Notes from Game 3 of the NBA Finals

Some notes on Game 3 of the NBA Finals after the Toronto Raptors’ 123-109 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night:

— Teams that win Game 3 after splitting the first two games in the NBA Finals have a 31-7 (.816) series record.

— Golden State’s Stephen Curry scored a playoff-career-high 47 points. His previous post-season high was 44 points against the San Antonio Spurs on May 6, 2013.

— Curry finished with the eighth-highest-scoring game in NBA Finals history, and the second most in a loss.

— Toronto made 17 three-pointers. The only teams to make more three-pointers in an NBA Finals game are the Cleveland Cavaliers (24 on June 9, 2017) and the Warriors (18 on June 4, 2017).

— The Warriors used their 10th different starting lineup of the 2019 playoffs, the most in a single post-season since starters and reserves began being tracked in the 1970-71 season.

— The Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard (30 points) recorded his 13th game with at least 30 points in the 2019 playoffs. The only players to have that many 30-point games in a single post-season are Michael Jordan (four times), Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant (two times) and LeBron James (two times).

— Golden State star Klay Thompson’s streak of consecutive playoff games played ended at 120. It had been the NBA’s second-longest current streak, behind James’ 239 straight playoff games.

— Kyle Lowry broke Toronto’s franchise record for career field goals made in the playoffs, surpassing DeMar DeRozan (397). Lowry has made 398 field goals with the Raptors.

— The Raptors’ Danny Green moved into ninth place on the NBA’s career list for Finals three-pointers, passing Jordan and Manu Ginobili (42 Finals threes each). Green now has 47 Finals three-pointers.

— Toronto’s Fred VanVleet (11 points) came off the bench to score in double figures for the sixth straight game. He is averaging 15.2 points in those six games.

(Source: NBA)