OAKLAND, United States, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Steph Curry scored 47 points for the shorthanded Golden State Warriors, but the two-time defending champions still fell to the Toronto Raptors 123-109 in Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals on Wednesday.
Missing Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant with injuries, the Warriors had to rely on Curry, who also had eight rebounds and seven assists, but the Raptors countered with a team effort to beat the Warriors to take a 2-1 lead in this year's Finals.
Toronto star Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points to lead six players in double figures. Kyle Lowry contributed 23 with five 3-pointers and Danny Green had 18 points with six 3-pointers. Game 1 hero Pascal Siakam bounced back from a poor Game 2 with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Spanish centre Marc Gasol got off to a quick start and scored 17 points.
Thompson strained his left hamstring late in Game 2, while Durant, a two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP, has been sidelined nearly a month with a calf strain.
"Any injury in the playoffs is tough, especially a guy like Klay who's been so durable his whole career and especially in the playoffs, so it's no secret that we're a little injury-plagued now and guys are trying to just find a way back to the court," Curry said.
"But the moment is now. You got to try to have a 'next man up' mentality, like we always say, and just go out and fight. I liked the competitiveness that we had, understanding that we're missing 50 points pretty much between Kevin and Klay. So we'll adjust," he added.
Game 4 will be held in Oakland on Friday.
