CLEVELAND — It’s amazing that professional basketball players who receive lavish amenities while traveling play so drastically different at home than on the road.
Such was the case Wednesday night, when the Cleveland Cavaliers returned from their version of Siberia — Oakland — and played like the team that petrified Eastern Conference opponents all season, led by a motivated and furious LeBron James, who returned to his dominant ways in a 120-90 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
James coyly said Tuesday that he had no idea what playing “possessed’’ meant, but that was precisely his state as the Cavaliers jumped out to a 30-10 lead and coasted in the second half, adding major intrigue to a series that looked like a sweep just 48 hours prior.
The Cavaliers own all the momentum going into Friday’s Game 4, while the Warriors, especially Stephen Curry, have had to answer questions about ineffective play. NBA fans and observers have been mostly kind to the two-time MVP, but his poor play has become a concern. Curry has scored 48 points in the three games, and had just 2 in the first half of Game 3.
He has looked uninterested at times, and coach Steve Kerr even asked Curry on the bench if he was OK. The game’s brightest star will have his reputation on the line in Game 4, and the recent criticism hasn’t been lost on him.
“The more you go through games like last night or the Thunder series or lapses during the regular season where you’re not playing up to other people’s expectations regardless of what expectations you have for yourself, you understand the emotions that come with it, the questions you’re asked and whatnot,’’ Curry said. “So I’m pretty comfortable where I am, and I know, like I said, for me, every night I have a certain expectation for myself that’s first and foremost. If I don’t reach that, then I’m pretty frustrated with myself and kind of know what’s coming, and you just deal with it and move on.’’
The Eastern Conference had been taking a major bashing after the Cavaliers lost the first two games by a combined 48 points, even quitting halfway through the third quarter of Game 2.
Yet, a three-day break, a return to the Midwest, and some reflection helped transform the languishing Cavaliers back into a juggernaut. Without Kevin Love, who is still recovering from a concussion, the Cavaliers were dominant from the opening tip Wednesday, especially Kyrie Irving, who scored 16 first-quarter points en route to a 30-point game, his best of the series.
James contributed 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists, including a thunderous tomahawk dunk off an alley-oop. James looked more passionate and motivated than in the previous two games. He resembled the James who in a must-win Game 6 of the East finals in 2012 with Miami dropped 45 points and 15 rebounds on the Celtics at TD Garden.
Four years later, he talked about that experience.
“I think for me it’s just I just play my game. I love to play the game. And obviously being down, 3-2, in Boston at that point in time, it was do or die,’’ James said. “I mean, it was Year 2 for us [in Miami] and we had already lost the previous year [to Dallas in the NBA Finals], and we had so many high hopes that year, and being down, 3-2 going into Boston, it was a tough situation for us.
“So just try to go out there and play the game that I love to play, trust the work I’ve put into it, and let the chips fall where they may, and I did the same thing [Wednesday night].’’
James may try to convince us that Game 6 in 2012 was just one of his great nights, but he appeared to be in an otherworldly state in front of a basketball world that was cheering for another Miami disposal. He denies that.
“I wasn’t in a different state of mind,’’ he said. “I was just focused like I always am. I was focused on the job at hand. I play the game with a lot of joy and a lot of fun.’’
“A camera can always catch you doing anything and they can always put a caption on it all the time. So, you know, that’s one of the pictures that came out, kind of saw me bent over and just looking at one of my teammates shooting free throws, and it said, he looks like a man possessed, and I don’t even remember what I was thinking about.’’
We hope to see the best of Curry and James on Friday at Quicken Loans Arena, because basketball fans have been denied that during this schizophrenic series. The pressure is on the Warriors to return to their 3-point shooting, floor-stretching ways, while the Cavaliers need another dominant performance to convince fans that they can win this series.
It’s about time these NBA Finals produce a competitive game, and each team has major motivation Friday to be at its best.
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.
