Danny Green buried three of his six 3-pointers in the third quarter Wednesday night as the Toronto Raptors pulled away from the Golden State Warriors for a 123-109 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. With Warriors All-Stars Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson relegated to watching because of injuries, the Raptors overcame a 47-point explosion by Stephen Curry to steal back the home-court advantage by taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night, also on Golden State's home floor. After blowing a double-digit lead in Game 2 only to regain another in the first half of Game 3, the Raptors were clinging to an 83-75 advantage in the final three minutes of the third period before Green bombed in back-to-back 3-pointers to expand the margin to 14. Toronto went on to lead by as many as 16 in the period, the last time when Green nailed his third 3-pointer of the period for a 96-80 advantage with 29.2 seconds remaining. The Warriors, who hadn't played a home game in 20 days and hadn't lost at home since the first round of the postseason, never got closer than seven after that. Green finished with 18 points, with all his points coming on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. The six threes were his most this postseason, but one fewer than the seven he made twice in the postseason for the San Antonio Spurs in 2013 and 2014. Kawhi Leonard paced the Raptors with 30 points. Kyle Lowry complemented Green's long-distance shooting with five 3-pointers en route to 23 points. Lowry also had a game-high nine assists. The Raptors shot 17-for-38 on 3-point attempts, outscoring the Warriors 51-36 from beyond the arc. Pascal Siakam (18 points, game-high nine rebounds) and Marc Gasol (17 points) also scored in double figures for Toronto, which was playing its first road game in 13 days. Curry's 47 points, a career postseason high, came on 14-of-31 shooting overall and 6-of-14 accuracy on 3-point attempts. The 47 points topped his previous postseason best of 44 at San Antonio in 2013. Curry also found time for team highs in rebounds with eight and assists with seven. Without Thompson (hamstring) and Durant (heel), both of whom might return for Game 4, the Warriors' supporting cast could do no better than 17 points from Draymond Green and 11 from Andre Iguodala. The Warriors were outshot 52.4 percent to 39.6 percent overall. The Raptors wasted little time taking advantage of their short-handed foe, running off to a 17-7 lead behind 10 combined points from Siakam and Gasol. Despite 25 points by Curry, the most he's ever scored in a half in an NBA Finals game, Toronto led by as many as 14 in the first two periods before settling into a 60-52 advantage at the break. Thompson will likely return for Game 4, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami late Wednesday. Thompson, who has a left hamstring injury, was listed on the team's active roster an hour before game time. He lobbied to play, but the training staff and coaches kept him out, with Shaun Livingston drawing the start in Thompson's place. Kawakami said Kerr told him he wasn't sure about the status of injured Warriors forward Kevin Durant, who hasn't played since May 8 due to a right calf strain. Thompson missed a playoff game for the first time in his postseason career after having made a franchise-record 120 straight. LeBron James, with 239, is the only player with a longer streak of postseason appearances. The Warriors remain without big man Kevon Looney, who is sidelined for the remainder of the series due to a rib cartilage injury. — Reuters
