(CNN Philippines) — After thrashing the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of their best-of-seven NBA Finals series, Golden State Warriors fans were anticipating another scintillating performance by the defending champions in game three.
But that performance never came, and the Cavs flipped the script to take home a convincing 120-90 win in their home court Thursday.
It was a showing that left Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr understandably upset.
“We weren’t ready to play,” said Kerr during the postgame press conference. “Obviously they just punched us right 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.”
The Cavs opened up Game 3 with a 9-0 run, forcing Kerr to call a time out to stem the tide. But unfortunately, that did not prevent the hosts from running the Dubs to the ground.
“It’s going to take more than an effort like that to win a Finals game against a great team, obviously,” said Kerr.
The second quarter saw the Dubs fight back and reduce the lead to just 8, but losing the rebound battle and carelessness with the ball proved costly.
“I thought we did a pretty good job defensively in the second quarter and got back in the game. Most of their points came off of either our turnovers or their second chance,” said the Warriors coach. “Those two things, we might be able to survive one of the two, but can’t survive both.”
“We’ve got to do a better job both taking care of the ball and on the boards,” he said.
Looking forward to game 4 in the same building, Kerr says that they have to toughen up as a unit if they want to take a 3-1 advantage in the series.
“We weren’t tough enough,” admitted Kerr. “So we can’t be soft in Game 4 if we want to win.”
Read: Love-less Cavaliers pounce on Warriors to take Game 3
