionalism there.

“We weren't ready to play,” Kerr said. “Obviously, they just punched us in the mouth right in the beginning. We're turning the ball over like crazy. Soft. We were extremely soft to start the game. And then they set the tone with their intensity. I think it was 9-0 and we had to call timeout.

“Steph got beat back door, but even then we fought back in. We were down eight at the half. But it's going to take more than an effort like that to win a Finals game against a great team.”

“My other question,” I said, “was do you understand what was going on with Curry, especially in the first half?

“He just didn't play well,” Kerr said and he looked away.

Curry came into the room. “Stephen,” I said, “you got off slow tonight. Was it something they were doing to you or was it just one of those games?”

“Unfortunately it was all on me,” he said. “They were playing aggressive defense and they came out with a big punch. I didn't do anything about it or play my game. For me to help my team, I have to play 100 times better than I did, especially in the first quarter to control the game. I didn't do it.”

Note: Both Kerr and Curry talked about Cleveland getting off the first punch. Clearly Kerr had talked about that in the postgame locker room.

“I thought I saw Steve Kerr asking you on the bench, ‘Are you OK?' I said to Curry. “What did you tell him? Are you OK?”

“I'm fine. We're in good shape. Not the way we wanted the night to go, myself included, but glad we took care of home court so that we're still in a good position. Obviously, it's a series and they did what they're supposed to do, took care of home court. But we have a great opportunity on Friday to keep control of the series. That's going to be a challenge for us.”

I want you to know this. Curry seemed as relaxed as a guy whittling a piece of wood on his porch. Confident. Amused by how badly he played. Stuff happens.

You can bet at Thursday's practice the Warriors will smile and joke, and you never could tell they got run out of the arena. Been here before. Done this before. Still in control of this series. Should win it.

After the interviews, I bumped into Bob Myers walking out of the locker room. “I told you so,” he said.

If you don't get the reference, reread my first paragraph.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.