Aussies in NBA Finals: Cavs crack Warriors, Bogut and Delly see limited action
Australians Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova played limited minutes in Game 3 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which saw Dellavedova’s Cleveland Cavaliers thrash Bogut’s Golden State Warriors 120-90.
Bogut played well in the first quarter early, scoring four points on a dunk and a lefty hook, blocking a shot, and grabbing a couple of rebounds. He sat for much of the rest of the game, playing just 12 minutes total, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr elected to use a smaller lineup.
Dellavedova also sat for most of the game, as his fellow point guard Kyrie Irving --who was born in Australia-- had a breakout performance, scoring 16 points in Uncle Drew-like fashion in the first quarter, before finishing with 30 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and multiple highlights.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/740718880432259072
Playing most of his eight minutes in “garbage time”, as Cleveland led by 27, Delly hit his patented wrong-footed floater, but didn’t do much else.
After the Game 2 shellacking that his team suffered, Delly outlined the keys to bouncing back in the series, by pinpointing how to stop the Warriors reigning MVP Stephen Curry and their best player of their playoff run, Klay Thompson.
“The easiest way (to stop Curry and Thompson) is to try not to let them get a catch, because once they get the ball they’re dangerous," the point guard from Melbourne told starting5online.com.
Indeed, the Warriors trio of Curry, Thompson and Green were limited, finishing with just 35 pts combined, their lowest collective total for the entire season.
In the interview, Delly also pointed out how Cleveland can get easy buckets: “It helps when we can get stops and get out in transition”.
This proved prophetic: off of 18 turnovers forced, Cleveland scored 15 points on the fast break.
The Cavs' hometown hero Lebron James scored many of those fast break points, dominating with 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the game, with multiple highlight plays.
https://twitter.com/_MarcusD_/status/740742700446535680
Cleveland's Kevin Love, who missed the game due to concussion, was replaced in the starting line-up by Richard Jefferson, who pitched in with nine points and eight rebounds. Love is expected to return for Game 4.
Cleveland are now 8-0 at home in the 2016 playoffs, and with this resounding win, they must be feeling confident going into Game 4 at home on Saturday (Australian time) with a chance to even the series.
Andrew Bogut/Matthew Dellavedova Finals Game 3 highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qq152Yk-IE