11:20 p.m.

Warriors lose Game 3 by a score of 120-90.

LeBron James said he had to be better after a Game 2 drubbing in Oakland. He has responded in a major way in Game 3 to move the Cavaliers in position to get back in the series.

James has 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists midway through the fourth quarter. Cleveland leads Golden State 103-79.

He was just 7 for 17 with seven turnovers in the 33-point loss to the Warriors in Game 2. He has made 14 of 26 shots in Game 3 and essentially ended all doubt with a soaring alley-oop dunk off of a pass from J.R. Smith in the fourth quarter.

___11:02 p.m.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers have seized control of Game 3. James has 22 points, Kyrie Irving has 25 and J.R. Smith has 17 as Cleveland takes an 89-69 lead into the fourth quarter against the Warriors.

The Cavaliers are shooting 53 percent, have forced 15 turnovers and are 12 minutes away from climbing back into the series after getting blown out in the first two games at Golden State.

Tristan Thompson has 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who have zero points off the bench.

Stephen Curry scored 13 of his 15 points in the third quarter. But he has struggled mightily for most of the game. Curry is 5 for 12 from the field with five turnovers. Klay Thompson is scoreless in two of the three quarters and has 10 points for the Warriors, who are 7 for 26 from 3-point range.10:50 p.m.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers and turned back the Warriors charge with a commanding surge out of the third quarter gates.

James and J.R. Smith have turned up the defensive pressure and knocked down some jumpers from the perimeter to get the Cavaliers going. They led by 20 in the first quarter, saw it shrink to single digits and now have pushed it back up to 22 points midway through the third quarter.

The Warriors continue to struggle.

Stephen Curry, before hitting a couple of 3s, had just 2 points on 1-for-6 shooting and coach Steve Kerr’s decision to start Andrew Bogut in the third quarter proved disastrous. Staying with the big center left the Warriors unable to keep up with Cavaliers defensively and Cleveland is up to 50 percent shooting.

___10:30 p.m.

Commissioner Adam Silver says the NBA will talk with the referees union this summer but doesn’t expect an end to the Last 2 Minute reports.

The National Basketball Referees Association called for the end of the reports in a statement Tuesday, or at least a reform in the process.

But Silver, in an interview with ABC during halftime of Game 3, said, “I think you can’t turn the clock back on transparency.”

The league issues the reports following all games that are within five points at the 2-minute mark. The reports assess all whistles and notable non-calls.

Golden State’s Steve Kerr is among the coaches who don’t like the reports because they say the reports don’t change anything. Silver says fans expect the accountability they provide.

___10:15 p.m.

The Golden State Warriors stormed back into Game 3 with a resilient second quarter, trimming a 20-point deficit to eight and trail the Cleveland Cavaliers 51-43 going into halftime.

Klay Thompson returned from a bruised thigh to score 10 points in the period, picking up the slack for his struggling Splash Brother.

Stephen Curry is 1 for 5 with three turnovers, three fouls and two points. Warriors coach Steve Kerr pulled him briefly in the final three minutes and asked him if he was OK. Curry nodded and returned, but picked up his third foul with about 70 seconds to go in the half.

Tristan Thompson has been ferocious on the offensive glass, with seven of his 10 rebounds coming on that end. He also has eight points. After scoring 16 points in the first quarter, Kyrie Irving scored just three on 1 for 7 shooting in the second.9:55 p.m.

The Warriors trail at halftime 51-43.

After limping off the floor with a bruised left thigh at the end of the first quarter, Warriors guard Klay Thompson has returned to the game as Golden State has started to chip away at Cleveland’s lead.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 in the first quarter, but Leandro Barbosa has helped the Warriors trim the deficit to nine with just over five minutes to go in the first half.

Barbosa was 5 for 5 from the field in Game 1, but his effort on defense has sparked Golden State in Game 3.

At the end of the first quarter, Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked by Doris Burke what he saw from his guys to start.

“Not a whole lot,” Kerr said in Popovichian fashion.

9:35 p.m.

Kyrie Irving has come alive in the NBA Finals. Irving shook off some monumental struggles in the first two games to score 16 points in the first quarter of Game 3 as the Cavaliers jumped out to a 33-16 lead over the Golden State Warriors.

Irving was 12 for 36 from the field in the first two games. But he made 7 of 9 shots to lead the way for a desperate Cleveland team. LeBron James added eight points and the Cleveland defense forced five turnovers and held the Warriors to 35 percent shooting.

No team in the NBA Finals has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, so this is a must-win game for the Cavs.

The Splash Brothers were 0 for 8 in the first quarter. Stephen Curry was 0 for 3 and went to the bench with two fouls. And Klay Thompson limped off the court after taking a knee to the thigh from Timofey Mozgov.

___

9:25 p.m.

LeBron James called Game 3 a must-win for the Cavaliers. They have played with that sense of urgency to start the game.

The Cavs scored the first nine points of the game and have stormed out to a 21-8 first-quarter lead in raucous Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavs made four of their first five shots, a predictable fast start given the stakes on Wednesday night. The Cavs trail the series 2-0, and no team in NBA history has successfully overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

Richard Jefferson started for Kevin Love, who is missing Game 3 with a concussion.

The Warriors have looked sluggish early. The Splash Brothers are 0 for 7 from the field and Golden State has turned the ball over four times.

CLEVELAND (AP) – LeBron James says Game 3 is “do or die” for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The league says teams have to win four games to win a series, but he’s right nonetheless.

When Game 3 between Cleveland and the Golden State Warriors tips off Wednesday night, the Cavaliers will try to avoid becoming the 13th team to fall into a 3-0 hole in the NBA Finals. The last team to find themselves in such a predicament was – oddly enough – the Cavaliers in 2007, against San Antonio.

No team in NBA history has successfully rallied from a 3-0 deficit. And in the last 60 years, eight of the nine teams that lost the first three games of the title series wound up getting swept.

The one exception there was Seattle, which pushed Michael Jordan and Chicago to six games in 1996 before succumbing.