The King says Cavs destined for greatness

LeBron James says the Cavaliers are destined for greatness after moving closer to another NBA finals series.

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James

LeBron James says the Cavaliers are destined for greatness after moving closer to the NBA finals. (AAP)

Patty Mills' San Antonio Spurs and Matthew Dellavedova's Cleveland Cavaliers have continued their march through the NBA Playoffs.

The Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in another thriller 100-96 on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven NBA Western Conference semi-final series.

And the Cavaliers are just one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference finals after another three-point deluge against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Cavaliers won 121-108 in Atlanta to take a 3-0 lead in the series.

"We are a team that's destined for greatness," LeBron James, who had 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for the Cavaliers, said.

The Cavaliers shot an NBA record 25 three-pointers in Wednesday's game two and backed it up with 21 in game three.

The latest bombing raid was led by Channing Frye's seven of nine three-point shooting and Kyrie Irving's 24 points, including sinking four of his five from behind the arc.

Cavaliers' guard JR Smith, after his heroic game two seven three-pointers, was relatively quiet with just two from four attempts.

Dellavedova had a quiet game with three points and two assists from 12 minutes on the court.

The Spurs went into the game desperate for a win after dropping game two on Monday when Mills missed a desperate three-pointer with 4.7 seconds to go.

Game three came down to the final seconds with the Spurs up 96-94.

It was the battle-hardened Spurs who made the big plays, with veteran point guard Tony Parker and forward Kawhi Leonard hitting important free throws.

Leonard also outmuscled two Thunder big men to grab an offensive rebound that helped seal the victory.

"We gave up an offensive rebound at a crucial time," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.

Game four will be in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

"We want to win game four," Parker said.

"We're very focused."

Mills had just one shot attempt, a successful three-pointer, while Leonard led with 31 points and 11 rebounds.

The Thunder's Kiwi centre Steven Adams had 11 rebounds and two points while Russell Westbrook had 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.


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Source: AAP



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