A historical performance by Warriors G Stephen Curry was not enough for a victory on Wednesday night as Golden State fell to Toronto by a score of 123-109. Curry recorded 47 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists, the second highest scoring output in NBA Finals history in a loss.
With Klay Thompson sidelined with a hamstring injury, the offense was seemingly nowhere to be found for the Warriors aside from the explosion by Curry. DeMarcus Cousins struggled, shooting only 1-7 from the floor and accounting for only four points. Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green were the only other Warriors in double figures with Curry, combining for 11 and 17 points respectively.
Kawhi Leonard led a very balanced scoring attack for Toronto, as the Raptors had six players in double figures. Leonard topped all Raptor scorers with 30, Kyle Lowry tallied 23 points of his own, and Danny Green dropped in six three-pointers to combine for 18 points.
Lowry made headlines in Game 3 with more than just his play. Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens created an altercation with Lowry after he dove into the stands to attempt to save a loose ball in the second half. Stevens is seen on camera laying his hands on Lowry, and is accused of repeatedly shouting obscene and vulgar terminology to Lowry throughout the game.
Stevens has since been banned from attending NBA games for one season, and fined $500,000 by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. "There's no room for that in our game. I don't think I could have handled it any better. Things could have been a lot different if I had reacted in a different way" said Lowry on the incident. Stevens has since issued an apology and attempted to reach out to Lowry himself, but to no avail.
After falling behind 2-1 in the series, Warriors F Draymond Green showed his confidence in the team by stating "We just have to win the next game, go to Toronto and win Game 5, come back to Oracle win and Game 6, and then celebrate. Fun times ahead."
There are indeed fun times ahead, as Game 4 of the NBA Finals airs on ABC at 9 P.M. Eastern on Friday. Tune in to see the return of Klay Thompson from injury, and to see if Toronto can steal another game on the road or if Golden State will tie the series back up at two games each.
